photo: Andy Mogg
photo: Sharon Green
Cunning and Guile | Tri-Sep | Intersecting Stories
They've got whip-smart timing, like vaudevillians, but their humor is often dark, halfway between Samuel Beckett and Mad Magazine.
–SF Magazine
Cunning and Guile are sneaking up on unlikely spaces, inhabiting the bodies of two of the Bay Area's favorite dance makers, Chris Black and Ken James. Drawn in a world of hilarious improbabilities, unlikely violence, and touchingly absurd relationships, the Adventures of Cunning and Guile are presented as short duets, propelled by dark humor and the concise, poetic brevity that is a hallmark of Black and James’ choreography. With original art work by the remarkable Lark Pien, this winner of the 2006 Izzie Award for choreography will be performed as a walking tour of the Cartoon Art Museum. Wander frame by frame through the galleries at night with these two theatrical marvels.
Tri-Sep (working title description)
Tri-sep is a multi-media solo dance theater piece conceived and performed by FTPG Co-Artistic Director Cynthia Adams. Tri-sep probes beyond the facade of outward appearances, and documents the inner struggle for identity and exploring the multidimentionality of the self.
Joining Ms. Adams in colloration are; 2007 Izzie award winner Deborah Slater for direction; world renowned videographer, Douglas Rosenberg for video and "avant-cabaret" composer Amy X. Neuburg with a sound score and live performance. In the forty two minute piece the solo performer interacts with her pre-recorded projected video characters. The ensuing effect is the three sides of the self converge to create an intimate dance dialoge, illuminating the range of roles and dimensions inherent in human nature. Continuing her tradition of blending spoken word, video, music and dance, Ms. Adams gives the audience a peek at an examined life. Re-knowned for her solo dance theater works “Tri-sep” moves to another level of accomplishment and a pivital point in Ms. Adams artistic exploration between live performance and video projection which she has been investigating since the mid 1980’s. More complex than any other multi-media piece Ms. Adams has developed, “Tri-sep” relies on the expertise of her collaborators. Ms. Adams and Ms. Slater have long wanted to work on a project together agreeing in many of their aestetic sensibilities. Ms. Adams has performed for Mr. Rosenberg since 1992 in The Dziga Vertov Performance Group and most recently performed in his high def videos, “Sense” and “Verge” produced by the Wisconson Public Television. The newest collaboration with composer Amy X Neuburg emerges from a piece they are performing at Oberlin college on May 12, 2007.
Intersecting Stories by Ken James
Family and culture are binding forces in our life. It is possible to enter into a culture or family by learning and becoming part of its stories. Intersecting Stories will investigate how we enter into, solidify, and enrich our families and cultures. This piece will be playing with how these stories bring together communities; how they are created, and told.
The material will come from the collaborators lives, from historical sources, and cultural traditions. These will be formed into a non-linear assemblage of interlocking narratives. The piece will feel a bit gritty, its hyper clarity showing pores and yet preserving the mysterious, imagined history. Intersecting Stories is being created as a self-contained installation work to fit into a 15’ x 15’ space. These limitations favor a sense of intimacy between the dancers, and between the dancers and audience, as well as allowing the piece to be performed in a myriad of spaces outside of the theater. The dancing will be close partnering, with movement both fluid and harsh, theatrical and abstract. The trio will create a world intense and whimsical, embodying a rich minimalism – sparse in extraneous material, yet sumptuous in form and style.
Intersecting Stories is being created by: Christina Agamanolis (composer for dance, film, and television), Matthew Antaky (lighting designer for opera, dance, and music), Lawrence LaBianca (sculptor), and Ken James (choreographer and Artistic Director of FTPG).