Alissa Cardone
"Wonder Girl" (2004)
Alla Kovgan
photo by Robin Hessman
Dedalus Wainwright
photo by Robin Hessman
Ingrid Schatz
photo by Robin Hessman
ARTISTS
Alissa Cardone (choreographer, dancer)
Cardone's performances have been said to "release form from the unconscious heart into the conscious mind" and "to occupy time while suspending it." Her work has manifested on both stage and street, in solo and group compositions, in dance films and concentrate on interdisciplinary collaborations with Kinodance. Cardone trained with Min Tanaka (Body Weather Farm), has collaborated and performed with Paula Josa-Jones/Performance Works, Nora Chipaumire, Elaine Summers & Yoshito Ohno and continues to study and perform for 'Nijinski of Butoh' Akira Kasai, most recently in "Butoh America" a centennial commission by Japan Society for the New York Butoh Festival (October 2007). In Japan she was featured in Kasai's "Nobody Eve" (Tokyo & Kyoto, 2003) and in 2004 received a fellowship from Asian Cultural Council to train with Kasai, study Nihon Buyo with Minosuke Nishikawa and collaborate with contemporary dancer Naoka Uemura on the multi-media production "Wonder Girl" (Tokyo, 2004). Cardone has collaborated and improvised with musicians such as Masakatsu Takagi, rock guitarist Chris Brokaw, Tatsuya Nakatani, Greg Kelley, Mike Bullock and noise artist Jessica Rylan. Currently on faculty at Longy School of Music's Dalcroze Eurythmics Program, Cardone has guest taught at Concord Academy, Boston Ballet, Drop Dance Collective (Boise, ID), Soundscape (N. Carolina), Bank America Celebrity Series & has led Butoh-based improvisation labs in Boston, Russia & Philadelphia.
Alla Kovgan (filmmaker)
is a Boston-based filmmaker/curator/ intermedia artist, born in Moscow (Russia). Her 16mm films and videos have been screened at film festivals and theatrical venues around the world – including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (US), Lincoln Center (New York), Brooklyn Academy of Music (US), DeCordova Museum (US), Centre George Pompidou (France), Teater Utan Kayu (Jakarta, Indonesia) to name a few. Since 1999, Alla has been involved in dance and film collaborations – creating intermedia performances (with KINODANCE and Elaine Summers), making dance films (with Alissa Cardone, Victoria Marks and Nicola Hawkins), working on documentaries about dance (on Contemporary African Dance or on an encounter of Bill T. Jones and a Russian prima ballerina Natalia Balakhnicheva). Since 2000, she has been teaching and curating dance film and avant-garde cinema worldwide and acts as an International Director of St. Petersburg Dance Film Festival KINODANCE and as a co-Curator of Balagan Experimental Film Series. Alla is also a documentary filmmaker. Her recent documentary endeavors include editing and co-directing “Movement (R)evolution Africa” produced by Joan Frosch and “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North” by Katrina Browne.
LINKS:
St. Petersburg Dance Film Festival KINODANCE (http://www.kinodance.com/russia
Balagan Film Series (http://www.coolidge.org/balagan)
Dedalus Wainwright (screen & set designer)
is a visual artist working in sculpture, set design, public art and multimedia collaborations in the realms of performance, dance, film and theatre. Some of Dedalus’ recent projects include: Collaborating with Anna Shapiro on a painted public mural exploring the industrial history of Somerville, MA. (2006); Collaborating with Kathy Couch on a kinetic set design for the Five-College Dance Consortium restaging of Trisha Brown’s “Set/Reset/Reset”, performed at Hampshire, Amherst and Smith Colleges (2006); Co-curator of “These are Textiles?” at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, an exhibit showcasing technological innovations in textile form, application and function (2006); Coordinator for a group of 5 teen visual arts curators at the Cloud Foundation (2006). Dedalus holds a BA in Studio Arts from Hampshire College and maintains a studio at Sculptors Workshop in Allston, MA.
Ingrid Schatz (choreographer/dancer)
has been called, “Strong, dramatically intense…” and “…a superbly skilled dancer…” She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts and has made a career of taking risks and pushing the boundaries of dance and in the process has studied Authentic Movement, Action Theater, stilt walking, low flying trapeze, and horse handling; and has performed in theaters, in gardens and on the screen. She has collaborated with many artists including choreographers Jin Wen Yu and Paula Josa-Jones (1997 – present), visual artists Michael Dowling and Bo Lembo, and performance artist Ernesto Pujol. She makes dances with Boston based Kairos Dance Theater and creates interdisciplinary collaborations with Kinodance Company.
Kathy Couch (lighting designer)
is a freelance lighting, scenic and costume designer, having designed for over 350 performances in New York, Boston, Armenia, Russia, Greece and throughout New England. She has worked with a variety of directors and choreographers including Wendy Woodson, Kinodance, Talvin Wilks, Kate Rigg, Kathy Randels, Yanira Castro, Mollye Maxner, Fay Simpson, David Hurwith, Kelly Parsley, Immediate Theater, Ko Theatre Works, and Universes. Kathy is currently involved in numerous collaborations, namely with Chimeara Physical Theater, and Serious Play Theater Ensemble. Kathy has worked extensively with New WORLD Theater, developing their summer intern program and designing for both their regular and summer seasons. She has been a board member for the A.P.E. galleries and performance space (Northampton, MA) since 2003 and is currently working to create a plan for sustaining the arts community in Northampton, MA. Kathy is a Visiting Lecturer in Lighting Design at Amherst College.
