Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance Presents SOUNDINGS, 5/16-19

Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance presents Soundings from May 16 - 18, 2018 at 7:30pm at Barnard College Dance Department, Barnard Hall, Studio 305, 3009 Broadway at W. 117th Street, and May 19, 2018 at 2pm at Brooklyn Public Library, Spaceworks at Williamsburgh Library, 240 Division Avenue, Brooklyn. Tickets are free, and reservations can be made at http://timelapsedance.com/events/soundings/. Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance presents four studio performances featuring two new works-in-process and a revival of Ice Cycle.

The program highlights Sperling's ongoing collaborations with composer Matthew Burtner and cellist Scott Johnson. A pioneer in the field of environmental music, Burtner will perform live in NYC (May 16-18 only) for the first iteration of Wind Rose, a new work-in-progress for the company that visualizes changing local and global winds patterns, and plays with different rhythmic and spatial patterning, pushing the boundaries of Sperling's use of her Fuller-influenced apparatus.

A wind rose is defined as a time-honored measurement tool used by meteorologists to indicate wind speed and direction at a particular location.With Ice Cycle, which was inspired by Sperling's experience dancing on polar sea ice, Burtner and Sperling convey the fragility and dynamism of the Arctic icescape.The program also includes Sound Study, a developing collaboration between Sperling and Johnson begun during a residency with Human Impacts Institute. The playful duet investigates the atmospheric vibrations of the performance space.

The performance at the Williamsburg Library is co-presented by Human Impacts Institute and Spaceworks. Dancers: Alex Bittner, Morgan Bontz, Jenny Campbell, Carly Cerasuolo, Jody Sperling, and Nyemah Stuart

Matthew Burtner (www.matthewburtner.com) is an Alaskan-born composer and sound artist who creates music from materials and data of climate change, particularly related to the Arctic. Burtner spent his childhood in the far north of Alaska and this profoundly shaped his musical language. He is the leading expert on the eco-acoustics of snow and ice, and has worked extensively with systems of climatology applied to music. First Prize Winner of the Musica Nova International competition, and an NEA Art Works and IDEA Award winner, Burtner's music has received honors and prizes from Bourges (France), Gaudeamus (Netherlands), Darmstadt (Germany) and The Russolo (Italy) international competitions. His concert music has been performed in festivals and venues throughout the world, and commissioned by ensembles such as NOISE (USA), Integrales (Germany), Peak FreQuency (USA), MiN (Norway), Musikene (Spain), Spiza (Greece), CrossSound (Alaska), and others. He teaches composition and computer music at the University of Virginia, and directs the environmental arts non-profit organization, EcoSono (www.ecosono.org).

N. Scott Johnson is an architect and founding principal of XDEA, a design firm located in New York City focusing on the crossroads of public space, performance and architecture. Prior to XDEA, Scott was a Principal at Diller Scofidio + Renfro in New York City. Recent projects include a performance installation for the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of their 2016 Dreamlands Immersive Cinema exhibit. Trained as a classical cellist, Scott collaborated with filmmaker Barbara Hammer for her performance piece Evidentiary Bodies, designing the installation, composing the music and playing the cello during the performance. Scott designed the installation of The Living Stage, an eco-performance in New York's Meltzer Park on the Lower East Side in August 2017. His Duet for Cello and Film was featured at the Berlin International Film Festival this past February and his visual score for Evidentiary Bodies was recently published by Inpatient Press. Scott is currently collaborating with Rattlestick Theater on the design of a performance piece about St. Vincent's Hospital to take place in the West Village this June.

A dancer-choreographer from NYC, Jody Sperling is the Founder/Artistic Director of Time Lapse Dance. She has created 40+ works including many furthering the legacy of modern dance pioneer Loie Fuller (1862-1928). Considered the preeminent Fuller stylist, Sperling expanded the genre into the 21st century, deploying it in the context of contemporary performance forms. She was nominated for a 2017 World Choreography Award for her work on the French feature film "The Dancer" (premiere 2016 Cannes Film Festival) inspired by Fuller's life.

Years of working in Fuller's idiom, which involves kinesphere-expanding costumes, has influenced Sperling's awareness of the body's relationship with the larger environment. In 2014, she participated in a polar science mission to the Arctic as the first, and to date only, choreographer-in-residence aboard a US Coast Guard icebreaker. During the expedition, she danced on Arctic sea ice and made the short dance film "Ice Floe," winner of a Creative Climate Award. Following that experience, Sperling developed the program Bringing the Arctic Home, a dance-theater work transporting the icescape to the stage and incorporating climate literacy outreach. Current projects focus on using visual-kinetic narratives to connect choreography and climate science.

Time Lapse Dance (TLD), a 501(c)3 non-profit dance company, was founded by dancer-choreographer Jody Sperling in 2000. the company presents visually alluring kinetic theater that fuses dance, music, lighting and costume design. Since inception, TLD has presented annual seasons in its home base of New York City. Along with performances, the company offers programs such as community engagement on arts and climate, lecture presentations, school and family shows, workshops, and masterclasses. TLD has been in residence at many colleges and universities including, among others, The Ailey School, Brenau University, Hunter College's Mellon-funded Arts Across the Curriculum Initiative, Wesleyan University, Vassar College, University of Massachusetts/Amherst, Hofstra University, DeSales University, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Bloomfield College, University of Nebraska, University of Wyoming and Marlboro College. TLD has received commissions from Vermont Performance Lab (VPL), University of Wyoming/NEA American Masterpieces and the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics. the company has received grants from New York City's Department of Cultural Awards, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the American Music Center and the Harkness Dance Foundation.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council.