Attack Theatre Premieres New Dance Film by Janessa Clark
PITTSBURGH, PA—Expanding on a robust history of creative partnerships, Attack Theatre’s newest project is a dance film created in collaboration with Brooklyn-based choreographer, Janessa Clark. The film, I : I, is slated to premiere January 22-23, 2021 to a virtual audience.
Filmed on location at Attack Theatre’s new headquarters in Pittsburgh and conceived, devised, created and captured in the difficult year of 2020, I : I is a complex web of spaces and scenes directed and choreographed by Janessa Clark, captured by cinematographer Joshua Sweeny (Pittsburgh, PA), and scored by composer David Shane Smith (Santa Fe, NM). In this film the viewer encounters an intimate look at the performers on their bespoke journeys toward reflection, healing, and one another. Featured performers in the film include Attack Theatre Co-founder and Artistic Director, Michele de la Reza alongside Company Dancers, Simon Phillips, Dane Toney, and Sarah Zielinski.
Graphic by nature and interpretive by design, the title for this new work creates space to make meaning—one to one or eye to eye. It can be a mirror image, or a glance at another person. It provides a symmetry and balance for contemplation and an ambiguous chasm of spatial divide. It can be a stretch of highway traversing the long journey ahead. It can be an encounter, a barrier, a reflection.
Throughout the virtual creative process, this project confronts and embraces the challenges of making dance in a time of social distance and isolation. Since September of 2020, Janessa Clark joined conversations and rehearsals virtually from her Brooklyn studio, guiding the creation of this film and offering insights from her recent work, Communion, a study in remote intimacy combining dance, video and social engagement.
Janessa Clark explains, “It’s a bit surreal to be creating a film in a place I have never set foot in, with dancers I have never met in person. But these are wild times, and creativity needs only the opportunity.”
With large social gatherings still on hold, Attack Theatre extends the virtual process to the premiere on January 22nd and 23rd, offering audiences an opportunity to view the film in conjunction with interactive programming so crucial to Attack Theatre’s brand of creative engagement. Virtual premiere events include an interactive tour of the dance company’s new studio at the corner of 45th and Butler Streets in the heart of Lawrenceville, as well as opportunities to discuss the work with the artists.
I : I Virtual Film Premiere
Friday, January 22 at 7:30PM EST
Saturday, January 23 at 2:30PM EST
Saturday, January 23 at 7:30PM EST
Tickets: $15-$60
www.attacktheatre.com/1-1
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Janessa Clark
Janessa Clark (American/Swedish) is a choreographer, performer, and installation artist. Her practice combines dance, movement, video, language, and social- engagement. She holds an MA in Performance Practices and Research from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London where she also received distinction for her thesis Vicious Terrain: Rupturing Choreography through Co-Authorship. Janessa also holds a BFA in Choreography from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University where she received the Undergraduate Award for Excellence for her choreographic work. She founded and directed the New York City-based dance collective, Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX, from 2001-2012 and in 2012 dissolved KILTERBOX to form nomadthenewcompany, which worked from Stockholm until 2017. https://www.janessaclark.com/