ES is a civilization. A civilization living in a constantly moving environment.
We follow a sample of this population through the duration of one of their cycles (i.e. day).
Research and Creation Residency at SAT
By Jan Pienkowski and Nikolas Dixon
The project is divided into two phases. Phase 1 and Phase 2.
The aim of the entire project is to present the work in public spaces. The aim of Phase 1 is to present an “in transition” form of the work and to use this as a demo in order to raise awareness and funds to be able to move onto Phase 2 of the project.
Cast for ES
Artistic Direction: A.R.M., Jan Pienkowski and Nikolas Dixon
Choreography: Nikolas Dixon
Music: Jan Pienkowski
Dance Interpretation: Valeria Ceballos, Alejandro Aleman, Diana Eden Ormsby, José Navarro Villalobos
Photography: Jan Pienkowski
Video Capture and Editing: Florence So
Description
ES is a civilization. A civilization living in a constantly moving environment.
We follow a sample of this population through the duration of one of their cycles (i.e. day). A cycle in which we see them clean, work, play, rest, love and worship. A journey which takes us into a strange world. A world echoed by our own.
SCENE 01 – SLEEP
Music: Ambient 4/4
SCENE 02a – WASTE
Music: Minimal 4/4
SCENE 02b – NOURISHMENT
Music: Minimal 4/4
SCENE 02c – HYGIENE
Music: Minimal to Electro 3/4
SCENE 03 – CLEANING
Music: Minimal to Breakbeat 4/4
SCENE 04 – RECREATIONAL DANCE (SOLOS)
Music: Minimal Tech 4/4 with varied tempos
Recreational dance indicating relationships.
SCENE 05 – RITUAL / SLEEP
Music: Minimal 5/4
The end of their day cycle punctuated by a spiritual ritual and finally sleep.
SCENE 06 –SLEEP
Music: Ambient
The approach in creating this piece has been different to previous ARM works. Normally Jan would write the music first and then Nik would create the choreography. In this project a more collaborative approach was mapped out between the two disciplines, where only the basic musical rhythmic elements would be agreed upon at the outset – for example, a 4/4 rhythm at 50 bpm or a 5/4 rhythm at 70 bpm – followed by the choreography and only then followed by the music.
To start off a scene, Jan would only provide a kick drum sound following the agreed upon time signature and tempo. With those basic music elements and the overall theme of the scene in mind, Nik would start writing the choreography. Once the choreography would start to take shape, Jan would film the rehearsals, import the video into his software and start writing the music to match the choreography and the themes for the scene.
“This was a great way to work as it made the whole process much more engaging and fun. It also brought out the best in what Ableton software has to offer these days – live and envelope tempo control (to switch tempos on the fly at rehearsals and in the studio) and video scoring capabilities.” – Jan
A.R.M.
Nikolas Dixon (Choreographer)
Jan Pienkowski (Music Composer)
The collective A.R.M. began in 2003 with Nikolas Dixon and Jan Pienkowski collaborating on a project for the 2003 Divers/Cité festival. The festival’s Flexx night was dedicated to dance performances and Nikolas, Jan, and two dancers performed the work live to an audience of several thousand.
In 2004, Nikolas and Jan decided to add a third dimension to their work by incorporating live video into their performances. In Spring 2004, vidoegrapher Heide Aufgewekt was chosen to create video for upcoming work “Appliance of Man”, presented in four evenings in May 2004 to a sold out audience.
In the fall of 2004 “I, Slave”, presented as a headlining act at the 2004 Black and Blue festival, incorporated the video skills of photographer and video artists Pierluigi Vecchi (VJ Fluid).
In 2005, ARM presented ‘Hacking The Human Hard Drive” at the SAT – exploring the relationships between humans and machines, through dance, music and video.
DANCE WORKS – A.R.M.
2005-07-14 – ES (in production)
• Choreography: Nikolas Dixon
• Music: Jan Pienkowski
• Dance Interpretation: Valeria Ceballos, Alejandro Aleman Villalobos, Diana Eden Ormsby, José Navarro
• Lighting: TBA
2005-07-14 – Hacking The Human Hard Drive
• Choreography: Nikolas Dixon
• Music: Jan Pienkowski
• Video: Pierluigi Vecchi
• Dance Interpretation: Nikolas Dixon and Simon Lanct Simon Lanctôt
• Lighting: Mathieu Poirier
2004-10-08 – I, Slave – Black & Blue Festival
• Choreography: Nikolas Dixon
• Music: Jan Pienkowski
• Video: Pierluigi Vecchi
• Dance Interpretation: Jadson Caldeira, Elena Martoglio, Miroslav Stajnokovske
• Lighting: Mathieu Poirier
2004-05-20,21,22,23 – Appliance of Man – Tangente
• Choreography: Nikolas Dixon
• Music: Jan Pienkowski
• Video: Pierluigi Vecchi
• Dance Interpretation: Jadson Caldeira, Elena Martoglio, Miroslav Stajnokovske
• Lighting: Mathieu Poirier
2003-07-30 – A.R.M. – Divers/Cité – Flexx Night
• Choreography: Nikolas Dixon
• Music: Jan Pienkowski
• Dance Interpretation: Nikolas Dixon, Jadson Caldeira, Fabio Dorea
• Lighting: Mathieu Poirier
Choreographer Nikolas Dixon is originally from the U.K. where he danced and choreographed in The Royal Ballet for eight years. He was then based in Tokyo for twelve years, Vancouver for five and Boston for one before finally settling in Montreal.
He has worked extensively with live bands including The Cure, Peter Hammill, Soft Ballet, Kohichi Makigami, Hikasu and Kouji Ueno. This latest (of five collaborations) with Jan Pienkowski is aimed to be performed anywhere in the world – train stations, airports, shopping malls….
Valeria Ceballos , dancer. was born and trained in Mexico City and Los Angeles, California. She danced with companies Danzart, Ballet Neoclasico de la America Latina, Ballet Teatro Metropolitano, and Taller Coreografico de la UNAM. In Toronto, she performed with Latin Dance Theatre and Anandam Performance Group, Theatre Terrapax Borealis, Ballet Creole, Ballet Espressivo, and Ontario Ballet Theatre. She is happy to be in Montreal, and involved in this project. Valeria is also grateful to the people involved in her development as a dancer and as a human being.
Alejandro Aleman Villalobos, dancer, was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He has trained extensively in classical ballet & contemporary dance at the University of Veracruz and Mexican folkloric dance at L’Academie de la Danse Mexicaine. He was invited to dance at the Anna Pavlova School and as a dancer in Cetis 79 folkloric school. He is also an expert tango dancer.
Diana Alexandra Eden Ormsby has been a professional dancer since 1996 and was awarded a fellowship by the national endowment for culture and the arts. She is a member of the dance company UX ONODANZA, in which she has participated in diverse dance projects to great acclaim in Mexico. She is a graduate of the Fine Arts National School Of Dance and has been a dedicated student of the Russian school of classical ballet, mime and yoga. She has recently begun teaching dance.
José Navarro, danseur, est originaire du Mexique .Il est gradué de l’Institut National des Beaux Arts du Mexique et du Conservatoire de théâtre Musical des Amériques comme danseur-interprète. Il a également enseigné au Ballet National Folklorique Mexicain de Amalia Hernandez. Il arrive au Québec en 2001 et rejoint le monde de la danse en participant à différents projets avec la compagnie Ballet ouest de Montréal, Les sortilèges Danses du monde, Abitidanse ,Roméo et Juliette tango y algo mas …, Gioconda Barbuto (Chorégraphe).