by Erin Jerome, June 21, 2018
A well-traveled choreographer will present a show in Mount Vision on Saturday that explores the space of her residency: a 200-year-old desanctified Baptist church.
The performance space known as The Church has been renovated in recent years by owners Jamie Leonard and Pamela Rapp, who run Upstate Production Services.
Clark has performed and choreographed for 16 years in New York City and around Europe, and brings two collaborators to the area. The group has spent about a month in the space developing and preparing a single show set for Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14 with a reduced rate of $11, and available at the door or at www.upsi-ny.com
The night will feature video installations, a pair performance and a solo piece from dancer Courtney Drasner. An electronic musician, David Shane Smith, will perform some original music and accompany one of the dances. A bar will serve beer from Brewery Ommegang.
“We're trying to break down that fourth wall and make the art a much more palpable experience,” Clark said. The audience sits in pews on three sides of the main floor of the sanctuary, making for an intimate show, she said. The space can hold about 100 people.
Multiple screens of different sizes will display Clark's Tiny Dances, an installation of 100 performance videos inspired by anonymous letters Clark asked people to send her. Some will be displayed on the walls of the church.
She and dancer Stevie Oakes will give a duet performance inspired by the space that is about 60 percent improvisational, Clark said. Shane Smith will provide a live score that pulls sound recordings from the sanctuary.
Clark said that she enjoys being more objective as a choreographer for other dancers, and has explored themes of feminism, privacy and politics in her work, which has become more collaborative over the years. She has done several artist residencies, but has never stayed and performed in a church.
“It has some of the most beautiful stained glass I've ever seen,” she said, describing unique panes such as an anchor wrapped in rope and a bundle of grapes that resemble a face.
The area has no cell phone service, she said, and the sense of isolation has allowed group members to focus on their creations.
“It's been very inspiring being in a space that was used for something very different than an artistic residency, but is now used as a haven for people to create work,” she said.