![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.danceanywhere.org\/images\/blog_pics\/2013-9-11-spatial-collaborations\/spatial-collaborations-3_web.jpg\")
<\/a> Photo of The Foundry art space.\nPhotograph courtesy Light@11B.<\/em><\/div>\n
Four times per year the artists and public gather for \u201cThe Foundry Nights\u201d, a quarterly arts salon featuring the creations of ten artists-in-residence. Late into the night, dancers glide through the space, moving among art installations, which serve as a landscape for choreography. Musicians play on an antique, found piano, which is, in itself, a piece of art. The work of visual artists hangs in corners and crevices, encouraging the viewers to discover the art, rather than simply see it.<\/p>\n
While some of the works are not intentionally site-specific or collaborative in nature, the audience experiences the entire evening as an interwoven collaboration of artistic mediums. No piece stands alone. Each work supports, enlivens and transforms the other creations and the space.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\nPhotograph courtesy Foundry Nights staff and volunteers.<\/em><\/div>\n
Following the July 27th<\/sup> Foundry Night, dance anywhere spoke with two dance artists, Daria Kaufman and Clare Schweitzer about how their residencies at The Foundry informed their choreography and understanding of site- specific performance.<\/p>\n Daria\u2019s work, Habitat<\/em>, was a site-specific piece that explored physical space and architecture. Daria and her five dancers used the entirety of the space to draw the audiences\u2019 eye to the unusual surroundings, depth and height. Daria thus described Habitat <\/em>as a work that juxtaposes \u201calternative domains and skewed realities where relationships are forged and broken. Movement ripples across time and space as multiple environments unfold, overlap and collide\u201d.<\/p>\n Because Habitat <\/em>was her first site-specific venture, Daria says that the work left much room for further exploration. The unusual terrain has inspired her to explore alternative venues for her choreography in the future. \u201cMy work at The Foundry unfolded very organically. At first I just sat in the space and observed and felt the space\u2026 The piece was a very much \u2018of the space\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n Clare Schweitzer\u2019s choreographic work created a geometric art installation out of colorful ribbons which her dancers carried as they moved through the space. The dancers wove the ribbons across beams, connecting the three performance platforms of The Foundry in tent- like constructions. Clare says that with her work she strived to \u201ccreate a character out of geometric structure\u201d. She was interested in the way the wooden beams of The Foundry all have very different angles and geometry. \u201cI was taking a shape-based approach. You could easily bisect the space into unusual shapes and patterns\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nPhotograph courtesy Foundry Nights staff and volunteers
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