Launch Movement Experiment

The review is in...

2011-09-27T17:17:00.007-04:00

photo by Matthew Murphy

"It is dangerous. It is thrilling. Give me more."

"...oddly intriguing and absurd."

"Some of the most specific and stirring moments occur when the four diners completely utilize their bodies and full out movement technique"

-Christine Jowers, Dance Enthusiast

click here to read the entire article on the Dance Enthusiast's site:
http://networkedblogs.com/n1kdc

Meet the Artists: RACHEL

2011-09-08T10:56:00.006-04:00

Rachel Mckinstry, born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, improvises her way, trying to reside in the space between 4 and 5. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance/choreography from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in 2002 and made her way to NYC. Rachel co-founded Launch Movement Experiment in 2005 in NYC and has been creating danceart with Launch ever since.

Here is some of Rachel's research for The Supper:

Meet the Artists: LIZ

2011-09-07T10:01:00.005-04:00

Liz Riga, direct from the Motor City, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance/choreography from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Liz ventured to NYC in 2001 where she attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and received a Master of Fine Arts in dance. She has been using her creative juices as a co-founder/art maker of Launch Movement Experiment since 2005, making it her vehicle for expression in an attempt to extend beyond the status quo. In addition to her Launch dance party, Liz worked extensively with Keigwin & Company, creating, performing, touring, and teaching as an original member of the company.

Check out Liz in rehearsal for The Supper.
She always serves quality... werk.

Meet the Artists: ANDY

2011-09-06T10:32:00.003-04:00

Andy Dickerson is the Resident Lighting Designer and Technical Director of Triskelion Arts, and is honored to have the opportunity to light Launch Movement Experiment for a 5th time. In addition to Triskelion Arts, he has worked at Joyce Soho, Center for Performance Research, Theater for The New City, Gene Frankel Theatre, Lehman college, and others, and has worked with such companies as Abby Bender Schmantze Theatre, Jessica Gaynor Dance, The Roxanne Lola Movement Machine, White Road Dance Media, NuDance Theater, Fools on Fire, and many more.

check out his magic:
www.cirquethis/lighting
www.launchmovementexperiment.com

Meet the Artists: JEFF

2011-09-04T23:17:00.003-04:00

Jeff Poulin is an artist and lifestylist currently living in Brooklyn, New York. Inspired by dark fantasy, pop culture, and noir, Jeff launched a fashion brand under the name Thou Art Uncouth in 2007. Jeff has design for major entertainment studios including Marvel Entertainment and NBC Universal, and has released a limited edition hand bag collection.

Jeff designed and constructed all the fashion for The Supper. It's sleek, twisted, dark. Just like Jeff. Come see...

Meet the Artists: RICHERT

2011-09-02T10:31:00.010-04:00

Richert Schnorr is a designer, videomaker, artist and performer who creates work across mediums and genres. His personal work explores how the meaning of identity has changed in the age of the internet. This work was recently showcased as his MFA Thesis, which he earned in Design and Technology at Parsons the New School for Design in 2011. He is also a nightlife performer and boylesque artist who has worked across NYC. His web/design/video clients include Jessica 6, Amanda Lepore, Cazwell and Ultra Nate.

www.richertschnorr.com

Richert created The Supper's Sneak Peak Video. He will be showing a new video piece at the show AND he is one of the performers in The Supper!! oh, yeah.

Meet the Artists: MATTHEW

2011-08-31T22:26:00.008-04:00

Matthew Baker originates from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where, before launching into the dance world, he began his movement exploration as a gymnast and soccer player. Prior to relocating to New York City, Matthew received his BFA Degree in Dance from Western Michigan University in April 2008. In addition to his work with Launch, Matthew has been a member of Keigwin & Company since 2009. In 2010 Matthew enjoyed assistant choreographing alongside Larry Keigwin for Vogue's "The Fashion Show", New York's largest fashion show in history. Also in 2010, Matthew began creating and exploring with Launch and has continued collaborating since.

Watch some of Matt's sweet moves
in The Supper's rehearsal process:

Meet the Artists: FADE

2011-08-29T22:48:00.010-04:00

Fade Kainer is a NYC-based musician/vocalist/producer/remixer. His current projects include industrial/metal band INSWARM and the doom outfit BATILLUS in which he contributes vocals, synths, and samples. Fade is also a live member of JARBOE. His solo project, STATIQBLOOM, is an ambient/electronic/noise project that has been described as "atmospheric music mostly composed in stream of thought, drifting at times from melancholy and sparse, to dense and haunting". Fade was the vocalist/songwriter of the industrial metal group, Still Life Decay (2002-06). Other projects include collaborations with Hekate, love is nothing, Ascension of The Watchers (live drummer 2005-06). In addition, he has remixed many bands including Fear Factory, Secrets of the Moon, Black Sun, Side 3. In 2007, Fade began composing music for Launch Movement Experiment, collaborating with the dancers to create "sonic scenery".

www.batillusdoom.com
www.myspace.com/inswarm

Meet the Artists: PATRICK

2011-08-24T23:41:00.008-04:00

Patrick Ferreri has been exploring movement for as long as he can remember and against all logic, he keeps going. His investigations, oft excavations, have brought him into the company of too many amazing artists to list here, but since you are reading this you are probably curious so they have included David Dorfman Dance, Clare Byrne, Sara Shelton Mann, Albert Mathias and Kathleen Hermesdorf. He is currently inspired by cinematic viewings of the word, cloud patterns and plays of light in the sky, the drama we keep beneath the surface but secretly love to let "slip" out. He has spent the last two years on the west coast fostering and supporting a polyamorous love affair between adrenaline, caffeine, and glitter which has manifested in biking around San Francisco, hanging out with drag queens, eating, and thinking about audience engagement in art.

Patrick's Work:

The Supper Premise 001

2011-08-22T09:10:00.009-04:00

Neurological testing is based on deception and secrecy. Not only does deception figure into the mind control experiments but it also keeps victims from determining who is conducting the mind control, how it is carried out, and where the perpetrators might be located...

SNEAK PEAK VIDEO!

2011-08-12T09:27:00.002-04:00

Launch Movement Experiment presents The Supper from REGULARMOTION on Vimeo.

video shoot

2011-07-31T13:53:00.003-04:00

Richert Schnorr is creating some video art for the project! About a week ago, he directed the first round of takes.
IT WAS A BLAST!!!

He is creating a sneak peak video which we will be posting and sending out prior to the show. He is also creating a video that will be shown before and after the show. AND, he is performing in the piece! We are excited to incorporate this element and his genius as part of the project.

Video coming soon... yeah.

what we have been up to : PART 2

2011-07-14T12:50:00.000-04:00

notes and thoughts:

working with a confined space on the floor. I am not sure how i will confine myself? Confinement makes we wonder about both sides of the defined lines. What happens inside? outside of the them? closer/farther away?

patrolling. flashlights.

being confined to a specific area. confining something to a specific area. prisoner.
vast emptiness, confusion, disorientation, repetition.
lonely.

synopsis: she builds her own cell. she enters and exits it as she pleases. when she is inside her cell, she finds comfort in her loneliness. when she steps outside of it, she is disoriented, confused, short of breath, unable to exist without it. It repeats. The journey, her pattern, it remains the same. The external elements change. she doesn't.

to encompass all of the above research, I decided to repeat the same movement/spatial pattern three times, each time with a different prop and a different group of sounds. by doing so, i wanted to see how the varying themes within the piece influenced what i presented and what the audience received. Doing this, allowed me to try to conducted a real-time study of perception and perspective from my point of view as the performer as well as from the point of view of the viewers.

here is some of it:

what we have been up to: PART I

2011-06-10T14:19:00.008-04:00

finally ready to start blogging again...

we have been developing and compiling material for a duet for Liz and Baker from improvised studies that have been documented over the past year.

the duet is becoming a private conversation in a public place. the dueters bombard each other with information and each decides how to deal with the information being presented given the location.

the notions of perception and perspective resurface.

words that are informing the duet intentions:
catching
separate
grab
throw
coincidence
toss aside
hand holding. hand shake
interruptions
shh...
not now

approaching theorem

2011-02-02T22:23:00.007-05:00

Over the past few months (we took December off to refresh), we stepped out of the studio to examine the ideas and theories that we discovered in the studio. No movement. For now, I am not going to discuss how these ideas will be physicalized.

below is a sampling of some of my notes...

behavior: in response to a particular stimulus or situation. why do we behave this way or that? and how can that be manipulated?

Dr. Ewan Cameron: there were two main factors that allows us to "maintain a time and space image", a.k.a know where and who we are: (a) "continued sensory input and (b) our memory." he worked for/ with the CIA's mind control program. he devised the CIA's psychological torture method.

electroshock, isolation, continuous sleep.

"We are bemused and crazed creatures, strangers to our true selves" R. D. Laing

perception
perspective
vantage point
icon vs reality

interference
obedience
fear
shock

going public

2010-11-09T11:26:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow, we will show a portion of what we have been studying. We will test some theories (previously considered in this blog) and see how they are perceived. A solo and a duet will be happening simultaneously; but in extremely different worlds. We will be addressing: private vs public; individual verses group; perception and perspective. We will also begin to consider the performance venue as a laboratory/sanctuary/torture chamber... The question looming around the whole concept being: who is studying whom?

As this performance nears, I have been thinking about the transition from the studio to the performance arena, private to public. The transition can be jolting, if one is not practicing fully during studio time. For us, we work hard to commit entirely to each rehearsal in a way that begins to close the gap between private and public. It is just a practice, not an execution whether it be for ourselves for viewers. Thus, public performance is simply an expression of the private studio thoughts. Not much changes in terms of delivery and energy.

I have also been wondering, as we all sometimes do, what the greater function of all of this is. For now, my thoughts remain attached to the idea that through abstraction and imagination, our performances open channels that allow viewers and performers to begin to understand complex realities in visceral ways, and in so doing provoke some kind of response. This is my goal, my job. I have come to find that it is important to not only know one's intention for a specific performance; but, to also identify a more expansive point. Once this is defined one's performance is clear, grounded, and full of truth no matter what the specifics of the current performance entail.

more soon...

-rach

immunity...

2010-10-25T14:56:00.016-04:00

possibilities:

1. ...the performance arena as a place where the thoughts, desires, and fears of the deepest recesses of our mind exist freely. this project and process as a venue that allows, welcomes, and nurtures the unacceptable, where the things that we hide are exposed; a safe place to be fucked up.

2. inner monologue: a mind is racing, but that body is still. turn the inside out here in this sanctuary. physically express the inner monologue...

also, a thought on the art of performance: this weekend i saw a lot of dance and i noticed a common theme: the dancers and choreographers were making choices to execute and approach their works, performances, and movements with excess amounts of energy, almost insane amounts. ease, control, concept, and detail were totally lost in a surplus of misdirected and unsupported outbursts of energy, regardless of intention. it brought to light for me the importance of practice, task, and clear intention. we dont have to perform to PROVE anything. we can perform to communicate. and if you are always screaming at me, i will go deaf or tune you out... which ever comes first. just a thought.

the videos below are a series of "inside outs/inner monologue" studies for one. and yes, there is a thunderstorm happening during the first video. lightning and all. it was exciting. and yes, i cant stop listening to older catpower. it is helping me try less and show more.
-rach

random thoughts

2010-09-30T18:01:00.006-04:00

just thinking, in no order of importance and not necessarily new or old....

sound associations: sounds trigger memory for the mind and the body. it's as simple as that. This sense has become a tool for recalling movement ideas without memorizing an actual series of movements or "steps". The ears cannot edit as the eyes can (close your eyes). The ears hear what they have heard before and the body recalls what it was doing then. simple science. It's in the tool belt. using sound to access memories and in turn past movement practices as a performance idea and a study tactic.

task and intention: a task is something to be done. direct. An intention is an aim or a plan mostly based on prior education. memory. these ideas are clearly fused in dance. A mover chooses to move from A to B, a task. A mover travels from A to B with ease. intention. I am beginning to create a solo for a portion of the work that will be a series of unrelated tasks and intentions. but wont this make them related? more soon...

communication: the more i work the more i realize i dont want to express anything in particular. i want to work on the actual act ( task ) of communicating as an ethereal almost telepathic experience, the performance space as an opportunity for input and output between viewer and performer.

sanctuary: used to be a place ( in a church) where fugitives were immune. so, a place where what is considered unsuitable can be free... thinking of this as a visual concept...
-rach

2010-08-17T16:15:00.010-04:00

thinking bout:
"What happens when we are required to keep in constant contact with _______?"
Filling in the blank is always amusing and the answers change by the day, by the hour. The possibilities are endless.

These improvised studies explore magnified expressions and isolated aspects of each our personalities. I am learning more about the players as people and the way in which we each deal with what is presented. It is profound to watch the performers develop within a given study. It is truly living and breathing. As a result, perspective and perception- physical and emotion- are lingering around our thoughts.

"What do we present and what do we perceive on our way to defining what we are and what "it" is?" deliberation, struggle, contentment, engagement, separation.

Also, the idea that it all has to make some sort of sense is totally out the window for me. I look at what we dig up and I piece it together. It's okay to create your own puzzle and solve it yourself and the pieces don't actually have to seamlessly fit together to create a beautiful thought. Making beautiful (or not so beautiful, but still beautiful) images and finding new ways to communicate is this process. "What does it mean?" doesn't mean anything. Art making is like magic- it's mystical and phenomenal. yes.

P. S. Matthew Baker has also joined the process and we are more than thrilled!!

Here is another taste:
-rach

the sound is this video was created by Fade Kainer.

recappin

2010-06-30T19:39:00.007-04:00

we took some time out of the studio to travel, write, think, and live. we are here:

a pink tool kit, cheese sandwiches, Barbie, Jesus, the apostles, Mary Magdalene, pillows, guns, bandages, pills, tang, couches, mascara, closets, bright lights, flashlights, exposure, soldiers, a birdcage, a memory, grocery bags, crystals, a music box, roller skates, strawberries, a game of telephone, shadows.

hold me

2010-05-30T17:31:00.009-04:00

This week the lovely Jackie Carslon joined us. She is fierce.
We worked on an improvised duet for Liz and Jackie with the following in mind:

: verb (used with object)
-squeeze someone tightly in one's arms, typically to express affection
-hold (something) closely or tightly around or against part of one's body
-fit tightly around
-keep close to

The bodies tell the story. The videos posted are the beginning takes of the process this week.
-Rach

seeing what happens

2010-05-24T14:18:00.006-04:00

Last week was spent mostly talking, conceptualizing, throwing out every idea that came to mind. A lot of the talk was centered around the phrase "the last supper". This phrase has been in my brain for awhile now. I have been talking to people about what the phrase means to them, Liz has as well. The different responses are incredibly vast (more on this soon) and inspired the intentions and compositional ideas for the basic studies we have been playing around with so far:
1. perspective
2. portrait/depiction.

thinking thinking thinking....

Toward the end of the week, we decided to put all that intellectualizing aside as best we could and let our bodies lead us. This video clip is my favorite place we ended up.
-Rachel

limitation breeds creativity

2010-05-17T10:59:00.018-04:00

We spent the past week studying our individual movement behaviors and patterns. In solo, we improvised with no particular goal in mind, trying to stay true to just following impulses. Through repetition of this exercise, patterns developed and we began to identify our habits. Habit-friend or foe? Yes, friend and foe. I wanted to try eliminating the habits we tend to employ when improvising. Jolt us a little, remove the comfort and uncover the movement narratives that reside under the protective layers. We spent more time improvising trying to exclude our habits- "anti-habit" studies, so to speak. It was a frustrating and revealing task, for me. I was irritated by the limitation and, at the same time, aggravated that I couldn't let my "tendencies" go. Idiosyncrasy has it place in performance and creativity; but, I found myself bored with my habitual movement vocabulary. I wanted new stuff! What ended up happening was exactly what I was hoping would happen: the elimination of the habit eventually created new patterns. We taught ourselves new tricks! The videos posted are several "anti-habit" studies edited together. The studies exhibit some of our little discoveries. P.S. The music in the videos is motivation (and feel-good indulgence). -Rachel :)

beginning

2010-05-09T17:05:00.009-04:00

(liz's foot after Friday's rehearsal- werk)

so, it's Liz, the studio, and me. we have been writing a lot, talking a lot. and now, over the past few weeks have begun to move a lot. we drink the wine (or the harder stuff) in rehearsal and it usually takes us about an hour before we calm down enough to actually start rehearsing. distractions are often welcomed as we sift through the incredibly vulnerable ritual of rehearsing. our sources are anything and everything. "the last supper", flashlights, trash bags, shiny things, and answering machine messages have been floating around the studio A LOT- literally and not so literally.

This past week we made movement portraits in which we tried to examine personality perspectives. these portrait studies are exposing ways for us to fuse abstraction and "recognizable person" gesture and vice verse. We are working on teaching ourselves how to seamlessly move in and out of realism and abstraction. unlearning the distinction is THE GOAL right now. rhythm and variation of timing is creating interest and calls for more exploration. a desire to challenge our "comfortable" performance behavior is in the air. the throat and the idea of dying has come up a lot. oh, and Barbie in all her splendor became a re-occurring theme in a our rehearsal jabber on Friday.

the ideas are broad and vague. so many places to go. i like where we are headed so far! -Rachel

Rachel and Brenda

liz and brenda

2010-05-09T17:04:00.001-04:00