Communion is an experimental screendance response to the isolation and uncertainty that artists are facing in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. At a time when dancers could no longer breathe together, touch, rehearse or share the experience of movement within the physical studio, Communion invited 40 dancers, separated by physical distance and the pandemic, into a digital space to commune together.
Each of the 20 unique duets is created from videos by two different dancers who are separated by cities, countries, and sometimes continents. Artist Janessa Clark combines these videos to craft virtual duets which are set to music donated by a composer also collaborating remotely.
Audience members should bring their own chairs and will be seated, distanced, in the parking lot.
Janessa Clark (American/Swedish) is a choreographer, dance filmmaker, and installation artist currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Her practice combines dance, video, and language to create socially-engaged art for stage, screen, and community-specific locales. She holds an MA in Performance Practices and Research from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and a BFA in Choreography from Arizona State University. At the heart of Janessa’s work is the desire to challenge and rupture modes of choreography through co-authorship and experiential agency.
COMMUNION is funded, in part, by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant Program and HERE Arts Center.
“With Communion, Clark managed to create a wide-reaching, hopeful, and empowering project as the pandemic rages on across the globe.” -Ivan Talijancic, Brooklyn Rail
