Informations
6522 Hollywood Blvd,Los Angeles
Thursday 17 November 2011, 20h30 till Thursday 17 November 2011, 22h00
Organized by : Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions
Description
mecca vazie andrews & WIFE: An Evening of Performance, Choreography, and DiscussionCurated by Dino Dinco
mecca vazie andrews and the members of performance / dance collective WIFE (Jasmine Albuquerque, Kristen Leahy & Nina McNeely) have been choreographing, performing and teaching dance and movement for years. Collectively, their bold and unique performative work has been seen locally and internationally on the stages of the Grammy Awards, in myriad television commercials, music videos, museums and galleries to underground nightclubs, a Hollywood sushi bar and even a laundromat.
As with most freelance artists, there’s a certain hustle that’s part of the territory, a need to both create and survive. For many, this includes a day job that may or may not be related to one’s art. For Los Angeles choreographers, part of creating / surviving often includes working with the most visible stars in the entertainment industry, as Los Angeles and particularly Hollywood (the geographic neighborhood, the cinema, music and advertising factories) continue to comprise the epicenter of English-language pop culture and entertainment. What is “local” in Los Angeles is often instantly and also “international,” not only because of the film and TV production, advertising and media embedded in the day-to-day culture(s) of the city, but also as so many globally recognized entertainers, like Prince, for example, reside here.
After the performances, we’ll talk to mecca and WIFE about their individual approaches to dance and movement, as well as how they navigate art and commerce, living and working in Los Angeles.
- Dino Dinco, Performance Art Guest Curator-in-Residence
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
mecca vazie andrews is a choreographer, dance instructor, performance artist and Artist Director of The MOVEMENT movement.
[a lions den where nonsense is accompanied by a long line of dignitaries.
sometimes a school with the Ubsurd
occasionally sleeping with the Romantic
Relentlessly behind Social Action
Sharing the simple word of Please and Thank You and MOVEMENT movement, all kinds thereof.
Communication on a big rig sized scale.]
Projects include Glee for Chevrolet, 2011 Grammys, Lady Gaga, LACE, Center Theatre Group, Hammer Museum, Santa Monica Museum of Art. Director for The Standard Hotel Los Angeles event, The Series. Choreography for Prince Poppycock, MEN, The Submarines, The Slits, Astra Ballet Company, LA Contemporary Dance Company, Hollywood Bowl, Bess, Toro y Moi, Basement Jaxx, among others. Featured in Paper Magazine, Rolling Stone, LA Record, LA Times. mecca vazie andrews has taught at Loyola Marymount University, Contemporary Dance Conservatory, Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts, Nashville School of the Arts, Broadway Dance Center, LA Contemporary Dance Company and Edge Performing Arts Center. Follow her on twitter.com/meccava or find out more at meccavazieandrews.tumblr.com
WIFE : Jasmine Albuquerque, Kristen Leahy & Nina McNeely
[She will only be seen in the dark.
She is a magician of picture and light.
She exists in many dimensions.
She is visceral contemporary dance.
She is studying the subtleties of your behavior.
She is eternally bound to archetype, myth, lore, alchemy, and dreams.
She is metamorphosis.She is the daughter of Jim Henson, Chris Cunningham, Akira Kurosawa, Kathy Rose, Wendy Carlos, Yayoi Kusama, Planningtorock, Aleister Crowley, her friends, and you.]
WIFE is dance interacting with original projected animations, music, light, and costumes. She has been seen at Pieter, at the El Portal Theatre, and as part of the Bootleg Dance Festival 2011. WIFE’s “The Grey Ones” was presented at the Long Beach TEDx SoCal event, and is also featured on the electronic music artist Amon Tobin’s box set DVD. Currently, WIFE is creating a full-length dance/projection work to be performed at Human Resources and featured in Native Strategies, a biannual journal and platform for performance art in Los Angeles, and has been invited to perform in the Forum Lounge at Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum in May 2012. She was born of three Los Angeles based artists: Jasmine Albuquerque, Kristen Leahy & Nina McNeely.
For more information on the artists and curator, visit welcometolace.org/events/view/mecca-vazie-andrews-wife
For all other LACE programs and events, visit www.welcometolace.org
Image: WIFE (left; photo credit - Benjy Russel), mecca vazie andrews (right; photo credit - Eliot Lee Hazel)