Daniel Burkholder & Eigenvalues performing Saturday, 8/11/07

See Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround with Eigenvalues perform excerpts from "My ocean is never blue" at Metro DC Dances on August 11th at Carter Barron Amphitheatre. They will be performing both a pre-performance event on the grounds and up on stage during the show. And its FREE!!!!

For more about "My Ocean is Never Blue" access our ongoing blog about the creation and performance process @
http://improvarts.alkem.org/myoceanisneverblue


Details:
*Metro DC Dances
August 11 at 7:30pm at Carter Barron Amphitheatre
Presented by Dance/MetroDC as part of the Metro DC Dance Awards in cooperation with Rock Creek Park/National Park Service
Performances by 2006 Metro DC Dance Award winners:
CityDance Ensemble
Daniel Burkholder/The Playground
Maida Withers Dance Construction Company
Tappers With Attitude Youth Ensemble
VTDance/Vincent E. Thomas
Free!



Hope to see you there!



Daniel Burkholder
Director, The PlayGround
Co-Director, Improv Arts

Blog: http://improvarts.alkem.org/myoceanisneverblue

http://improvarts.alkem.org

www.myspace.com/improvarts

http://people.tribe.net/improvarts

Performance of "My ocean is never blue" @ Dance Place

The PlayGround @ Dance Place
See "My ocean is never blue" and other repertory
Exploring our personal, environmental and political relationships to water, Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround presents the theatrical premiere of "My ocean is never blue" April 27-28, 2007 @ Dance Place. Featuring over 18 performers, live music and video projection "My ocean is never blue" focus on one of the most important issues the world today. Also on the program Director Daniel Burkholder will be performing 3 duets: "unmapped" - with musician Jonathan Matis, "together/apart (we go each our way)" with Stefanie Quinones Bass, and "Duet for 3" with his wife, Andrea Burkholder.

For more about "My ocean is never blue" access our ongoing blog about the creation and performance process at
http://improvarts.alkem.org

Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround @ Dance Place
April 27*-29, 2007
Friday & Saturday @ 8pm, Sunday @ 7pm
Tickets: $7-$20*

To order tickets go to www.danceplace.org
or call 202-269-1600

*Speical Fundraiser for Water for People
Friday, April 27 @ 8pm
Tickets: $20-$25
Water for People helps the most impoverished people worldwide improve their quality of life by supporting sustainable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene projects.


Event Info
Dance Place
3225 8th Street NE
Washington, DC 20016
April 27-29, 2007
www.danceplace.org

Beach Party Fundraiser Bash!

Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround
invites you to
THE FIRST BEACH PARTY OF THE YEAR!!
Break out your flip-flops, suntan lotion, umbrella, sun hat & towel


This fundraiser will put more than just a bikini on our dancers! The funds raised will contribute towards costuming 18 - yes 18! - dancers in My ocean is never blue premiering at Dance Place on April 27-29.

Monday April 9, 2007 7-9:30pm
The Reef - downstairs in 'lush'
2446 18th St NW
Washington DC

Fundraiser Cover sliding scale $5-25
And a portion of each cash sale goes towards My ocean is never blue.

Special Guest MC Lobster Boy (of the LobsterBoy Revue)
Musical lifeguards - Def Jetson and DJ High C

Beach Cocktails including the 'Ocean Is Blue'!

Silent auction
· photos from local artists Enoch Chan and Michael Wichita
· photos from Philly photographer JJ Tiziou
· sculpture by New York based crochet artist Agata Olek
· private yoga session
· a Feldenkrais session
· a Pilates package
· 2 tickets to the LobsterBoy revue
· 2 tickets to My ocean is never blue at Dance Place
· and much much more!

Live auction for grand prize!

Prize for Best Beach Wear - so dress to the gills!

Special Surprises!!! (Don't worry you won't get sand in your shorts!)

Preview performance by the company (dancing girls...and boy)

*Remember to hit an ATM because a portion of your cash sales will go directly to the PlayGround!

We'll be wading for you!

If you have questions contact us at improvarts@mac.com or 301-996-3797.

Hope to see you there!

Daniel Burkholder, the company members, the Big Group and Board of Directors of Improv Arts!

Chris Black and Low End String Quartet - March 18

Improv Arts, Inc. presents:

Fiddling on the Fat Strings
featuring Chris Black and The Low End String Quartet

Who: Chris Black (from Austin, Texas), and the Low End String Quartet
When: Sunday, March 18, 2007, 9:00pm, $7
Where: Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th Street NW, Washington DC 20001

“Bass! how low can you go?”
-- Chuck D

The bass violin goes by many names: Contrabass, Double Bass, Stand-up Bass, etc. Call it whatever you like, the important thing is that it sounds so damn good. Spend an evening with a few basses, and some of their smaller-stringed cousins.

Chris Black has played nearly every instrument you don't blow into with nearly every conflagration of degenerate sound junkies within shouting distance, starting out as upright bassist for Shoulders back in the early 90's. From there, he hopped continents and sat in with Parisian rockers Les Wampas for a couple of records and tours before returning to Texas to pursue his love of gambling. In 2000 he met Graham Reynolds of the Golden Arm Trio, and toured around the country as upright bassist and guitarist for that hair-raising improvisational eutastrophe.

“Jericho” is Chris Black's first solo release, and was recorded in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms in Austin and Los Angeles with upright basses, banjos, guitars, accordions, kick drums, fiddles, pianos, saw blades, brake drums, tambourines and maracas acquired by chance, in situ, ad hoc, and Amen.

He's now in the midst of a national tour promoting the record. For his live solo show, Chris plays with an upright bass, overdriven acoustic guitar, banjo, and an assortment of other instruments. He loops the music live and on the fly, creating sounds and rhythms to sing against. It is boomy, dark, abused and simple. His songs are soaked in booze, sadness, and redemption.

Opening the show, will be the debut performance of the Low End String Quartet, an ensemble formed by composer / guitarist Jonathan Matis. The instrumentation differs from the standard string quartet model, adding a bass, dropping a violin, and swapping a guitar where the viola should be. This “new and improved” string quartet lineup is much better suited to clubs and bars than the classical model, and better equipped for rumbling your ribcage.

The group is staffed by a diverse bunch: jazz bassist Dan Barbiero; classical (although quite eclectic) cellist Jodi Beder; Matis on guitar, bringing his mixed bag of avant-rock, jazz, and post-classical influences; and another classical veteran, Andrea Vercoe on violin. They intend to rock.

DCIC in-store, Feb. 23

Save the date...



Come experience DCIC and celebrate the release of our new CD, MEME + VARIATIONS - Live recordings from 2005-2006 part of Sachimay Records' "Interventions" series.

It's a full length album of DCIC's quartet lineup, recorded in various places such as rehearsals, live shows, and a radio broadcast.

It's only $5. You can read more (and order a copy) from our site or from Sachimay Records. Seriously, it's only $5. How cool is that?


RSVP for the in-store and "share" this event with your friends via upcoming.org...

Office space

We moved into our new office this week.

Daniel: Isn't it great!!!
Jon: Um, yeah?



We still have some work to do...

The internet access is working now. Wish I could say the same for the heat... But seriously, it's a big step for us and we're looking forward to getting settled and kicking it in Mount Rainier.

Upcoming Show: Feb. 1

Improv Arts, Inc. presents:

Stability is Overrated:
lowercase sounds from Boston, with unpredictable counterparts from DC

Who: Tim Feeney and Vic Rawlings, DC Improvisers Collective, and The Caution Curves
When: Thursday, February 1, 2007, 9:00pm, $7 (your best entertainment value)
Where: Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th Street NW, Washington DC 20001


Tim Feeney and Vic Rawlings work within Boston's "lowercase" improvising community, a group of musicians interested in unstable sounds and silences, exploring austere combinations of sound and the otherworldly ripple effects that pulse through a silent space and alert ears.

Vic Rawlings (pictured above) performs using prepared/ amplified cello, and circuitry. He is active as an improviser and instrument builder. His performances focus on the metamusical potential of unstable sounds and silences. He has developed instruments that are specific to this compositional aesthetic. As an instrument builder he specializes in modifications of existing instruments and has developed extensive cello preparations. He also continually develops an electronic instrument from extant exposed circuitry, producing, in effect, a modular analog synthesizer with a highly unstable interface. This electronic instrument is paired with a flexible array of exposed speaker elements, chosen for their often unpredictable and idiosyncratic acoustic qualities.

He performs as a soloist and as a member of undr quartet, The BSC, and in duo and trio ensembles with Michael Bullock, Greg Kelley, Bhob Rainey, Sean Meehan, Jason Lescalleet, James Coleman, Liz Tonne, Tatsuya Nakatani, and Howard Stelzer, among others. Collaborators have included such diverse musicians as Eddie Prevost (AMM), Donald Miller (Borbetomagus), Daniel Carter (Other Dimensions in Music), Laurence Cook, Jaap Blonk, Masashi Harada, and Stephen Drury.

Tim Feeney seeks to explore and examine the timbral possibilites inherent in everyday found and built objects. He treats his percussion set-up as a friction instrument, using bows, scrapers, and rosined drumheads as implements and sympathetic resonators to capture and amplify frequencies that go unheard when an object is struck with a mallet. He supplements his acoustic console with an electronic instrument activated from a laptop or no-input mixer, which synthesizes and alters the spectral characteristics of sounds from pure sine tones to speaker pops and white noise.

As an improviser, Tim works with such Boston artists as thereminist James Coleman, and the trio ONDA, with whom he has performed at such experimental spaces as the Knitting Factory New York, The Red Room in Baltimore, Boston’s Zeitgeist Gallery, the new Firehouse 12 in New Haven, Connecticut, and Chicago’s 3030. With saxophonist Jack Wright, Tim appeared on the inaugural Counter Fit Festival in Rochester, New York, and participated in the August 2005 No Net workshop in Philadelphia.

As an interpreter, Tim has appeared at venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and his work has been featured on WNYC Radio’s “New Sounds.” A member of Boston’s Callithumpian Consort, Tim has performed on the Musica Nova series at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, and at New York’s club Tonic, as part of its 50th birthday celebration for John Zorn. As a founding member of the percussion quartet So, Tim appeared in concerts and masterclasses at Columbia University, Harvard University, and Williams College, as well as the 2001 Bang on a Can Marathon. He is a co-founder of the duo Non-Zero, with saxophonist Brian Sacawa, which in its inaugural season performed world premieres of seven new works.

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The DC Improvisers Collective (DCIC) is a trio exploring the intersection of jazz, contemporary composition and experimental music. Their current lineup features Ben Azzara (drums), Jonathan Matis (guitar), and Mike Sebastian (reeds). These musicians come together from diverse backgrounds, bringing experience from performing in rock bands and jazz groups, as well as post-classical composition. With ears wide open, they craft intricate compositions on the fly. Although the common metaphor for group improvisation often seems to be conversation, this metaphor fails to capture the true real-time, simultaneous collaboration that fuels the work. Equal parts tightrope act and group meditation, the ensemble explores the fertile territory of surprise just beyond the boundary where words fail.

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"The Caution Curves hits the face like an unnervingly passionate kiss, intoxicating from both its immediate sensuality and the calm intensity that incites it. A trio of Rebecca Mills, Tristana Fiscella, and Amanda Huron, The Caution Curves sound like and ESG splintered into prismatic tribalism, hallucinatory vocal-chord urgency, and enigmatic guitar and electronic filigree. Theirs is an improv that explores the brain-morphing space of subtle textural conversations over creeping percussive patterns rather than the force of propulsive manic thrust, creating a roomy disorientation that is sensitive, visceral, and introspective: an organic sound both warmly and suspiciously inviting."
- Bret McCabe, The Baltimore City Paper, March 2006

Dance, Awareness and Feldenkrais

Dance, Awareness & Feldenkrais®
Daniel Burkholder, GCFP

In 2001, after studying, teaching and creating dance for 20-odd years I was ready to find a new direction for my exploration of movement. I was suffering from chronic injuries, dissatisfaction with traditional technique classes, and I wanted to expand my understanding of how the body moved. I began to explore numerous somatic modalities, including The Alexander Technique, Body Mind Centering and Laban Movement Analysis. But, one day while I was lying on a mat, doing the articulate movements of The Feldenkrais Method®, I found the technique that I needed to explore. Through its subtle and powerful movements I found relief from discomfort, a dynamic way to expand my movement skills and tangible, practical information on the functional organization of the body.
Developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, the method, unlike traditional movement techniques, doesn't teach specific movements to learn and master. Instead it offers dancers a method to learn how to increase their awareness and efficiency while moving. Most dancers have habitual tendencies when moving – it may be unconsciously lifting the chin, unnecessarily contracting muscles, or tucking the pelvis. I had a tendency to clench my jaw which led to chronic discomfort in my neck and shoulders, but through The Feldenkrais Method I found efficient ways to organize myself that led to relief from this pattern of discomfort. As a result I no longer get neck and shoulder pain and have more freedom in my upper torso. Developing increased awareness led me to understand how I was organizing myself and then allow new patterns to emerge. As Dr. Feldenkrais stated, “You can't do what you want to do until you know what you are doing.”
Increasing awareness is also a key to improving and expanding a dancer's technical accomplishments. As the dancer becomes more aware of how she is organizing her body she is able to accomplish technical feats with more ease and control. For example, a dancer may wish to increase her proficiency in turning – to turn more times, or more consistently, but she always shortens her left side as she lifts her right leg into passé. This unevenness in the torso throws her off balance and she is stuck only doing one or two turns through brute force. Her teacher can tell her over and over again to lengthen her left side, but if she can't feel it, it won't change. If the dancer had more precise awareness of herself, she would be conscious of her inbalance and easily lengthen the left side. By working with The Feldenkrais Method, dancers develop more accurate awareness so that they can organize themselves with more clarity.
By practicing The Feldenkrais Method dancers will also find that they suffer from less frequent and less severe injuries. Much of the pain that dancers live with comes from inefficient technical habits repeated over and over for many years. Dancers who are suffering from these ongoing discomforts often assume that “that's just the way it is”. But, once these habits are recognized, more efficient patters become available for the dancer, and their long suffering discomfort easily fades away.
To study The Feldenkrais Method the dancer has two choices; to study one-on-one with a practitioner or, to study in a group class setting. Which way the dancer approaches the method depends on his personality, needs and opportunities. Ideally, to get the best results, students study in both the individual and group settings.
Dr. Feldenkrais first developed one-on-one sessions, Functional Integration®, in which a practitioner meets privately with a student to design lessons that address the individual’s goals. The Feldenkrais practitioner will work with the student, who is often lying on a low padded table, by gently touching and guiding him through movement. The practitioner will help the student find increased range of motion, release unnecessary tension, as well as integrating the differents parts of the body into an efficient whole. The practitioner will work with the student lying on his back, as well as on his side, in sitting and in standing. Changing the student’s position assists the student in finding clarity in his organization. Functional Integration is ideal for those individuals who have specific issues or discomfort that they would like to examine.
Out of his work with individuals, Dr. Feldenkrais created Awareness Through Movement® lessons that are taught to groups of people. These classes are lead by a teacher who verbally guides students through a sequence of gentle movements that are unique and easy to learn. By doing unusual movement patterns the students discover their movement habits and simultaneously find more efficient choices. Dr. Feldenkrais designed over 1,000 lessons to address every joint, muscle and function of the body. The 30 - 60 minute lessons take place in an open room with carpet or on soft mats. Often the classes are taught in a series that address specific topics, areas of the body, or populations - like dancers.
The Feldenkrais Method offers dancers the opportunity to fine-tune their bodies, creating a solid personal foundation by eliminating unnecessary habitual patterns before they become major problems. The method allows dancers to avoid common repetitive types of injuries, recover from traumatic injuries, expand their technical proficiency, and find greater ease in their movement. The method has been invaluable to me as a dancer and my body feels better now, at 38, than it did 10 years ago. While it doesn't replace taking dance class, working out or staying in shape, it does make all of these activities easier, more beneficial and more enjoyable.