{"id":1681,"date":"2012-05-22T22:22:06","date_gmt":"2012-05-22T22:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.danceanywhere.org\/news\/?p=1681"},"modified":"2014-01-05T00:05:11","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T00:05:11","slug":"raissa-simpson-bitter-melon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danceanywhere.org\/news\/2012\/raissa-simpson-bitter-melon\/","title":{"rendered":"Raissa Simpson \/ Bitter Melon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/a> dancers: Kyle Limin and Olutola Afolayan photo: Matt Haber<\/p>\n

Raissa Simpson\u2019s recent performance, \u201cDances for Trayvon\u201d was not only riveting and emotional, but also extremely thought-provoking. Simpson, a Bay Area dancer and choreographer and the founder of Push Dance Company, performed \u201cDances for Trayvon\u201d at the Oakland Museum of California as part of dance anywhere<\/em><\/strong>\u00ae 2012. This performance incited deep discussions concerning race, art, politics, and of course the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin. The soundtrack for this performance was made up of a collage of audio samples from news programs discussing Trayvon Martin and his death. With this backdrop, Simpson performed a partially-improvised dance that incorporated the audience, the outdoor space of the museum, and the objects in that space. Simpson\u2019s work holds a mirror up to society and asks the audience to relate their lives to others in distant places or time. With her company, Push Dance Company, Simpson will be performing a new piece, \u201cBitter Melon,\u201d later this month at the Dewey Monument in San Francisco\u2019s Union Square. With this performance, Simpson will inspire the audience to learn more about two historic tragedies: the Great Mississippi Flood in 1927, and the Philippine-American War.<\/p>\n

Your dance anywhere performance at the Oakland Museum of California was extremely moving. Tell me about this performance and your process for creating it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine today\u2019s art not responding to the news, entertainment, and environment. \u201cDances for Trayvon\u201d came about from a personal mindset. \u201cHow can we judge a book by its cover\u201d type stuff. Most of my work comes from a sociological perception of how people relate to each other based on outward appearance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The audio track for “Dances for Trayvon” was so interesting and stirring. How do you see music and sound in relation to dance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It takes movement to make a sound. And, it was incredible to find all these interviews with different personalities trying to make sense of the matter. My process rarely involves counting music, which can throw dancers off who are use to counting 8 count phrases on music. It is more about organically shaping sound into a timing mechanism for when an event will take place in the movement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This performance included some audience participation. Why did you want to include the audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this case, it just seemed right to pull audience members into the piece. I love this type of experimentation where human relationships are depicted on stage. I did it because it was the right thing to do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n