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Temptation of the Museswith the Ahn TrioPremiered December 2010 at the Harlem School of the Arts Theater in New York Choreography: Nai-Ni Chen Lighting
Designer/Stage Manager:
Joe Levasseur Costume Designer: Anna-Alisa Belous Temptation of the Muses An Evening of Music and Dance
All pieces written or transcribed for
Ahn Trio. *Commissioned by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the
Performing Arts **Transcribed by Kenji Bunch TECH REQUIREMENTS CONCRETE
STREAM Made possible by the Live Music for
Dance Program from the American Music Center which is supported by the
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Composer’s note “Concrete
Stream” usually refers to an artificial trickle of water in a backyard
garden- essentially an elaborate home improvement project. Perhaps a more poetic
interpretation of the term could suggest the paradox between the
organic and man-made; the struggle for the existence of fluidity and
natural beauty in an urban, industrial context.
This work explores these two conflicting concepts,
by incorporating elements of “floating” melody, free from traditionally
notated rhythms, juxtaposed with the insistent inflexibility of
repetitive motives. -Kenji Bunch (November 2010) Choreographer’s
note It is always very exciting to bring
talents together from different disciplines in the arts. Each one of us is driven
by inspiration from poetry, drama, music, dance and our lives. We are the muses tempted to toss
our energy and pass on from one to the other.
During
the creative process the dancers are actively involved in improvisation. I gave them a lot of
freedom to express themselves. The
outcome is not only the collaborative effort between the composer,
musicians and me. It is many hours of hard work from my dancers. I am grateful for the
input from all of my dancers, especially for their enthusiasm, support
and creativity throughout the process. While I was searching for ideas to create a piece in collaboration with Kenji Bunch (later he titled it “Concrete Stream”), this poem provided me with movement and sound images. I shared it with all collaborators and we started from there, moving on to the final product. -Nai-Ni Chen (December 2010) A Word for
Freedom By Latif Nazemi Translated from
the Persian/Dari by Bashir Sakhawarz Let's kiss water the root of civilization a word for freedom I'm in love with water with roaring and restless rivers that are not seduced by trees nor captured by jungles They flow day and night carry on forever. Let's praise rivers that lust for
flowing for searching for a heart of
temptation that know what message water
delivers to stone, the questions water asks from quiet
coasts. Passerby, for a long time the river has been constrained in
an old robe on our street and thrown into a well Water wars with the well water in the mind of a tree water in the solitude of a cup, water in the memory of flowerpot, inconsolable. I had a wonderful dream on Friday
night. I dreamed the river ran free that on its roaring horse it rode over stones,
past
the border of farms
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