Highlights of Spring Perspective

I thought I would post some of the lovely photos taken of the MFA Dance Exhibition, Spring Perspective performances this past week. It has been a while since the Space saw such varied lighting environments...it was a wonderful performance to see!

Image: Lindsey Caddle-LaPointe performing with the videos of her project, OVERSIZED

Image: OSU Dance students watch video projection of, "What Can a Body Do?" by Lily Skove

Image: Lise Worthen-Chaudhari demonstrates how to interact with her Embedded Arts tool

Image: Rodney Veal performs amid his sculpture and video installation, The Persistence of Memory II

Images taken by Exhibitions Assistant Brianna Dance and other OSU Urban Arts Space staff.

-Leigh Lotocki, Social Media Assistant at the OSU Urban Arts Space

Pecha Kucha Performance on the Flip-Side

Pecha Kucha Columbus, hosted here at the OSU Urban Arts Space this Thursday, was a big success! We had many many people from the community come and show their interest and support of our ten presenters. I participated in the evening not as my usual Staff-member self, but as a performer. With two other dance majors from OSU, I performed a piece of choreography that is part of my senior project in Dance during the event. I really enjoyed dancing up-close to the audience, as opposed to dancing in a large theater with the audience at a distance. What a great opportunity to reach out (literally) to new audiences!

Thanks for all who attended to make P.K. a lovely evening!

-Leigh Lotocki, Social Media Assistant at the OSU Urban Arts Space

PS: I can't help it... here is some shameless self-promotion. Check out the OSU Senior Dance Festival Blog, or email us at seniordancefest@gmail.com, for more information about my Dance project and others. OSU Dance is hosting a five-day Dance Festival on campus April 14-18th, 2010.

Performance Improv at the UAS

Since the first day I worked at The Urban Arts Space last year till now I have been passionate about the unique space that composes Urban Arts and always dreamed of dancing in it. On Saturday, November 22, 2008 Sarah Gibbons (other student assistant to UAS) and I were working. Because it was Ohio State football's big Michigan game day, not many people came into the space. We decided to take this opportunity of bare galleries and extremely thought provoking and aesthetically pleasing art to do an improvisational dance jam.

Sarah, myself, and other dance major Meredith Hurst are all members of OSU Dance Department’s “PIE,” otherwise known as “Performance Improvisation Ensemble.” In this class/ensemble we learn to dance improvisationally using a variety of tools for movement creation. One tool we focused on was the different ways of seeing line (on one anothers body and our own body) while dancing. Dancing in front of the frantic and varying lines in Alan Crockett’s paintings was a refreshing way to explore new movement. I also found that working in the deep narrow space of the hallway of the gallery made me explore traveling movement choices I normally would not in a studio setting.

Malcom Cohran’s “Buffet of Anticipation,” Ann Hamilton’s “Shell,” Suzanne Silver’s pieces “Squiggle,” and “Deflated Painting from the Faculty Exhibition were other sources of inspiration for another improv jam. Being surrounded by the wide variety of textures in all the pieces: from silver to cloth to plastic to neon lights definitely influenced our dancing. A foreign vocabulary to each one of us was introduced. Because there was limited space around the work our movements became much more about gesture and motif than full body movement.

Dancing in such close proximity to the artwork and one another really forced us to make connections. These two improv jams were not seen as three dancers dancing around visual artwork, but a meshing of art forms; dance reflecting visual art and art complementing dance, dancers reflecting one another and contrasting one another, making connections physically and mentally, and acting not as a individual but an ensemble, even when dancing alone.

I enjoyed my dance experience at UAS and plan on dancing there again. To rent out or utilize our gallery space for your own personal events check out our website.

- Joanna Reed, UAS Student Assistant

What to do? What to do? Downtown Columbus : August 29th and beyond

Tonight, Friday 29th

8pm: Ballet Met on the Scioto River. Come see Ballet Met dancers perform highlights from previous seasons in addition to excerpts from the 2008-09 season. Come early and watch the dancers warm up proir to the performance. At the Riverfront Amphitheater. 

Saturday August 30th

11am to 6pm: Last day to see our totally-hyped Ways of Knowing Water exhibition. I'll be here until 6 to offer you your own personal tour of the artwork.

After noon: The Shelf gallery is having a yard sale event. 

Walk away with affordable original artworks among other things. Dance Party included. Yo! Find it all at 57 E. Gay Street.

Thats all I guess. Sheesh.