The A.W.A.R.D. Show, Live on the Web
For those interested in Arts + Technology, I’ll be webcasting The A.W.A.R.D. Show from the Joyce Soho [via UStream] tonight @ 7pm EST, with Nic Petry on Camera.
The winner of the A.W.A.R.D Show will win $10,000 to develop new dance work.
You can watch right here, on UStream, or on the mothership site (Joyce Soho)
If you can’t make it tonight, you can also catch past performances of the A.W.A.R.D. Show on the UStream Archives. Also, make sure to tune in June 21st to see who will take home the $10k prize.
Here’s the information for the June 20th performance:
THE FINALISTS from each preliminary performance will be posted on The Joyce website each morning following the performance by 11am: www.joyce.org/about_specialevents_awardshow.html
THE WINNER of The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2009: New York City will be announced directly following the final performance on Sunday, June 21.
SATURDAY, JUNE 20
Garnica LEIMAY
Monica Bill Barnes & Company
Emery LeCrone
Tami Stronach Dance
with post-performance discussion moderated by: Linda Szmyd Monich
Alive I
Choreography by: Ximena Garnica (Garnica LEIMAY)
Performance by: Irem Calikusu, Stephanie Lanckton, Denissa Musilova and Ximena Garnica
Composition and Live Music by: Roland Toledo
Video Artististry/Co-creation by: Shige Moriya
Costume Design by: Garnica LEIMAY
I feel like
Choreography by: Monica Bill Barnes (Monica Bill Barnes & Company)
Performance by: Anna Bass, Monica Bill Barnes and Deborah Lohse
Music: “Suite No. 4-IV. Sarabande” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Get up (I feel like being a) Sex Machine” by James Brown, Bobby Byrd and Ron Lenhoff
Costume Design by: Kelly Hanson
Aphorismós
Choreography by: Emery LeCrone
Performance by: Victoria North, Kimi Nikaido and Ted Seymour
Music: “Black Heart Pull,” an original composition by John Melville Pratt and “Proverb (Alex Smoke Remix)” by Steve Reich
Original Costume Design by: Emery LeCrone (created by Candice Thompson)
But It’s For You
Choreography by: Tami Stronach (Tami Stronach Dance)
Performance by: Lindsey Dietz Marchant and Joe Poulson
Music: Original score commissioned for But It’s For You by Karinne Keithley
Set Design by: Joe Levasseur
Costume Design by: Olivera Gajic
Biographies:
XIMENA GARNICA is a dancer, emerging choreographer, director and installation artist. Artistic Director of Garnica LEIMAY and Director/Co-founder and Co-curator of the New York Butoh Festival, Garnica is also Co-director of CAVE Organization, an experimental art space in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York.
Garnica LEIMAY is an interdisciplinary company/project and laboratory of performance founded in 2005 by Ximena Garnica in New York City. The work of LEIMAY is rooted in Butoh dance, particularly in its approach to thinking about and questioning the meaning of the dancing body. LEIMAY synthesizes—through the body, the voice and other arts—a performance experience that is designed to sharpen the senses, both for the artists who engage in the creative process and for the audience who relates to the performance. The transformation of a given space has become a key element for these experiences; in that sense, the body—at times dancer, actor or object—is fundamental to LEIMAY’s work. (www.leimay.org)
MONICA BILL BARNES: Monica Bill Barnes & Company has been awarded several extended artistic residencies, including the Dancenow/NYC Silo Project (2006, 2008, 2009), the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (2007/2008), and a Joyce SoHo Artist Residency (2004-2005); and participates in college guest artist residencies. Barnes is thrilled to share the stage with long time company members: Deborah Lohse and Anna Bass. Lohse hails from Northern California and when she is not dancing to Bach, she makes dances with her own company, ad hoc Ballet, and teaches ballet at Dance New Amsterdam. Bass is originally from Forest, Virginia and holds a BA in Dance from James Madison University. She has had the pleasure of working with Kelly Bartnik, danah bella DanceWorks, Alexandra Beller, Christian Canciani, Donna Costello, Aviva Geismar/Drastic Action, Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, Jill Sigman/Thinkdance, and Teri & Oliver Steele. (www.monicabillbarnes.com)
Emerging choreographer EMERY LECRONE was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. She trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts under teachers, such as Melissa Hayden, Warren Conover, and Nina Danilova. Ms. LeCrone also attended several summers at the School of American Ballet on full scholarship.
Upon graduation in 2005 Ms. LeCrone was accepted into the apprentice program at North Carolina Dance Theatre, where she performed in works such as George Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Serenade, and Walpurgisnacht (Faust), Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Carmina Burana, and Salvatore Aiello’s Nutcracker. She also worked closely with resident choreographer Dwight Rhoden. She created her first ballet for North Carolina Dance Theatre II in 2006.
Since then, Ms. LeCrone has created several works including Pulling to Break, Figurine, Concerto 3 in G, and most recently Aphorismós, which premiered for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative on April 3rd, 2009. Claudia La Rocco of The New York Times wrote “…her Aphorismós is a ready for primetime knockout…hinting at dark undercurrents that beg for second looks. More, please, Ms. LeCrone.”
Ms. LeCrone has worked with dancers from North Carolina Dance Theatre, the New York City Ballet, Ballet Met, the Los Angeles Ballet, Ballet West, Eugene Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and the American Repertory Ballet. She has participated in several choreography competitions, including the National Choreographers Initiative under the direction of Molly Lynch and Ballet Builders 2008.
In August 2007, Ms. LeCrone moved to New York City, where she performed with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company in its inaugural City Center season and was hired to dance with both the Metropolitan Opera and Miro Mangaloire’s New Chamber Ballet.
Ms. LeCrone remains in New York City and continues to dance and choreograph. She will premiere new works this year for The Columbia Ballet Collaborative, the Greensboro Ballet, and the newly formed Novaballet. (www.emerylecrone.com)
TAMI STRONACH was born to archeologist parents—a British father and an Israeli mother—and spent her early years in Iran before settling in the US. She formed Tami Stronach Dance (TSD) in 2000 to create works that integrate her extensive artistic influences, which include dance, theater and vocal work. The New York Times called her work “wickedly observant,” while Dance Insider called her “a choreographic doctor of the human condition.” Stronach received a Thayer Fellowship for Excellence in Choreography upon graduation from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance. After graduating, she became a featured performer with Neta Pulvermacher and Dancers. She also worked with choreographers Monica Bill Barnes and Kate Weare and went on to join the internationally acclaimed Flying Machine Theater Company, touring extensively throughout the US. Other acting credits include the role of The Childlike Empress in the film The Never Ending Story. She guest teaches at Dance New Amsterdam and at universities around the country. (www.tamistronach.com)
SATURDAY, JUNE 20:
LINDA SZMYD MONICH has been hosting Dance Talks for The Joyce Theater since 1998. She is a guest lecturer for Manhattanville College’s Dance Theatre Department and the Walnut Hill School’s Ballet Program. She was a Teaching Artist in Dance for Lincoln Center Institute for 14 years, and also worked as a Consultant/Teaching Artist for New York City Ballet’s Education Department. She has written about dance and taught dance history at Connecticut College, The Juilliard School and Manhattanville College. In addition, she has worked in administrative jobs for American Ballet Theatre (Administrator, Ballet Theatre Workshop/Assistant to the Director Ballet Repertory Co.), The Metropolitan Opera (Performance Manager) and The Joffrey Ballet (Assistant to the General Manager/Interim Company Manager, Joffrey II).
General Information:
The A.W.A.R.D. Show! was founded in 2006 by choreographer Neta Pulvermacher/The Neta Dance Company and producer Marisa König Beatty in response to a need for a lab-like space in which working dance artists can engage in an open dialogue with the audience about the work presented. The A.W.A.R.D. Show! is now administered and produced by The Joyce Theater Foundation and has been expanded from an annual series held in New York City at Joyce SoHo to a multi-city format in 2009. This year, The Joyce Theater Foundation has partnered with The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and On the Boards (Seattle) with additional series taking place in Chicago (June 24–27), in Philadelphia (September 15–19) and in Seattle (December 10–13).
The twelve choreographers and companies participating in The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2009: New York City, as well as those participating in Chicago, Seattle and Philadelphia, were selected by representatives from The Joyce Theater and each of the host organizations. The presenting partners in each city are The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and On the Boards (Seattle). The 2009 expansion into Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle is made possible by a generous grant from The Boeing Company. The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2009 awards in New York City at Joyce SoHo are made possible through a generous contribution from Scott Kasen.
Audiences will evaluate the work according to the same P.O.E.M. criteria utilized by the Joyce panel when selecting the participating choreographers:
• Potential: Does the artist have potential and seem to have the maturity to take advantage of an award at this point in his/her career?
• Originality: Does the artist have a personal and unique voice? How singular are the artist’s movement language, concept and vision?
• Execution: Were the performers committed, well-rehearsed and capable of carrying the intricacies of the artist’s vision?
• Merit: Can a value of the whole be assigned based on the combination of the work’s Potential, Originality and Execution?
Rediscovering Community Resources to Sustain your Art
Tonight, I will be joining a group of Immigrant Artists in New York City to discuss how to make use of the vast resources available in NYC and beyond. I will focus on developing audiences online, and doing strategic outreach using multiple online channels such as email marketing, and increasingly popular social networks.
Join NYFA and BAC for a fun evening. Come meet artists, and learn about new resources….
Conversations: Rediscovering Community Resources to Sustain your Art
Presented by the New York Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC)
New York City can seem overwhelmingly vast, divided, and impersonal to newcomers and longtime residents alike, and presents specific challenges to artists struggling to create, often in isolation. To help newer New Yorker artists keep on creating, NYFA’s Immigrant Artists Project (IAP) proposes a forum called Conversations for immigrant and culturally specific artists to exchange stories, expertise and support with their peers, building community and sharing resources to further enrich their artistic lives. IAP is hopeful this will be the first of a series of forums hosted at NYFA in conjunction with organizations such as BAC.
Our inaugural Conversations forum will focus on recognizing and drawing on existing community-based resources in the current economic-political climate, with guests presentations by Cecilia Jurado and others to be announced. Participants will share their experiences in persevering in their arts practice in spite of immediate financial burdens, lack of funding opportunities, and in finding alternative resources within their own communities.
Please come prepared to share your own stories!The evening will be devoted to networking, with refreshments served, following brief guest presentations. Feel free to bring promotional materials to share with our group.
This event will be hosted at the NYFA Offices:
New York Foundation for the Arts
20 Jay Street, 7th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
On June 10 at 6-8 pm
Space is limited. To attend please RSVP at i.outreach@nyfa.org
This event is part of NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Project (IAP). Through this project, NYFA seeks to expand the community of artists it serves by nurturing new connections among artists and organizations, and by fostering a supportive community of empowered artists with diverse educational, cultural, and creative backgrounds.
Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) strives to enrich the quality of life throughout Brooklyn by fostering, encouraging and promoting the arts through service and support to artists and arts organizations. BAC Folk Arts works with Brooklyn-based folk and traditional artists and their communities to identify, document and present arts that express the boroughs’ diverse living heritage.
Producing Live Webcasts
OVERVIEW
Over the past year, I’ve produced a few webcasts for dance companies. I recently wrote an article about these webcasts, asking questions – mainly – is it worth it?
For this article, I’ve included a few insights and considerations for producing your own webcast.
The examples I will look at include Misnomer’s webcast in December, DanceBrazil’s webcast in March, and another Misnomer webcast in April. Two of these webcasts were done in conjunction with a season, whereas Misnomer’s performance in April was a work in progress showing.
All of these webcasts were done with a few goals in mind.
1. Diversify Audiences (Build New a Audience, online)
2. Expose current audience members and their friends to the work and company (Broaden our reach)
3. Give audience members who already saw the work (Deepen the experience of existing audience members)
Additionally, it was quite important to consider these webcasts as a web event. These webcasts were successful because they were conceived as a web specific piece. Online audience members were excited to chat with each other and experienced a unique event. In preparation for all events, I prepared online media (photos, blog entries, interviews, slideshows). While preparing these materials, I was conceiving a unique online experience. I thought, “What would hyperlinked program notes look like?” and went about publishing and sharing those materials online.
TECHNOLOGY
The technology required was not too complex. For the Misnomer webcasts, I signed up for an account on UStream.tv. For DanceBrazil’s webcast, I partnered with Dance-Tech.net, and used Mogulus (now LiveStream). LiveStrea and UStream.tv are currently very popular solutions for producing a webcast. Both services offer many broadcasting options, including overlays, pre-roll video, and even a webchat. All of these options were great additions to the webcast. However, the webchat proved to be one of the more engaging experiences. While you are doing your webcast, you can also record video, and archive it. This webcast can also be rebroadcast and embedded on other sites and blogs if you wish. In short, it’s like YouTube, but live.
To produce a good webcast, you will need to ensure your video quality is optimal. Invest in a good camera person, and practice. Just like you would do a tech rehearsal for your stage performance, you should do a tech rehearsal for your webcast. You will be connecting your video signal from your camera (or video mixer) to a computer, so you need to make sure the video looks excellent. You should also ensure your internet connection is optimal. I would not recommend doing a webcast with a wifi connection. To ensure the best quality and the highest speed, make sure your laptop or computer is connected to the web via an ethernet cable.
In addition to a videographer, you should also secure at least one solid person to handle all things online. While the videographer is focused on the image quality and overall video shoot, the online moderator will be focused on the web experience, webchat, and quality of the streaming experience.
After you secure your team (and good internet connection), you will simply connect the video signal to your laptop or computer. UStream.tv + LiveStream both have a fairly straight forward interface. As long as you have your video signal connected to your computer (via firewire), and you are signed into your UStream or LiveStream account you can start broadcasting. Like a good videographer, it is imperative you have someone onsite to monitor the online experience, moderate the webchat, and ensure the web experience is optimal.
SURPRISES
The webcast did not take away from ticket sales. I was chatting live with all the online, I did not encounter any online viewers who opted to see the work online instead of in the theater. Many people who were watching the webcast had already seen the work. Also, some viewers of the webcast were not able to see the work, so this was a nice replacement for them.
There were also many viewers from different countries. All three webcasts were produced from New York City. However, we had visitors from over 19 countries including Brazil, Turkey, Israel, Spain, England, Canada, and Germany. For Misnomer’s webcast in December, we had over 1200 viewers. This means that Misnomer had more viewers – online – in 1 night than they had during the entire run during the New York Season.
Another surprise – more people came to the websites after the webcasts. I archived all 3 webcasts online, and offered viewers a chance to see it again. Since many viewers were not able to make the performance or live webcast, they came to see the video after the fact. With DanceBrazil, more people visited DanceBrazil.org the day after the webcast than any other day of the year. Additionally, many people subscribed to DanceBrazil’s email newsletter as a result of the webcast.
Simply stated, the webcasts provided a great experience for current fans and audience members. They were able to connect with the company in a new way, and on their own time. For many new fans, the webcasts gave them a unique way to experience dance, and ask questions. Several viewers had never seen the company’s work live, and this was their first encounter with the work. On the other hand, some people found the video quality inferior, and did not like watching the performance online.
As video quality continues to improve, and audiences continue to diversify, performing arts organizations will have to diversify their methods of presentation. Providing a high quality experience online and in the theater are equally challenging and essential. Producing a webcast for your audiences is a great way to reach new audience members across the globe, and deepen your current audience’s experience online.
SUMMARY
1. Test. Test. And Test. For all webcasts, we did a few tests.
2. Hiring a good camera person is essential.
3. Testing is also critical. Just like you would tech a show before premiering, do a few tech rehearsals with your streaming gear.
4. Make sure your venue has a fast Internet connection. Don’t use wifi to stream.
5. A webcast is markedly different from a stage performance.
6. Prepare online content for your online viewers
7. Make sure you have an online chat moderator who understands the company and the work.
And finally…
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
RELATED LINKS
Article 19 did a nice overview of Misnomer’s webcast in December.
You can take a look at the article here:
http://www.article19.co.uk/06/written_feature/live_on_the_internet.php
Misnomer’s Webcasts can be found here:
http://misnomer.org/live
DanceBrazil’s Webcasts can be found here:
http://dancebrazil.org/
The Pyramid of Engagement
Last year, I presented at a great conference organized by Soundstreams. One of the speakers, Max Valiquette from Youthography, presented research about online communities. He spoke of a Pyramid of Engagement. I couldn’t find his research or article, but after a quick online search, I found this article posted below (along with a nice image).
[This article is reposted in whole. View the Original Article posted on The Facebook Era]
In any community, online or otherwise, there will be varying levels of engagement among members. At the Social Media Influence Conference in London this week, Guillaume du Gardier who is New Media Executive at Ferrero explained his pyramid model for understanding passive and active visitors to his brand’s various online communities. Thanks to Guillaume’s inspiration, I have distilled a general pyramid framework with four levels:
At the top of the pyramid are a small number of creators, including your most influential community members. They are your evangelists, most ardent fans, and passionate contributors of new ideas.
Next are those who tend to comment on, though generally not contribute, ideas and discussion threads already put forth by others. These individuals are essential for creating a sense of dialogue across different members of the community, for helping to refine ideas and make them better.
One step down are people who vote and tag items in your community. They express their preferences and opinions in the lowest-commitment way possible, but are still engaged.
Last but not least are the bulk of your community visitors: people who are just visiting, consuming content but not participating per se.
Online marketing managers need to understand what the pyramid looks like for their particular communities, how they can encourage people to become increasingly engaged over time, and how specifically each engagement level might lead to or be correlated with sales. For many of us, this might be a better, more nuanced way for linking our marketing funnel (as measured by online engagement in this case) and sales pipeline in the Facebook Era.
How To | Writing and Publishing a Post in Wordpress
Take a look at the video below to get a sense of how to publish posts + update content on wordpress
For other great wordpress tutorials, visit Wordpress.tv
New Site: aCanaryTorsi just launched
Arrow Root Media launches aCanaryTorsi.org
I’ll spare you the details – for now.
For the moment, take a look at http://acanarytorsi.org/
[screenshot below]
Upcoming Workshop: Strategies for Internet Outreach
Beginning this Tuesday, I will be leading a 3 week workshop at The Field. The workshop is focused on building a solid and meaningful internet presence, and is geared towards practicing Artists and Arts Organizations, looking to build new audiences and connect with their current base.
The workshop ranges from the very practical nuts + bolts to a broad strategy. In the past, I have given overviews and tutorials of various online platforms including Facebook, Email Marketing Software, Content Management Systems, and Wordpress.
I know there are some readers + subscribers who’ve taken the workshop before – I’d love to hear from you!
If you’re reading and have any comments about the past workshops, please feel free to add them here.
CURRENT PARTICIPANTS SHOULD
- Join the facebook group for this workshop [click here]. If you don’t have a facebook account, you will need to set one up.
- Setup a Tumblr account
- Setup a Twitter account, if you don’t already have one
- Setup a Wordpress Blog on your host (Read this post for help installing a wordpress blog on your host)
- Once you have a blog setup, please leave a comment below with a link to your blog
Finally – make sure you subscribe to this blog (sign up on the right hand side) for updates + tutorials
NextBook, JDub, and Milk&Honey
I just recently wrapped up a video project for NextBook and JDub
This video was designed for a live event in LA, to be played on a plasma screen. However, we created the project files to be modular, and reusable for multiple formats.
NextBook at Milk + Honey from Jaki Levy on Vimeo
For this project, NextBook gave us the challenge of working with text for their new releases.
Because we had to work with so much text, we hand animated each frame to create a high definition experience, while keeping all the text present, readable, and comprehensible.
Additional credits:
Thanks to Rob Moon for the handsome design + the great animation help
Outsourced Logos
I’m currently examining outsourcing, and am running a few experiments.
Most recently, I’ve outsourced the creation of my New Logo for my company, Arrow Root Media, to China.
Now, I’m outsourcing my choice (or crowdsourcing my choice) – that means I won’t actually pick my logo – you will.
So, I could really use some feedback.
Can you please take a moment to take a look at these and help me make a choice?
I’m wondering, out of the images posted, which one (or two) do you think works best?
Which ones suck?
If I were to make revisions, to any one of these images, what would you suggest?
You can also see all the images here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackomo/tags/logos/
Feel free to email me, or leave a comment below.
Thanks!
Google me and change what google says about you
[via ReadWriteWeb]
Ask almost anyone if they would like to be able to change the Google results for their name and you’ll get a hearty “Yes.” What would they mean by that? Probably that they would like to have the ability to remove unsavory information about themselves from the Google index.
That is certainly not what Google Me offers! The program offers people control over their search appearance only in as much as they are willing to give Google more information about themselves. Google’s Joe Kraus explained to us that up to four Google Profiles will appear at the bottom of a results page. For people with common names, the more information you’ve filled out in your Google Profile – the more likely your profile will be selected for display.
How it Works
Google me? I’ll Google you! Google has become the de facto public record these days but most people remain in relative obscurity there and/or fear of what past indiscretions Google will expose to people who search for them.
Today Google released a product, called Google Me, that aims to change all of that. For a price – though not a monetary one.
Starting today, searchers who enter only the word “me” in the search box will be given an opportunity to set up or edit their Google Profile.
When someone searches for a name that matches a Google Profile, that profile may now be displayed at the bottom of the search results page.
Google Profiles have a lot of potential as big, standardized online identities. They are tied to online accounts on other websites and they contain lots of interesting information about people. There’s a lot of potential for outside developers to build interesting things on top of these profiles.
Read the Full Article in its original format + its entirety on ReadWriteWed
