West of Rome Public Art
With Arto Lindsay and Rirkrit Tiravanija Present
Trespass
A Parade, Party & Public Call to Action
In Downtown Los Angeles
October 2-3, 2011

Trespass is Part of the Official Opening Weekend Celebration
Of the Getty-Sponsored, Region-Wide Initiative
Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 14, 2011 [updated 9/19/11] – On Sunday, October 2, 2011, the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles will erupt with Trespass, a parade where artists and residents will rally together to engage in art, music, dancing, floats, community activism, and performance. The parade is just one component of Trespass – a collaborative project between Arto Lindsay, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and West of Rome Public Art (WoR) that also includes a party and a T-shirt project with call-to-action slogans.  As part of Trespass, many Los Angeles art luminaries, including John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Nancy Rubins, and Jeffrey Vallance, were asked to produce statements – personal calls to action expressing political or social concerns – which will be worn on T-shirts at the October 2nd parade. Many of the participating artists will also join in with performative pieces. Trespass continues into Monday evening, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration at Union Station (800 North Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012) featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists to benefit nonprofit West of Rome. For more information, please visit http://trespassparade.org.

Trespass is part of the opening weekend of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 – a collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. As a catalyst for change, Trespass collaborates and interacts with a high-octane roster of important local artists, the resident Downtown population, and the architecture in the area.  The project invites Los Angeles to gather and occupy the streets of our city as an act of community activism in this time of world turmoil and change. Provocative performance artists, philosophers, musicians, sound wizards, and dancers will rise up and speak out in spectacle to create an unforgettable moment in the cultural life in the streets of Downtown L.A. Trespass strives to convey and reiterate, in a creative way, the importance of free speech as the most powerful and effective vehicle for implementing change.

Sunday, October 2 – Trespass –
Highly influential contemporary artists, the youth of our time, and the public will engage in a symphony of creativity and free speech as Trespass takes over Downtown L.A. on Sunday, October 2nd, with music, dancing and performance. Arto Lindsay will create bold and loud sound experiments, responding to the activity and architecture of Downtown Los Angeles. Additional performers on the parade route will include ACE, Scott Benzel, Nancy Buchanan, Vaginal Davis, Dawn Kasper, KILLSONIC, Joel Kyack, Sylvère Lotringer, Ann Magnuson, My Barbarian, Alex Segade, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and more TBA. Many parade walkers and performers will wear T-shirts with the slogans about free speech, reciprocity, and civic participation, as an act of alternative messaging in the street. The October 2nd portion of Trespass is part of opening weekend of Pacific Standard Time, as swarms of culture seekers flock to the area on a day when dozens of area museums and institutions offer free admission.

For those participating, the parade formation begins at Art Platform – Los Angeles (L.A. Mart, 1933 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007) at 11:00am on October 2nd. The parade will quietly make its way north through the staging area with the main spectacle beginning around noon at the Herald-Examiner Building at Broadway and 11th (1111 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015). The parade will continue through the heart of the historic Broadway Theater District to First Street. Trespass then takes a left on First Street to the Grand Avenue cultural corridor with a finale by KILLSONIC and ending reception at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) as well as at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater). The length of the parade, including vehicles and performers, will span approximately one long city block and will involve a rolling closure of streets over more than 25 blocks. See the parade map at http://trespassparade.org/when-and-where.

Updated Additional List of Parade Performers –
Dewey Ambrosino, Raul Paulino Balthazar, Dola Baroni, bodycity, CollectiveCollective, Stephanie Diamond, Corey Fogel, !mpact people, James Brandon Lewis Trio, JETS a group organized by CHAMPIONS, Monica Rodriguez Medina, Mobile Mural Lab, Felicia “Fe” Montes, Milena Muzquiz, Newspaper Reading Club, Anna Oxygen, Pedestal & the All-Girl Band, QW##R <3, Christopher Reynolds, Kenny Scharf, Alex Segade, Sir Richard’s Condom Company, Niko Solorio, South Gate High School, Stella Adler Acting Studio, and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles.

Monday, October 3 – Trespassparty –
Trespass will continue into Monday, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration for West of Rome at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. The party kicks off at 9:30pm featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists such as iconic underground figure Ms. Vaginal Davis who will act as MC/host and legendary singer and pioneer in the queer core movement Phranc. The rhythms of Trespass will permeate into the evening as musician Arto Lindsay performs a unique piece composed for the occasion. Artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will engage the audience in a continuation of the collective experience of social awareness stemming from the parade. The evening also features special guest DJ JD Samson of Le Tigre and MEN. A $200 donation is required for entrance to the party, which will feature a signed limited edition recipe by Tiravanija revealing both his artisan pizza creation in collaboration with Pizzanista and vodka drink created specially for Trespass. Kanon Organic Vodka and Singha Beer are the evening’s liquor and beer sponsor respectively. For a $1,000 donation, starting at 7:00pm, a limited number of guests will enjoy a gourmet dinner in Union Station’s historic Fred Harvey Room with a recipe by Tiravanija especially executed for the occasion as well as first access to the silent auction of unique artwork by Barbara Kruger. To purchase tickets, please visit: http://trespassparade.org/party.

Participating Trespass Artists –
In addition to Lindsay and Tiravanija, participating artists include: Eleanor Antin, Edgar Arceneaux, Lisa Anne Auerbach, John Baldessari, Scott Benzel, Walead Beshty, Andrea Bowers, Nancy Buchanan, Chris Burden, Vaginal Davis, Sam Durant, Charles Gaines, Cheri Gaulke, Amy Gerstler, Piero Golia, Matt Greene, Julian Hoeber, Alex Israel, Glenn Kaino, Dawn Kasper, Mike Kelley, Chris Kraus, Barbara Kruger, Joel Kyack, Suzanne Lacy, Liz Larner, William Leavitt, Sharon Lockhart, Ann Magnuson, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Dave Muller, T. Kelly Mason, My Barbarian, Yoshua Okón, Jorge Pardo, Renee Petropoulos, Stephen Prina, Gustavo Raynal, Steve Roden, Nancy Rubins, Sterling Ruby, Aaron Sandnes, Jim Shaw, Susan Silton, Stephanie Taylor, Diana Thater, Kaari Upson, Jeffrey Vallance, Marnie Weber, Pae White, Terry Wolverton…

Public Participation–
The public is encouraged to participate in Trespass by embracing free speech and creative action, either officially or unofficially. To march in the parade or volunteer at the event, please sign-up at: http://trespassparade.org/parade-enrollment. Participants are also encouraged to engage in the event by purchasing a printed Trespass T-shirt with a slogan that resonates with them to wear at the parade.

Trespass T-Shirts –
Trespass commissioned 60 Los Angeles-based artists to produce a statement – each expressing a call to action – printed on American Apparel T-shirts in English and in Spanish and worn as part of the parade. The T-shirts are being sold online to benefit the project. Visit the Trespass online store in advance of the parade to purchase a T-shirt at http://store.trespassparade.org/category/t-shirts.

Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 –
Trespass’ parade is a Pacific Standard Time opening weekend event. Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 is a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force in the art world.  Exploring and celebrating the significance of the crucial years after World War II through the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 1970s, Pacific Standard Time encompasses developments from L.A. Pop to post-minimalism; from modernist architecture and design to multimedia installations; from the films of the African American L.A. Rebellion to the feminist activities of the Woman’s Building; from ceramics to Chicano performance art; and from Japanese American design to the pioneering work of artists’ collectives.  Initiated through $10 million in grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time involves cultural institutions of every size and character across Southern California, from Greater Los Angeles to San Diego and Santa Barbara to Palm Springs.

Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

Trespassis the only Pacific Standard Time event held in an outdoor public space featuring new contemporary works from a number of important Los Angeles artists celebrated in the region-wide collaborative project as well as emerging artists from the present. http://pacificstandardtime.org/participants

Trespass Partners –
Trespass’ community partners include the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time as well as American Apparel, Art Platform – Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Chapman Lofts, Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, Downtown Properties Holdings, LA Inc., MAK Center for Art and Architecture, The Metabolic Studio, Metro, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), The Orpheum Theatre, ANJAC, REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), Sheppard Mullin and s(o)ul.  Media partners include ForYourArt and LA Weekly.  Trespassparty is a Pink Cloud Production.

Arto Lindsay–
Arto Lindsay’s musical career has often involved collaboration with artists. These have ranged from working with Jean-Michel Basquiat on his artist break for MTV to a performance at The Kitchen with Vito Acconci called “Women’s Business” to a parade during Carnival in Salvador, Brasil with Matthew Barney entitled De Lama Lamina. Recent projects of his include collaborations with Dominique Gonzalez Foerster and Philippe Parreno. In April 2008, Lindsay presented I Am a Man, a parade in Frankfurt featuring dancer Richard Siegal, artist/musician Nico Vascellari, percussionist Marivaldo Paim, and students of the Städelschule. In 2009, Lindsay presented Multinatural (Blackout) a parade at the Venice Biennale. He has also presented parades in New York and Berlin. In 2010, Lindsay collaborated with Rirkrit Tiravanija on a parade in Paris for Nuit Blanche. http://www.artolindsay.com

Rirkrit Tiravanija–
Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija is widely recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work defies media-based description, as his practice combines traditional object making, public and private performances, teaching, and other forms of public service and social action. Tiravanija was the winner of the 2010 Absolut Art Award and the 2005 Hugo Boss Prize, awarded by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He has also been awarded the Benesse Prize by the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Japan and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Lucelia Artist Award. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rirkrit_Tiravanija

West of Rome Public Art–
Los Angeles-based West of Rome Public Art (WoR) is an innovative nonprofit art organization dedicated to the realization of artists’ projects, exhibitions, and public interventions that encourage dialogue and community interaction outside of the frame of galleries and museums. Founded in 2005, WoR has curated and produced many notable exhibitions including Women in The City featuring Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman and Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley and Michael Smith’s A Voyage of Growth and Discovery, and Marnie Weber’s Eternity Forever. Functioning without a permanent exhibition space, WoR is not anchored to any specific location and is therefore free to explore a diversity of urban spaces for its projects. Each show, installation or event takes place in a uniquely chosen site, sometimes off the beaten track, sometimes in the middle of a high traffic street. These unorthodox exhibition sites are dictated by circumstance, time and the nature of each project, and for a designated period of time, become places of discovery for both the casual passer-by and the attentive art visitor. http://www.westofrome.org

January 2012 –
In January 2012, West of Rome Public Art will present Trilogy, a series of new performances curated by WoR’s Founder Emi Fontana, as part of Pacific Standard Time’s Performance and Public Art Festival. Inspired by the legacy of the Los Angeles Woman’s Building, WoR’s series will begin with a piece by Andrea Fraser dealing with issues of identity and diversity in political dynamics inside feminist groups from the 1970s. A new site-specific piece by Vaginal Davis is a poetic meditation on feminist whimsy and gender queerness. Mike Kelley will contribute to the discourse, exploring the influence that the aesthetics of the Feminist Movement has had in his practice. The January festival will transform Southern California over an eleven-day period from January 19th through the 29th. Performances and projects will be located at institutions and sites throughout Southern California in close proximity to more than two-dozen Pacific Standard Time exhibitions.  The Performance and Public Art Festival is organized by the Getty Research Institute and LA>< ART.

For more information, to request images, or arrange interviews please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

image from "North Horizon" by Thomas Freundlich and Valterri Raekallio

Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its month-long presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces the programming for its ninth annual Dance Media Film Festival screening at venues throughout Southern California in June 2010.  Dance on screen, or “screendance,” is a unique cinematic experience that focuses on the intersection of cinematography and choreography.  The festival includes this as well as all forms of dance media.  “The hybrid screendance medium is diverse, encompassing a broad range of cinematic styles, exhibition formats, and subject matters traversing global perspectives,” says Dance Camera West founder and director, Lynette Kessler… For Immediate Release:  April 26, 2010 [revised 05/26/10]

Dance Camera West
Announces Program Schedule For
Ninth Annual Dance Media Film Festival
Throughout Los Angeles – June 2010
–
REDCAT, Downtown Art Walk, Hammer Museum, Screen Actors Guild,
Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, Timothy Yarger Fine Art, Grand Performances

LOS ANGELES, CA – Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its month-long presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces the programming for its ninth annual Dance Media Film Festival screening at venues throughout Southern California in June 2010.  Dance on screen, or “screendance,” is a unique cinematic experience that focuses on the intersection of cinematography and choreography.  The festival includes this as well as all forms of dance media.  “The hybrid screendance medium is diverse, encompassing a broad range of cinematic styles, exhibition formats, and subject matters traversing global perspectives,” says Dance Camera West founder and director, Lynette Kessler, “The festival includes everything from experimental shorts to documentaries – ranging from surreal visual abstractions to strict narratives.”  Once again DCW partners with the city’s most prominent venues in offering a host of screenings, installations, and panel discussions with visiting international artists. Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates at www.dancecamerawest.org.

Dance Camera West’s ninth annual Dance Media Film Festival opens at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) in downtown LA, with its celebrated opening night party on Friday, June 4, 2010.  The opening weekend, entitled “Dance Media Screen Innovations,” will captivate audiences on Friday and Saturday night with three separate programs of screendance short films from around the world.  On Thursday, June 10th look for a DCW media installation as part of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.  The following weekend DCW will present two days of programming at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theatre – “Weekend at the Hammer” – which will feature iconic Pina Bausch films on Saturday, June 12^th (three West Coast films premieres in two programs: Pina Bausch [2006], and A Breath with Pina Bausch [2004] at 4:30pm and then at 7:00pm Dancing Dreams [2010]), and on Sunday, June 13th experience “SurREEL Moves: Weird & Wonderful Experimental Dance Shorts.”  Join industry insiders at the 4th installment of the Choreography Media Honors on Wednesday June 16th at the Screen Actors Guild for “Choreographers In Media: A Panel Discussion.”  On the evening of June 19th, DCW showcases work from Los Angeles-based creators in its “Local Makers” program with an entertaining outdoor, community event at the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center.  The final weekend wraps up with “Movement Media Installations” on Saturday June 26th, a closing reception in Beverly Hills at Timothy Yarger Fine Arts.  Then on Sunday evening DCW presents Dzi Croquettes, a lively Brazilian documentary at Grand Performances.

Known as one of the world’s premiere presenters of dance media, Dance Camera West aspires to awaken and infuse the public mainstream with critical creative programming.  DCW has expanded the audience for dance in Southern California with the presentation of more than 1,000 dance films from 45 countries since its inception in 2002.  The West African country Burkina Faso was added this year.

“Dance media is pushing art in a new direction as choreographers and directors continue to fuel innovation and impact the way we perceive art and life,” says Kessler.

Dance Camera West founder and executive/artistic director Lynette Kessler is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and media artist with an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and a BFA in Dance from York University in Toronto.  Known for her innovative collaborations and dance work for the screen that have been shown in film festivals worldwide, Kessler has received numerous awards including a Lester Horton Dance Award, Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellowship, and an artist residency at Headlands Center for the Arts. She is a founding member of Media & Dance Network (MAD), has served on dance film review committees for EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center) Commission, American Choreography Awards, Dance on Camera Festival in New York, Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film in Toronto, and is a guest lecturer at UCLA, UC Irvine, and Cal Arts.  Kessler sits on the board of directors for the following organizations: Buckminster Fuller Institute, Dance Channel TV, and the California Ear Unit.  She is an active member of the advocacy groups: Arts for LA, California Arts Advocates, and Americans for the Arts. And she’s also on the Media Arts Advisory Committee to guide the new Media Arts initiative creating a fifth arts discipline for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

Dance Camera West is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering and promoting the vibrant art of dance media from around the world.  DCW aims to bridge the unique mix of film and dance communities in Los Angeles through the exploration of this hybrid genre.  DCW also strives to create a broader and more engaged audience for dance and dance media by merging both performance and cinematic aesthetics.  DCW is one of only a handful of organizations in the world that present dance media and the only one of its kind on the West Coast.  The 2008 and 2009 festivals were featured in FOX News segments, Los Angeles Magazine selected Dance Camera West as its “Pick of the Month” for the June 2008 issue, the Los Angeles Times selected the Dance Camera West Media Film Festival as one of the “Ten Best” dance events in Los Angeles for 2006 and 2007, and DCW was voted one of the “Top 25 Dance Organizations to Watch” by Dance Magazine in 2005 and 2006.

In addition to the planning of the upcoming June 2010 festival, Dance Camera West is also preparing a special 10-year anniversary event for 2011.  In celebration of this milestone, the organization will host an international Dance Media Symposium in downtown Los Angeles next year, bringing together artists, dancers, educators, and film/television industry professionals.  With a working title of Dance Media: The Active Spectrum, 2011 conference participants from the dance and media worlds will come together for a conversation on the exciting opportunities for expansive growth, creative expression, and innovation offered by new media. In addition to a full program of evening screenings, the 2011 anniversary event will also include a unique series of daytime panel presentations, guest speakers, and networking opportunities. A steering committee for the conference is being formed with notable artists and leaders from the international dance media community.

This year’s 2010 Dance Camera West festival is supported in part by Mortimer Levitt Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Chora, a project of the Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

See below for DCW’s June 2010 Festival Schedule:

➢    Fri. June 4 [8:00pm] and Sat. June 5 [6:00pm & 8:00pm] at REDCAT [downtown LA]
“Dance Media Screen Innovations” (contains adult content)

Opening night screening and party on Friday followed by two different screening programs on Saturday. In three unique experimental shorts screening programs, held during the first two days of the festival, this collection of innovative dance films represents a survey of what’s happening in the current state of screen dance from around the world, which explores the intersection between movement and cinema.  The “Dance Media Screen Innovations” program includes 24 films – three of which are world premieres, the other 21 are all West Coast premieres and most are U.S. premieres – from 14 different countries including France, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, China, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Belgium, USA, Canada, Ireland and Brazil.  Audiences should be warned that some films contain adult content.
- Fri. June 4 – 8:00pm – Screening followed by Opening Night Reception
- Sat. June 5 – 6:00pm – Screening
- Sat. June 5 – 8:00pm – Screening (all three screenings different)

REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) in Walt Disney Concert Hall complex
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213 237-2800; www.redcat.org)
- Tickets $15 opening night, $10 for other screenings
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➢    Thu. June 10 [5:00 – 9:00pm] [downtown LA]
DCW Installation at Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk

DCW will take part in the increasingly popular Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. DCW presents the media installation “Body/Traces,” a commission from EMPAC (Jaffe Foundation Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center), in the basement of the Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC).  The LATC is an historical building, formerly Security National Bank dating from 1916, whose marble walls enclose the Center’s Grand Lobby.  The installation will be in the former vault!

“Body/Traces” by Lisa Parra and Sophie Kahn
“Body/Traces” is a fascinating media installation that examines the body by reducing it to lines through the interaction of three-dimensional media, movement, sound and the environment.  The tranquil piece about perception presents an interesting juxtaposition as it exerts itself within the context of the legendary art walk masses.

The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk is a free, self-guided tour of the many art exhibition venues in Downtown LA.  It takes place on the 2nd Thursday of every month.  It began in September 2004 and has grown enormously since, with many thousands of people attending every month (50,000 in March 2010).  More than 40 galleries and museums participate throughout the central downtown area, within the walkable districts between the Grand Avenue/Disney Hall/MOCA area, Little Tokyo, and the Financial District, centered around Gallery Row on Main and Spring Streets in the Historic Core.

Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk – www.downtownartwalk.org
Los Angeles Theatre Center
514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213-489-0994; http://thelatc.org)
- FREE admission, no reservations required

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➢    Sat. June 12 [7:00pm] and Sun. June 13 [2:00pm & 6:00pm] at the Hammer Museum [Westwood]
“Weekend at the Hammer” – three programs over two days at the Hammer

- Saturday – “Pina Bausch Celebration”
Pina Bausch, a master of transformative theater, surreal stagings and an incomparable brand of neo-expressionist dance, was one of the greatest dance artists of the last 40 years. Join us for a celebration with three West Coast film premieres taking an in-depth look at the work and life of Pina Bausch.  Co-presented by the Goethe Institute.
- Sunday – “SurREEL Moves: Weird & Wonderful Experimental Dance Shorts”

Saturday – 4:30pm -
Pina Bausch (Germany, 2006, 45 min.)
From confused and irritated audiences to standing ovations worldwide, Pina Bausch shares stories of her journey in this documentary starting with forming her company Tanztheather Wuppertal in the early 1970’s to creating over 30 astonishing works. Directed by Anne Linsel.  Co-presented by the Goethe Institute.

A Breath with Pina Bausch (Turkey, 2004, 45 min.)
Award-winning director Huseyin Karabey‘s high-caliber documentary provides unprecedented access into the creative process of one of modern dance’s most compelling minds. A Breath with Pina Bausch was inspired by the city of Istanbul, the cosmopolitan center that the Byzantine, Roman and the Ottoman Empires all called home.

Saturday – 7:00pm -
Dancing Dreams (Germany, 2010, 89 min.)
The documentary centers around a group of high school students rehearsing for a performance of one of Pina Bausch’s signature pieces, “Kontakthof” (Comfort Zone), a stylized presentation of the entanglements of the sexes. Directed by Anne Linsel.  Co-presented by the Goethe Institute.

Sunday – 7:00pm -
“SurREEL Moves: Weird & Wonderful Experimental Dance Shorts” (85 min.)
From poetic to peculiar, this collection of recent award-winning international dance shorts presents both kinetic and immobile bodies in space, defying traditional notions of dance. Sushi, reindeer, and a bright pink wig triumph in this program of smart, cool and LOL dance media.

Hammer Museum – Billy Wilder Theater
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024 (310-443-7000; www.hammer.ucla.edu)
- FREE admission, no reservations required; seating is first come first served
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➢    Wed. June 16 [7:00pm - 9:00pm] at Screen Actors Guild [Mid-Wilshire]
Choreographers In Media: A Panel Discussion
Presented by Dance Camera West and held in association with Screen Actors Guild and Career Transitions for Dancers

This years Choreography Media Honors will be presented as a panel discussion featuring today’s working choreographers. Dance makers continue to create iconic moments that shape film history for audiences all over the world.  The panel will discuss how they create work for the camera and the role they play at the intersection of dance on screen.

Panelist’s include:
Chuck Maldonado is an award-winning choreographer and performer whose credits include Stomp The Yard (1 & 2), You Got Served, Dancing With the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew, an Apple iPod commercial, and the 1996 Olympic Opening Ceremonies.   He has worked with many top artists including P. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Fergie, Missy Elliott, Kanye West, Usher, and Pink.

Kim Blank appeared in seminal ’80s music videos such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Lionel Richie’s “Dancin On The Ceiling,” and Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It.” As a choreographer, she earned an Emmy nomination for her work on Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, starring Halle Berry, and she created dances for Madonna, Keri Russell, Walter Matthau, and Raven Simone.  Credits include Frankie & Alice, Ray, Evita, The Mambo Kings, and That’s So Raven.

Award-winning choreographer Lula Washington is the founder and artistic director of the Lula Washington Dance Theater, a modern dance company founded in 1980 in South Central Los Angeles. Her work on the 2009 blockbuster Avatar with filmmaker James Cameron brought acrobatic life to the avatars on screen.  She also coined the wildly popular Avator line: “eye see you.”  Washington’s dancers have performed at both the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers and she has received the prestigious Minerva Award for Women’s Achievement in California.

This is the fourth installment of the Choreography Media Honors.  All are welcome – dancers, choreographers, industry leaders, and dance aficionados – to celebrate and strengthen LA’s dance community.
-  Moderated by Larry Billman
-  The panel will be followed by a reception.

Screen Actors Guild – James Cagney Room
5757 Wilshire Blvd., 7th Fl, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323-954-1600, www.sag.org)
- FREE admission, no reservations required
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➢    Sat. June 19 [8:00 – 10:00pm] at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center [West LA]
“Local Makers – LA Choreographers and Directors” – Outdoor Screening

DCW will host over 25 local makers of media and dance in an outdoor screening event in the park behind the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center.  The landscape will be transformed into a cinematic cross-cultural display with five different screening areas.  Each screening area will run the gamut of local talent from established artists such as Mitchell Rose, Morleigh Steinberg, Roberta Shaw, and Cari Ann ShimSham to emerging artists and students from LAUSD middle and high schools.  For this family-friendly evening please bring a flashlight and a blanket, and join in the fun under the stars.

Cheviot Hills Recreation Center
2551 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90064 (310-837-4233)
- FREE admission, no reservations required
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➢    Sat. June 26 [7:30pm-9:00pm] at Timothy Yarger Fine Art [Beverly Hills]
Movement Media Installations

Timothy Yarger Fine Art of Beverly Hills will host DCW’s closing weekend reception. Join DCW for a collection of select media installations with an emphasis of body and movement.

An internationally recognized art gallery exhibiting modern and contemporary art, Timothy Yarger Fine Art is grounded in the historic artwork of the Modern Masters and pop icons of the 20th Century, alongside established contemporary painters, printmakers, photographers, and new-media artists.

Timothy Yarger Fine Art
354 N Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (310-278-4400; www.yargerfineart.com)
-  6:00pm – open to VIP and DCW members
-  7:30pm – 9:00pm – open to the public
-  FREE admission, reservations ARE required
-  Please RSVP: 310-278-4400 or info@yargerfineart.com
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➢    Sun. June 27 [8:00pm] at Grand Performances in California Plaza [downtown LA]
Dzi Croquettes (adult content)

Dzi Croquettes is a revealing Brazilian documentary that explores the legacy of the daringly original, all-male dance and theater group by the same name resembling a late-20th-century version of the Ziegfeld Follies.  The cabaret group – Dzi Croquettes – used an empowering sexuality to counter Brazil’s military dictatorship and revolutionize the gay movement worldwide during the 1970’s.  The documentary is Tatiana Issa and Raphael Alvarez‘s pleasure-packed exploration of the group’s impact, using a multitude of talking heads and period footage to chronicle the troupe’s seminal influence on their time and today’s culture.
-  Best Documentary Jury Award and Audience Award Rio de Janeiro Film Festival
-  Portuguese with English subtitles
-  Brazil 2009, 95 minutes
-  Co-director Raphael Alvarez will be in town to introduce the film

Grand Performances at California Plaza
300 – 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213-687-2190; www.grandperformances.org)
- FREE admission, no reservations required
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Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates regarding Dance Camera West’s ninth annual Dance Media Film Festival – www.dancecamerawest.org.

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For more information, press passes, photos, or to interview DCW’s founder Lynette Kessler, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

"Eyes Nose Mouth" - photo credit: Noemie Lafrance

Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its month-long presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces its Ninth Annual Dance Media Film Festival screening at venues throughout Southern California in June 2010. Dance on screen, or screendance, is a unique cinematic experience that focuses on the intersection of cinematography and choreography. The festival includes screendance as well as all forms of dance media. “The hybrid screendance medium is diverse, encompassing a broad range of cinematography styles, exhibition formats, and subject matter traversing global perspectives,” says Dance Camera West founder and director, Lynette Kessler… For Immediate Release: January 27, 2010

Dance Camera West
Announces Ninth Annual Dance Media Film Festival
Throughout Los Angeles – June 2010

LOS ANGELES, CA – Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its month-long presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces its Ninth Annual Dance Media Film Festival screening at venues throughout Southern California in June 2010. Dance on screen, or screendance, is a unique cinematic experience that focuses on the intersection of cinematography and choreography. The festival includes screendance as well as all forms of dance media. “The hybrid screendance medium is diverse, encompassing a broad range of cinematography styles, exhibition formats, and subject matter traversing global perspectives,” says Dance Camera West founder and director, Lynette Kessler, “The festival includes everything from experimental shorts to documentaries – ranging from surreal visual abstractions to strict narratives.” Once again DCW partners with the city’s most prominent venues in offering a host of screenings, installations, and panel discussions with visiting international artists. Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates at www.dancecamerawest.org. See below for a preliminary schedule of events.

Dance Camera West’s Ninth Annual Dance Media Film Festival opens at the REDCAT Theater in downtown LA, with its celebrated opening night party on Friday, June 4, 2010. The opening weekend program, “ScreenDance: A New Visual Language,” will captivate audiences on Friday and Saturday night with three separate presentations of short films from around the world. The following weekend, DCW will present two days of programming at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theatre on Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13 (program TBD). On the evening of June 19th, DCW showcases work from Los Angeles-based creators in its “Local Makers” program with an entertaining outdoor, community event at the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center. For the first time, DCW’s “Local Makers” program will include student work. Look also for events in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, Los Angeles Film Festival, and American Cinematheque.

Known as one of the world’s premiere presenters of dance media, Dance Camera West aspires to awaken and infuse the public mainstream with critical creative programming. DCW has expanded the audience for dance in Southern California with the presentation of more than 1,000 dance films from 43 countries since its inception in 2002.

“Dance media is pushing art in a new direction,” says Kessler, “as choreographers and directors continue to stretch our imagination and change the way we think about dance.”

Dance Camera West founder and executive/artistic director Lynette Kessler is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and media artist with an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and a BFA in Dance from York University in Toronto. Known for her innovative collaborations and dance work for the screen that have been shown in film festivals worldwide, Kessler has received numerous awards including a Lester Horton Dance Award, Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellowship, and an artist residency at Headlands Center for the Arts. She is a founding member of Media & Dance Network (MAD), has served on dance film review committees for EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center), American Choreography Awards, Dance on Camera Festival in New York, Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film in Toronto, and is a guest lecturer at UCLA, UC Irvine, and Cal Arts. Kessler sits on the board of directors for the following organizations: Buckminster Fuller Institute, Dance Channel TV, and the California Ear Unit. She is an active member of the advocacy groups: Arts for LA, California Arts Advocates, and Americans for the Arts. And she’s also on the Media Arts Advisory Committee to guide the new Media Arts initiative creating a fifth arts discipline for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

Dance Camera West is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering and promoting the vibrant art of dance media from around the world. DCW aims to bridge the unique mix of film and dance communities in Los Angeles through the exploration of this hybrid genre. DCW also strives to create a broader and more engaged audience for dance and dance media by merging both performance and cinematic aesthetics. DCW is one of only a handful of organizations in the world that present dance media and the only one of its kind on the West Coast. The 2008 and 2009 festivals were featured in FOX News segments, Los Angeles Magazine selected Dance Camera West as its “Pick of the Month” for the June 2008 issue, the Los Angeles Times selected the Dance Camera West Dance Media Film Festival as one of the “Ten Best” dance events in Los Angeles for 2006 and 2007, and DCW was voted one of the “Top 25 Dance Organizations to Watch” by Dance Magazine in 2005 and 2006.

In addition to the planning of the upcoming June 2010 festival, Dance Camera West is also preparing a special 10-year anniversary event for 2011. In celebration of this milestone, the organization will host an international Dance Media Symposium in downtown Los Angeles, bringing together artists, dancers, educators, and film/television industry professionals. With a working title of Dance Media: The Active Spectrum, conference participants from the dance and media worlds will come together for a conversation on the exciting opportunities for expansive growth, creative expression, and innovation offered by new media. In addition to a full program of evening screenings, the 2011 anniversary event will also include a unique series of daytime panel presentations, guest speakers, and networking opportunities. A steering committee for the conference is being formed with notable artists and leaders from the international dance media community.

This year’s 2010 Dance Camera West festival is supported in part by Mortimer Levitt Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

See below for DCW’s June 2010 Festival Schedule as of 1/27/10:

➢ Fri. June 4 [8:00pm] and Sat. June 5 [6:00pm & 8:00pm] at REDCAT [downtown LA]
“Screendance: A New Visual Language” (contains adult content) – Opening Night Friday!
Opening night screening and party on Friday followed by two different screening programs on Saturday. In three unique screenings over two days, this collection of innovative dance films from around the world explores the intersection between movement and cinema.
- Fri. June 4 – 8:00pm – Screening and Opening Night Reception
- Sat. June 5 – 6:00pm screening & 8:00pm screening (all three screenings different)

REDCAT, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex)
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213 237-2800; http://redcat.org)
- Tickets $15 opening night ($10 for CalArts or DCW members), $10 for other screenings ($7 for CalArts or DCW members)

➢ Sat. June 12 [7:00pm] and Sun. June 13 [2:00pm & 6:00pm] at the Hammer Museum [Westwood]
Programs TBD – Three Programs over Two Days at the Hammer

Hammer Museum – Billy Wilder Theater
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024 (310-443-7000; www.hammer.ucla.edu)
- FREE admission, no reservations required; seating is first come first served

➢ Sat. June 19 [8:00 – 10:00pm] at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center [West LA]
“Local Makers – LA Choreographers and Directors” – Outdoor Screening
Dance Camera West presents an outdoor screening event whereby the park will be transformed into a cinematic cross-cultural display with four different screening areas. Student work will be included for the first time. K – 12 students from LAUSD have been invited to submit work (the Call for Entries ends April 15, 2010).
Even though all the films have one thing in common – they were all created by Los Angeles- based choreographers and directors – they’re as diverse as the Southern California landscape itself. The program presents everything under the sun (or moon in this case) during this family-friendly evening. Bring a flashlight, something to sit on, and join in the fun under the stars.

Cheviot Hills Recreation Center
2551 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90064 (310-837-4233)
- FREE admission, no reservations required

➢ Wed. June 30 [time TBA] at Goethe-Institute [mid-Wilshire]
A new documentary by Anne Linsel will screen as part of a special Pina Bausch Celebration at Goethe-Institute, the German cultural institution (more info TBA).

Goethe-Institute
5750 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323-525-3388; www.goethe.de/enindex.htm)
- price TBD

More June dates, venues and programs TBA for Dance Camera West’s Ninth Annual Dance Media Film Festival. Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates – www.dancecamerawest.org.

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For more information, press passes, photos, or to interview DCW’s founder Lynette Kessler, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn [at] greengalactic.com.

For Immediate Release: January 22, 2009

Dance Camera West
Announces Eighth Annual Dance Media Film Festival
Throughout Los Angeles – June 2009

LOS ANGELES, CA – Dance Camera West‘s annual festival, recognized as one of the world’s foremost celebrations of dance on film, announces the Dance Camera West Eighth Annual Dance Media Film Festival screening at venues throughout southern California in June 2009. A unique cinematic experience that focuses on the intersection of cinematography and choreography, the month-long film festival features all forms of dance media. Chosen by Los Angeles Magazine as “Pick of the Month” for their June 2008 issue, Dance Camera West (DCW) again partners with the city’s most prestigious venues in offering a global perspective on a new visual language through a host of experimental shorts, documentaries, features, and symposiums with visiting international artists. Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates – www.dancecamerawest.org. See below for the confirmed events.

The June festival opens at the REDCAT Theater in downtown LA, with its legendary kick-off party on Friday, June 5, 2009. Presenting “ScreenDance: A New Visual Language,” three programs of short films from around the world will captivate audiences on Friday and Saturday night during the opening weekend. DCW will present two days of programming at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theatre on Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14. The month-long festival continues with an outdoor screening, VideoDanza II, Friday, June 19 featuring artists from Latin American at the Braude Center Plaza in Van Nuys. On Sunday, June 21 at the Autry National Center expect a program of documentaries featuring Native American dance legends. Throughout the festival, DCW will also present lively panel discussions with directors and choreographers, as well as screenings with the Los Angeles Film Festival and the American Cinematheque.

Known as one of the world’s premiere presenters of dance media, Dance Camera West has expanded the audience for dance in Southern California with the presentation of more than 1,000 dance films since 2002. Speaking to its global diversity, festival founder and director Lynette Kessler explains, “Dance is an art form that is universally understood and celebrated. It can break down the language barriers that oftentimes separate Los Angeles’ culturally diverse communities as it allows the audience to engage with dance media from around the world. In playing directly to an audience drawn from one of the world’s great arts capitals, the festival provides wide access to innovative and experimental dance on-screen. In 2009, DCW builds upon the foundation of the previous seven festivals to bring to Southern California a selection of the most boundary-pushing dance films anywhere.”

Dance Camera West founder and executive/artistic director, Lynette Kessler is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and media artist with an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and a BFA in Dance from York University in Toronto. Known for her innovative collaborations and dance work for the screen that have been shown in film and video festivals worldwide, Kessler has received numerous awards including an Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellowship and an artist residency at Headlands Center for the Arts. She is a founding member of the Media & Dance Festival International Network, has served on dance film review committees for EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts) Commission, American Choreography Awards, Dance on Camera Festival in New York, Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film in Toronto, and is a guest lecturer at UCLA, UC Irvine, and Cal Arts. Kessler sits on the board of directors for the following organizations: Buckminster Fuller Institute, Dance Channel TV, and the California Ear Unit. She is an active member of the advocacy groups: Arts for LA, California Arts Advocates, and Americans for the Arts.

Dance Camera West is a non-profit organization committed to fostering and promoting the vibrant art of dance media from around the world. DCW aims to bridge the unique mix of film and dance communities in Los Angeles through the exploration of this hybrid genre. DCW also strives to create a broader and more engaged audience for dance and dance media by merging both performance and cinematic aesthetic. DCW is one of only a handful of organizations in the world that present dance media, and the only one of its kind on the West Coast. The 2008 festival was featured in a FOX News segment, and Los Angeles Magazine selected Dance Camera West as its Pick of the Month for the June 2008 issue. The Los Angeles Times selected the Dance Camera West Media Film Festival as one of the Ten Best dance events in Los Angeles for 2006 and 2007. DCW was voted one of the “Top 25 Dance Organizations to Watch” by Dance Magazine in 2005 and 2006.

Dance Camera West events are supported in part by the Annenberg Foundation, Mortimer Levitt Foundation, Lloyd E. Rigler and Laurence E. Deutsch Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

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For more information, photos, or to interview Lynette Kessler, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.

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See below for a glimpse at DCW’s June 2009 Festival Schedule as of 1/20/09:

>>> Fri. June 5 and Sat. June 6 At REDCAT in downtown LA

“Screendance: A New Visual Language”
Opening night screening and party on Friday followed by two different programs on Saturday. In three unique screenings over two days, this collection of 25 innovative dance films from around the world explores the intersection between movement and cinema.

- Friday, June 5, 2009 – 8:00pm –Screening and Opening Night Reception
- Saturday, June 6, 2009 – 6:00pm & 8:00pm (different programs)

REDCAT, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex)
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213 237-2800; http://redcat.org)

- Tickets $15 opening night ($10 for CalArts or DCW members), $10 for other screenings ($7 for CalArts or DCW members)

>>> Sat. June 13 [2:00pm] at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles

The Dancing Room
2:30

In Transylvania music accompanies most of the rituals of life and death. In this enigmatic dance film based on the choreography of Kate Flatt, the Hungarian band Muzsikás provide the music and are part of the action around a dozen characters from young to old. Although the music is traditional, the dance is contemporary and draws on many styles and traditions from round the world. Filmed in an eerie underground location, The Dancing Room is a powerful and memorable piece specially-worked for the camera. Produced by the BBC, directed by Simon Broughton
Recorded in London 1995, 45 minutes

Skirball Cultural Center
2701 North Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049 (310-440-4500; http://www.skirball.org)

Free – No reservations needed

>>> Sat. June 13 & Sun. June 14 at Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood

Program TBA

>>> June 19 [7:00pm] at Braude Center Plaza in Van Nuys

VideoDanza II: Latin American Dance on Screen
DCW will present an outdoor screening event of Latin American artists for the second year. Coming from a rich tradition of choreography and filmmaking these artists continue to re-define dance and cinema. This program of short films featuring work from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay are at times deeply thought-provoking, sublimely ethereal, and laugh-out-loud funny. These are not the ordinary tango and salsa films but rather a new expression of dance made for the screen that has been flourishing in recent years throughout Latin America. It’s the perfect community event for family and friends on a summer evening.

Martin Braude Center Plaza
6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91401
- FREE admission, no reservations required: bring your own seating, blankets or chairs

>>> Sunday, June 21 [2:00pm] at Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles
“Contemporary Sacred” – a program of two films featuring First Nation and Native American artists

Byron Chief-Moon: Grey Horse Rider -
A documentary film featuring First Nation artist Byron Chief-Moon, Grey Horse Rider was directed by Philip Szporer and Marlene Millar and won “Best Documentary Short” at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Byron Chief-Moon is a multi-talented actor, stuntman, dancer, choreographer playwright, and founder of the Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association. Through art and life, his story is one of cultural survival. Themes of Chief-Moon’s dance creations begin with his people’s traditional stories, his attachment to the land and his community, as well as the inner conflict he faces in existing within the Aboriginal culture and society at large. He is ensuring the preservation of his native language through its incorporation into his work, and he’s adamant that the spoken legends of his people are passed on to the next generation, and to the greater community. Challenging the cultural construct is never easy, but Chief-Moon does so with steadfast determination and spirit. One of the main features is the name-giving ceremony for The Blood Nation of which until now has never been filmed.
2007, Canada, 48 minutes

Water Flowing Together –
A documentary on legendary Jock Soto and his 25 year career with the New York City Ballet by filmmaker Gwendolen Cate is a moving, intimate portrait of an internationally renowned artist who is Navajo Indian, Puerto Rican, and openly gay. On the verge of retirement, one of modern ballet’s most gifted and celebrated dancers is forced to contemplate life after dance. Exploring identity, family, and transition, the film climaxes with his emotional departure from ballet at age 40 in 2005. As Soto reflects on his uncertain future, he also attempts to connect with his past, revisiting his Navajo roots and the cultural heritage to which he is at once detached and devoted. Soto’s story defies stereotypes in the same way that his dancing transcends the expected. Written by Gwendolen Cates.
2007, USA, 77 minutes

Autry National Center of the American West
4700 Western Heritage Way (Griffith Park Campus), Los Angeles, CA 90027 (323-667-2000; www.autrynationalcenter.org)

More June dates, venues and programs TBA for Dance Camera West’s Eighth Annual Dance Media Film Festival. Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates – www.dancecamerawest.org.

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