GROUNDSWELL: a site-specific dance for the Ballona Freshwater Marsh |
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Presented by Loyola Marymount University’s 2006 Bellarmine Forum on Environmental Responsibility: Earth to You-Do Something. Now. |
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Choreographer: |
Kristen Smiarowski |
Composer: |
Robert Een |
Hosts: |
Edith Read, Preserve Manager, Ballona Freshwater Marsh |
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Jim Landry, Chair of the Department of Natural Science, Loyola Marymount University |
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Performers: |
Gregory Barnett, , Azalea Echavarria, Jeremy Hahn, Rebecca Jackson, David Karagianis, Jacob Keller, Rachel Lopez, Mader, Kristin Ostebee, Ally Voye, Lisa Wahlander, Tulani Weeks, Ashley Winn and guests from the LMU and Los Angeles communities. |
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Groundswell is a site-specific dance for the Ballona Freshwater Marsh, a 26-acre site in the Ballona Wetlands in Los Angeles, CA. The marsh is an area that contains a rich history and complex set of ecological, political and economic issues. Human activity degraded the land, and human activity, in response to this degradation, is restoring it. The goal of Groundswell is to draw attention, through dance, to the unique geography and habitat of the marsh, creating layers of images that illuminate the underlying tensions between human and environmental needs. The piece is uniquely situated to build intersections between dance and environmental issues, and between the dance community and the community of people who have stake in the marsh.
The creation of Groundswell was supported in part by Loyola Marymount University’s Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the College of Communication and Fine Arts’ Visiting Artists and Lecturers Program, The Durfee Foundation and UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures. Additional support came from the Ballona Wetlands Conservancy, Ballona Wetlands Foundation, the Center for Natural Lands Management, Friends of Ballona Wetlands and Playa Vista.
Project Partners: Jim Landry, Chair of the Department of Natural Science at LMU, Edith Read, Preserve Manager, Ballona Freshwater Marsh and Judith Scalin, Director of Dance, Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at LMU.
See Calendar for locations, times and other details. |
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thanks to, because, and yet, in spite of |
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Choreography and Text: |
Carmela Hermann and Kristen Smiarowski |
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Performance: |
Carmela Hermann |
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Assistant Direction: |
Dan Froot |
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Title from "Wszelki wypadek" ("There But for the Grace") [1970] by Wisława Szymborska, translated by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. McGuire [1981]. |
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“In the hilarious solo “thanks to, because, and yet, in spite of” …[Carmela] Hermann delivered a monologue about her personal life shot through with anxiety about current world events, while concurrently announcing the provenance of her every gesture. “It takes time to heel, figure things out, elbow, hip,” she explained, bent sideways with her elbows pointing skyward.” |
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-Elizabeth Schwyzer, The Santa Barbara Independent |
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thanks to, because, and yet, in spite of layers intricate physical movement, up-to-date news information, and current details about Hermann’s personal life to invoke the complexities intrinsic in living fully during challenging global times. The multi-tasking structure of the choreography reveals the virtuosity inherent in managing one’s life and/or remembering the details of a dance. The piece premiered at Highways Performance Space in May 2006, and has been performed at the Center for the Arts (Eagle Rock, CA) and Center Stage Theater (Santa Barbara, CA). This piece is Smiarowski and Hermann’s second collaboration. Their first dance, It’s Good, premiered in 2005.
The development of "thanks to, because, and yet, in spite of" was supported in part by the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures. |
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