Multi-media, site-specific dance performance, 2006.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:
NANCY MOON
212-989-7530
nancy@moonandcompany.com
NEGOTIATING POWER IN AN
UNLIKELY SETTING
Choreographer JoAnna Mendl Shaw and visual artist Janet Biggs team up to create an exciting new multi-media work at The Claremont Riding Academy in NYC.
WHO:
The Equus Projects - a
company that partners dancers with horses and their riders.
Janet Biggs - a visual artist known for large-scale video installations
exploring themes of power, control and desire.
WHAT:
"Rules of Engagement" - a
multi-media, site-specific dance performance incorporating a horse and rider,
dancers, and video projections.
WHERE:
The Claremont Riding Academy
- 175 West 89th Street, New York, NY 10024.
WHEN:
October 8, 9, 15 & 16 at 8pm
- $30 general admission, $20.00 students, artists, seniors.
October 8: Benefit Reception - Tickets $100.00/per person includes performance
and reception with food and drinks following the performance.
Appropriate barn footwear suggested.
HOW:
For tickets, call
800-595-4849
TRANSPORTATION:
Subway lines 1, B, C, E to
86th Street. Claremont Riding Academy is on 89th Street, between Columbus and
Amsterdam.
PRESS:
Nancy Moon
nancy@moonandcompany.com
212.989.4530
PHOTOS:
Downloadable hi-res images
available at
www.jbiggs.com/rules
Choreographer JoAnna Mendl
Shaw and visual artist Janet Biggs are both artists with large-scale visions.
Biggs is known for her mammoth video installations. Shaw directs The Equus
Projects/Dancing with Horses, a company of professional dancers and
equestrians whose performance works merge dance and equestrian artistry. Shaw
and Biggs will present their new collaboration, Rules of Engagement at the
historic Claremont Riding Academy on October 8th, 9th, 15th, and 16th.
Rules of Engagement combines synchronized video projections, three dancers, and a horse and rider to explore issues of power, freedom, and control. Underlying the human and equine choreography and video imagery is an investigation of interactions: how society dictates interactions and the isolation that occurs when one can’t or won’t participate according to society’s rules. Intentionally raw and at times disturbing, the choreography ranges from obsessively restrictive to abandoned, from subtle detail to fierce athleticism. By virtue of its size and potentially dangerous flight response, the horse moving among the dancers exemplifies the unpredictable nature of free will.
The Equus Projects has been creating performance works for dancers, horses and equestrians since 1999, working in collaboration with equestrians who range in training from dressage to Western cutting and reining. The Equus Projects has been produced by arts venues and equine presenters throughout the country. Its most recent projects include performances at the historic Perry Mansfield Performing Arts Camp and at the prestigious Ox Ridge Summer Dressage Show, an international competition that draws riders from all over the world to earn qualifying scores for the Olympic Games, the World Equestrian Games and the World Cup Finals.
Visual artist Janet Biggs' video camera captures athletes in moments of extreme exertion, presented in repetitive sequences that progress from dreamlike landscape to intense confrontation. Biggs, also an equestrian, is known for her large-scale video installations that often depict human and equine behavior side by side in stark commentary. Her multiple-channel installations, condensed yet epic, have garnered her a strong critical reputation and numerous gallery and museum exhibitions.
PRESS:
Nancy Moon
nancy@moonandcompany.com
212.989.4530
# # # # #