Secrets I Never Told My Mother

Some of you may remember I wrote about an experimental art installation Secrets I Never Told My Mother back in August. That workshopped installation by LeahWilksDance and HaaStudios was a really fantastic work of art and I hope that many of you got out to see it.

For the past few months the piece has continued development and this weekend is being shown at the Trotter Building (410 West Geer Street). The final product is an art and performance piece that involves audio recordings, video, and dance. It runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00pm and is $10 advance and $15 at the door. Tickets here

More details:

Based on interviews collected by choreographer Leah Wilks, “Secrets I Never Told My Mother” uses video design, audio documentary, and the movement of five dancers to explore the practice of secret- keeping, and the societal expectations and human reasoning that accompany it.

“Secrets I Never Told My Mother” has been collaboratively developed by choreographer Leah Wilks and a quintet of Triangle-based professional dancers (Nicola Bullock, Erin Casanega,Toni Craige, Lindsay Grey Leonard, and Meg Ralston-Asumendi)  over a months-long process. Initially inspired by audio interviews, the soundscape incorporates snippets of these interviews with original music composed and recorded by Kaitlin Houlditch-Fair, Adam Lindquist, Will Ridenour and Elysse Thebner. 

Augmenting the live performance is a stunning projection design by video artist Jon Haas, using the cutting-edge projection software ‘Isadora.’ This new technology allows for innovative interactivity between live performance and digital design, and the projection design has been developed in tandem with the choreography.

Durham Cinematheque's "Interviewed" at Duke East Campus

If you've every been walking near Central Park on a Third Friday just after dusk, you may have caught a lucky glimpse of Durham Cinematheque's Movies in the Park series. Their speciality is experimental film editing using vintage footage, almost the film equivalent of a collage.

Photo credit: D.B. Lee

Their next screening is a part of the Screen/Society Series, sponsored in part by the Duke University Arts of Moving Image Program. Tom Whiteside, the man behind the projector, will be there to present his film "Interviewed," a documentary/experimental hybrid:

An archival extrapolation of six anonymous interviews filmed in Salt Lake City circa December 1960. We do not know (or see) the interviewer, we do not know the purpose of these mildly bizarre encounters. Interviews are presented intact, set in short sequences of supporting audio and images. "Would you rather go to a symphony concert or a football game? How important do you feel that religion is to people in these times? What do you like most about your job? What do you like least about your job? How good of a president do you feel that Franklin Roosevelt was? How would you raise your daughter differently from the way you were raised?"

The screening will be on Tuesday, September 18, at the Richard White Auditorium on Duke's East Campus. Show starts at 8:00pm, admission is free and the public is invited.

Photo credit: D. Mann

Constructing “Secrets” at The Carrack

photo by Andrew Synowiez @ synster.com

We got an email about what sounds like a very cool dance performance this Friday at the Carrack downtown. This is a installation of a work in development called Secrets I Never Told My Mother. The piece is a collaboration of durham-based choreographer Leah Wilks and videographer Jon Haas. Here is the gist:

Based on interviews collected by choreographer Leah Wilks, Secrets I Never Told My Mother uses video design, audio documentary, and the movement of five dancers to explore the practice of secretkeeping, and the societal expectations and human reasoning that accompany it.

 “Constructing ‘Secrets’ at The Carrack” is part of a ten-day residency (July 30 – August 8) at The Carrack Modern Art awarded to LeahWilksDance to explore and develop this new piece. Multimedia will be on display throughout the residency. Participants will experience a fully interactive installation where secret-keeping and the implications of secrets will be explored through writing, music, audio documentation, video projections and movement.

Sounds very interesting. The performance is Friday night 8/3 at 8:00pm and is FREE. The multimedia installation will be on display now through next week 8/8.

Secrets I Never Told My Mother from Jon Haas on Vimeo.

Welcome to the Durham History Hub

Welcome to the Durham History Hub
Third Friday, July 20th, 6-10pm
500 West Main St.

DURM Hip Hop Summit

The 5 original elements of Hip-hop culture will crash land at the Casbah in Durham, NC. The burgeoning hip-hop team of Toon & The Real Laww have been tapped to curate a one day, hip-hop festival of sorts, that will "bring back a positive light" to the durham rap music scene. This day will include live breakdancers, graffiti artists, beat-box with live DJing exibitions, and so much more! The night will be capped off with live performances from 5 of Durham's most promising hip-hop acts!

This event will focus on the "5 pillars" on which hip-hop culture stands upon. Those elements, or "pillars" are, the Emcee, the Break Dancer, the DJ, Beatboxing, and last but not least, the graffiti artists. The elements will be presented throughout the night with live exhibitions mixed with various audience participation opportunities.

Performances by:

• Joshua Gunn
• The Beast
• Toon & The Real Laww
• Lazurus & Sarah Kaboom
• Defacto Thezpian

Hosted by Bishop Omega, the night will be sponsored so far by Pabst Blue Ribbon and RunawayClothes.com, a local clothing company run by Gabe Eng-Goetz.