Art Of Movement/Dark Rain

Art of Movement and Dark Rain is a double bill commissioned by the Kyoto Experiment Festival and South East Dance which previewed at the British Council Showcase in the Edinburgh Festival August 2013 and premiered in Kyoto in October 2013. The work draws upon Cowie’s expertise in choreographing virtual 3D dancers in his earlier installations but with the significant inclusion in these new works of real dancers who dance alongside and are indistinguishable from the artificial dancers.
Both works are also embedded in the visual art work of the German artist Silke Mansholt and the continuously changing visual landscape informs and compliments the choreography. The presentation also includes as an interlude the virtual work Jenseits commissioned by Teatro a Corte in Turino. The pieces are currently touring to London, Algiers, Havana, Cairo, Copenhagen, Zagreb and St Petersburg.

Art of Movement is a comprehensive set of short didactic pieces each exploring one of the one hundred and twenty-two choreographic techniques. The dancers, under the severe constraint of sharing a performing space of a quarter of a square metre, are also embedded in the visual world of German artist Silke Mansholt..

Jenseits takes place on two vertical (virtual) ladders. The ladders on the one hand are symbolic of transition and death (Jenseits, the other side, beyond, also refers to the afterlife in German) but also function choreographically by defining the spaces the dancers inhabit in a similar way to that in which a musical scale allows the listener to interpret melody. A paired series of visual images are projected onto the dancers, ladders and background progressing throughout the piece from light to darkness.
Dark Rain is a fast moving stylised performance featuring stroboscopic flashing images and accompanied by a dramatic and loud score of Japanese drumming.

NB - DUE TO THE FAST FLASHING STROBOSCOPIC NATURE OF THE VISUAL IMAGES THE PIECE SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY ANYONE WHO SUFFERS FROM PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY OR FLICKER VERTIGO!

Billy Cowie is a Scottish choreographer, composer, writer and filmmaker. He works principally in the area of dance/theatre performance, screen dance and installation. He has choreographed over twenty live performance pieces (in collaboration with Liz Aggiss) for Divas Dance Theatre and six major screen projects (two BBC2 commissions ‘Beethoven in Love’ and ‘Motion Control’, three ACE Capture projects and a Channel 4 commission).
A book about this work ‘Anarchic Dance’ was published by Routledge in 2006. His stereoscopic dance installations ‘In the Flesh’ (winner of the Delegates Prize at the IMZ International Dance Screen Festival 2007 in the Hague), ‘The Revery Alone’, ‘Ghosts in the Machine’, ‘Tango de Soledad’ and ‘t’es pas la seule’ have been installed in over twenty countries (including one of Zagreb Dance Week Festival earlier edtions) on six continents and were featured at TPAM 2010, in the British Council Showcases at the Edinburgh Festival in 2009/2011/13 and BDE 2010/2012.

Art of Movement won the Prix du Jury at FCIDC 2013 (Festival Culturel International de la Danse Contemporaine). Cowie is currently a Principal Research Fellow at the University of Brighton.

 

Originally from Sydney Australia, Anja Mujic is a graduate of Newtown High School of the Performing Arts (2008), Ev & Bow Full Time Dance Training Centre (2010) and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (2013) and has since continued to develop her artistry, taking a particular interest in the dance/music collaborative relationship.
Her earliest work with the internationally renowned choreographer Sarah Boulter saw her perform with the in-house company at Ev & Bow, winning prizes at the Sydney Eisteddfod and presenting work at the 3rd CARNIVAL Choreographic Ball in Sydney.
As a student, Anja has also participated in workshops, masterclasses and secondments internationally with the likes of Australian Dance Theatre, Chunky Move, Tasdance, Dance North, Critical Path, Hofesh Shechter Co, NDT II, Budapest Dance Theatre, Cie. Audie Linga and Scottish Dance Theatre.
In 2011, Anja worked with musical theatre choreographer Veronica Beattie for the Sydney Festival, continued work with choreographer Olivia Ansell for the Showtime Department at Luna Park Sydney, and was a finalist in FORM Dance Projects Fast+Fresh 2011 Choreographic Dance Competition with her first solo work “Melodies and Desires” presented at Sydney’s Riverside Theatre. She has been a member of Dirtyfeet Inc since 2011, participating in choreographic labs with artists such as Emeline Forster, Kristina Chan, Leeke Griffin, Sue Healy, Jodie McNielly and Martin Del Amo, and in 2012 she danced with youMove Company led by Artistic Director Kay Armstrong, working with established NSW choreographers Kay Armstrong, Anton and Narelle Benjamin and performing in a variety of different platforms including Sydney Festival, Site and Sound Festival for Leichhardt Council, FORM Dance Projects Choreographic Series and Campbelltown Arts Centre Student Series.
In 2012, Anja was a dancer for choreographers Sandra Goode and Tamara Argall in their works; “With or Without: Self Aside” and “What Was” for the Sydney Fringe Festival 2012 Platform Shorts, and also performed in Jodie McNielly’s sight specific responsive piece “Atmosphere’s of Rest” for the Newtown NIGHTIME: TWILIGHT program curated by Performance Space Sydney.

Since relocating to Europe, Anja spent time in Vienna at Impulstanz 2013, where she trained in the Ultima Vez solo and partnering vocabularies, ROSAS Repertory, David Zambrano’s Flying Low Technique, and also participated in research workshops with Damien Jalet and Marie Chouinard. In the UK, she has collaborated with London based video/performance artist Helen Benigson, and worked with Brighton based Scottish choreographer Billy Cowie.