With her trio Ghosts (to premiere at the company's October 2008 season), Sperling expands on more than a decade of work inspired by modern-dance pioneer Loie Fuller. Sperling transports Fuller’s vocabulary of billowing undulations and iridescent illuminations into an experimental 21st-century context. Through the use of light, shadow, media projections and technological costuming, this new work plays with the elusiveness of physical presence.
In one electrifying section, Sperling wears a suit of LED lights that she flashes on-and-off under a cape of sheer silk. (View LED test VIDEO.) In other sections, the projections of bodily interior structures--eg. nerve, bone and blood cell tissues--cast intricate patterns on swirling silk costumes. The dance is set to an original score for piano, cello and percussion by composer Quentin Chiappetta. The music draws on gamelan rhythms and will be performed live at the premiere courtesy a grant from the American Music Center's Live Music for Dance Program. (22 minutes)
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jody Sperling
DANCERS: Emily Lutin, Andrea Skurr & Jody Sperling
MUSIC: Quentin Chiappetta
LIGHTING: David Ferri
COSTUMES: Michelle Ferranti
LED COSTUME TECHNOLOGISTS: Jenny Chowdhury & Alex Kowal
SCENIC DESIGN: Roger Hanna
Ghosts was developed in part through residencies at Vassar College and The Paul Robeson Galleries/Rutgers University–Newark. It was made possible in part with funds from The American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program and The Harkness Foundation for Dance.
In one electrifying section, Sperling wears a suit of LED lights that she flashes on-and-off under a cape of sheer silk. (View LED test VIDEO.) In other sections, the projections of bodily interior structures--eg. nerve, bone and blood cell tissues--cast intricate patterns on swirling silk costumes. The dance is set to an original score for piano, cello and percussion by composer Quentin Chiappetta. The music draws on gamelan rhythms and will be performed live at the premiere courtesy a grant from the American Music Center's Live Music for Dance Program. (22 minutes)
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jody Sperling
DANCERS: Emily Lutin, Andrea Skurr & Jody Sperling
MUSIC: Quentin Chiappetta
LIGHTING: David Ferri
COSTUMES: Michelle Ferranti
LED COSTUME TECHNOLOGISTS: Jenny Chowdhury & Alex Kowal
SCENIC DESIGN: Roger Hanna
Ghosts was developed in part through residencies at Vassar College and The Paul Robeson Galleries/Rutgers University–Newark. It was made possible in part with funds from The American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program and The Harkness Foundation for Dance.