Musician Dan Mohr (DRMWPN, Dhalgren, Dan Mohr Trio) and choreographer/dancer Rachel Damon (Synapse Arts) originated collision_theory at Links Hall in 2009. From October 2009 to June 2011, the monthly series presented improvised performances by curated "blind dates" between musicians and dancers who, in most cases, had never collaborated before. Mohr is bringing the series to Experimental Sound Studio on the first three Sundays in November at 3pm. Each performance will feature a novel pairing of solo dancer and solo musician navigating the unpredictable landscape of cross-disciplinary improvisation.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6:
BRIAN LABYCZ
vs.
AYAKO KATO
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13:
JULIA MILLER
vs.
RACHEL DAMON
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 20:
FRED LONBERG-HOLM
vs.
MIKEY RIOUX
PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 3PM
ADMISSION: $5
11.06.11: Labycz vs. Kato
Brian Labycz is an improviser hailing from Chicago primarily performing with electronics. Currently working with a modular synthesizer he has also utilized a range of sources such as acoustic instruments, digital manipulations, field recordings, and self-made devices to produce and explore various expressive forms. With a primary focus on improvisation his aim is to produce dynamic gestures with electronics in a live setting. The goal is to transcend gadgetry to arrive at a fully realized performance instrument. Working as a soloist and in various group settings he has performed and released work in the US and Japan. He has also organized events in Chicago and abroad and is actively hosting the Myopic Improvised Music Series as well as the Protest Series at Heaven Gallery.
Ayako Kato, originally from Japan, works on interdisciplinary and experimental collaborations between dance artists, musicians, visual artists and video artists since 1998 as an individual dance artist as well as a production company Art Union Humanscape. Kato and the company received awards and honors for their choreographic works, improvisation works and Kato's study on dance anatomy with Irene Dowd. Since fall 2010, she is an artist in residence at Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater as part of Chicago Moving Company's Dance Shelter Program. Kato organizes a dance series, currently called Dance Union, in Chicago since fall 2008.
http://www.artunionhumanscape.net
11.13.11: Miller vs. Damon
Guitarist, composer, and electronic musician Julia Miller performs with the electroacoustic trio Auris, with Gimlet Eye, and as a frequent soloist and collaborator in experimental and avant garde chamber music. Auris’s current cd has been released on Artco Records (2009). Julia completed the performance half of a double MM in Classical Guitar Performance at Northwestern University in 1993, and currently serves as the Jazz, Folk and Contemporary Guitar Department Chair at the Music Institute of Chicago, where she is also a Suzuki Guitar specialist. Julia has received awards and fellowships from the Chicago Tribune Foundation, the New York Art Ensemble, the United Arts Council, the American Composer’s Forum, and Meet the Composer, and is currently a member of the composition faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, and Adjunct Associate Professor in Sound and Liberal Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Rachel Damon creates, designs, and manages live performance. She has performed and presented internationally, as the Artistic Director of Synapse Arts, with Director Erica Mott, and as a former company member of both The Anatomical Theatre and Breakbone Dance Co. A 2010/11 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist, she is currently creating the project Factor Ricochet. Devoted to the practice of movement improvisation, Damon devises programs and performances with Lisa Gonzales and JulieAnn Graham and co-curated the improvisation series collision_theory with her collaborator, Dan Mohr. Damon and Mohr began their work together with Stridulate: hybrid forms in voice and movement, and the pair became Links Hall Artistic Associates in 2009.
11.20.11: Lonberg-Holm vs. Rioux
Fred Lonberg-Holm is an improvisor and composer living in Chicago. Principle projects include his Valentine Trio, Seval, Stirrup, and the Lightbox Orchestra. He is also a member of The Peter Broetzmann Chicago 10tet, Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III, Friction Brothers and Fast Citizens. Improvisors he has worked with include Clare Cooper, Charlotte Hug, Andrea Neumann, Shelly Hirsch, Carrie Shull, Jaimie Branch, Carrie Biolo, Birgitte Uhler, Rachel Wadham, Mary Halverson, Joelle Leandre, Joanne Powers, Zeena Parkins, Judy Dunaway, Lotte Anker as well as a number of guys. He has recorded solo records for the Emanem and FlyingAspidistra labels. Over the years he has been credited for work on dozens of jazz, rock, pop, contemporary classical and country records, including those by The Boxhead Ensemble, Wilco, Freakwater, Vandermark 5, US Maple, Guillermo Gregorio, God Is My Co-Pilot, Anthony Coleman, Kaki King, Jim O'Rourke, Bobby Conn, and The Flying Luttenbachers.
Mikey Rioux (Chicago/Seattle) is Artistic Director of Chicago Dance Crash. Mikey has had the pleasure of performing with River North Dance Chicago, Mordine & CO., Lucky Plush Productions, Nandanse, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, Kate Corby & Dancers, Salt Horse, Scott/Powell Performance, and Lingo Dance Theatre among others. In 2001 Mikey founded Impetus Dance Theater and served as Artistic Director until 2005. Currently Mikey teaches at Visceral Dance Center. Other projects include heading the band Singersongrapper, photographing the people and places around him, and making videos under the name The SHO. Mikey received his BFA in printmaking and video from Cornish College of the Arts. He has done lots of beautiful things for lots of impressive people. His concern is to be full of joy and full of discovery.
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