Pat Catterson's NOW. Installation Event Set for NYU Tisch Later This Month

NOW. is a multimedia / performance / installation event directed and choreographed by Pat Catterson in collaboration with dance media artist Paul Galando and presented by NYU Tisch Dance and New Media Department on Saturday and Sunday, January 30 & 31, 2016 at 12 Noon. This immersive performance captures dancers in single moments in time and place performing simultaneously both in real and virtual time.

NOW. explores the evolving intimacy of dance in a world of new media where dancers in New York perform live alongside life-size Skype projections of dancers in real-time from multiple cities around the world including Argentina, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Japan and Norway.

NOW. addresses the faux intimacy that media creates and in which we are immersed daily. We are connected by phantom representations of one another, real in the sense that they can be communicative, and yet not real as these projected essence lack physical weight and presence.

NOW. captures time as one elastic substance and embraces the perfect imperfections within both body and technology.

NOW. is an experience across borders of time and distance, presenting ideas of live-ness, time, and the individuation and bonding inherent in the sharing of movement. The duets, solos and group sections of this piece will unfold over three sites, with the audience free to move from one to the other, as well as to interact with the international cast of dancers.

Over the last eight years, Pat Catterson has been fine-tuning a creative process that embraces rather than defies dance's ephemerality and seeks to rediscover the dancer as a full artist rather than as a well-tooled machine executing steps. Her recent choreography is a reflection on philosophical ideas of sense of self and on how to emphasize live-ness in performances for both the audience and for the dancers without resorting to improvisation. Her interest in philosophy (her minor in undergraduate studies) and its intersections with neuroscience and physics today, continue to inspire her work. Catterson began her career in the dance world at the Judson Church in the late 1960s. This, her 108th dance, is a production where all her interests coalesce.

"As I get older," Catterson says, "I experience time differently. Of course there is the cliché that time feels to pass more quickly the older one gets. It is an acceleration that makes one feel the unity of past present and future, as if they are becoming one, or always were one elastic substance. I more intensely experience the present, albeit within a sea of recollections. The present is what is here NOW for me, or more accurately, when I am."

Pat Catterson (Choreographer / Dancer), whose parents were a professional ballroom dancing team, and her paternal grandfather a tap dancer in Vaudeville, moved to NYC in 1968. Two years later she presented her first full evening of choreography at Judson Church. Subsequently she has choreographed over a hundred works. Awarded a 2011 Solomon R. Guggenheim Choreography Fellowship, she has received multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the CAPS Program, the Harkness Foundation, the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, as well as from the Fulbright Commission. A dedicated educator, she has been on the faculties at Sarah Lawrence College, UCLA, the Juilliard School, Princeton University, Muhlenberg College, Barnard College, the Merce Cunningham Studio, and Marymount Manhattan College. For twenty years she taught her own tap classes in NYC. She has been a guest artist all over the US and in Europe, most recently in Copenhagen at Skolen for Moderne Dans, in the CODA Festival in Oslo and in the Kalamata Festival in Kalamata Greece. Her writing has been published in Ballet Review, JOPERD, Attitude Magazine, Dance Magazine Online, the Getty Iris, and the Dance Research Journal. She first performed Yvonne Rainer's work in 1969 and since 1999 has worked as her dancer, rehearsal assistant, as well as custodian of Rainer's early works. She has performed with Ms Rainer and/or set her works in Scotland, Brazil, France, Germany, Austria, England, Italy, at the Getty in Los Angeles and in NYC seasons for the past seventeen years. Her principal training has been with Merce Cunningham and Viola Farber for modern, Margaret Hills and Jocelyn Lorenz for ballet, Charles "Cooky" Cook and Charles "Honi" Coles for tap and Bessie Schonberg and Martha Myers for composition. She earned her BA in psychology and philosophy from Northwestern University and her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College.

Paul Galando (Dance Media Artist) is a teacher of digital production and new media in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He is Director of NYU's Tisch Dance and New Media, an initiative designed to teach and encourage dancers' involvement in all areas of digital media: filming stage works, creating film/dance and interactive work, multi-media collaborations, and internet-based art.

Paul is an educator and administrator, independent filmmaker, editor, information technologist, and a new media production company owner. His experience includes film publicity at the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group and Nancy Seltzer & Associates where he worked on many Hollywood films and represented top actors and filmmakers. He was Creative Director at the strategic change management consulting firm Novations Group where he led new media development. In addition to teaching at NYU, Paul has launched several services and academic programs at the university. He has worked in IT administration and faculty technology development, digital production management, online and streaming media, global technology and specialized in the pedagogy of teaching using technology. He is a managing partner in the production company Double Tour Media and consults for eCentrics, a new media development company that he founded in 1998. His clients have included: HP, Nabisco, Exxon, The Warhol Museum Seminar, Amoco, and Procter & Gamble. He is the recipient of technology awards and grants used to support the use of technology in the NYU arts community. In his filmmaking he works with business and educational clients. As a producer, director and editor his works include films, commercials, music videos and works for public broadcast and have been official selections and screened in festivals internationally.

Italian / Finnish dancer and maker, Irina Baldini trained in classical and contemporary dance at the Florence Dance Center, Italy, and Contact Improvisation, Release work, Cunningham and Graham techniques at the Laban Centre for movement and dance, London UK, working with professionals as Charles Linenhan and Rosalind Crisp. In 2010/11 and 2014/15, she worked with different choreographers in London (Yvonne Rainer, Xavier Leroy, Marten Spangberg, Simone Forti, Mike Kelley, Pablo Bronstein, Susan Sentler) at venues such as the Hayward Gallery, The White Cube, Institute of Contemporary Art, Raven Row Gallery and in the Netherlands (Svetlin Velchev and Branka Zgonjanin) as well as producing her own work. In 2013, Irina established the 4bid gallery in Amsterdam with three other artists/curators, a place of experimentation and site for the development of temporary cultures across countries. She choreographed works there, including in 2013, All the things this is not, a work that initiated the book she is currently writing. She also initiated artistic programs such as Highs & Lows, initially with working partner Masako Matsushita and Shuffle Project, and co-curated two editions of the international art festival, Dystopia (2014) and Be_Hacker (2015). Recipient of the Lisa Ullman Traveling Scholarship Fund in 2012 she traveled to NY with Masako to be Artist in Residency at Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn.

From Dallas, Brynt Beitman earned a B.F.A. from The Juilliard School and is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. As a student, he was invited to create work under the mentorship of Margie Gillis at Springboard Danse Montreal. His professional credits include Bruce Wood Dance Project, Heidi Latsky Dance, TAKE Dance, Lydia Johnson Dance, and New York Baroque Dance Company. His own works have been shown internationally at The Juilliard Theater, Alice Tully Hall, Bryant Park, Dance New Amsterdam, Galapagos Art Space, Socrates Sculpture Park, Moyse Hall, and most recently at Baruch Performing Arts Center as a part of REVERB Dance Festival.

Mauro Cacciatore is a Professional dancer from Rosario - Argentina. Formed at Taller de Danza Contemporánea del Teatro San Martín, graduated with honors. He was a contemporary dance teacher at that institution, Arte XXI, San Martín National University (UNSAM) and in the National University of Arts (UNA). Guest Master of the National Contemporary Dance Company (CNDC). His projects have received support from PRODANZA, National Endowment from the Arts (FNA), Fundación Amigos del Teatro San Martin and Fundación Williams. Receive repeated invitations to participate from Merce Cunningham Trust workshops (NYC), being directed by Robert Swinston, Jennifer Goggans, Andrea Weber, Jean Freebury, among other "Merce Cunningham Dance Company" former dancers. In Argentina, he worked under the direction of Carlos Trunsky, Gerardo Litvak, Eugenia Estevez, Inzunza Joel Leal, Damian Malvacio, Inés Armas, Julia Muzio, among others. Since 2012 he created and directed Project Even (T).

Emilia Gasiorek. Performer, dancer, maker based in Brussels. Graduate from London Contemporary Dance School. She is currently exploring notions of the body as a living archive and the interplay between its spaces and others. She is also interested in writing and stitching as a research method and practice. As a performer she has worked for Yvonne Rainer as part of a retrospective exhibition at Raven Row, London, and with artists such as Eva Recacha and Juan Dominguez. She has been awarded the Deutsche Bank Award for Creative Enterprises to pursue a project questioning the relationship between documentation and performance. In 2015 she was invited to take part in Exit Visa, a programme run by The Place and facilitated by Joe Moran. She co-founded the artistic trio Riviere,Gasiorek&Stigsdatter, and their new piece Charley Enhanced will premiere in London in January 2016.

Pierre Guilbault was raised in Vancouver, B.C. and moved to New York in 2012 after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance. He has a background in Ballet and Contemporary, and has studied film and theater acting in the past. Since then he has worked with Mary Siedman, Mari Meade, Pam Tanowitz, Helen Simoneau, Pat Catterson, Emery LeCrone, Lise Houlton of Minnesota Dance Theater, Katie-Rose McLaughlin O'Niel, Rebecca Lazier, Sally Silvers, and has done extensive work in and around the Merce Cunningham workshops at West Beth and City Center spaces. He joined the Liz Gerring Dance Company in September 2014 and is also currently working with Ellen Cornfield.

Sarah Haarmann grew up in Macungie, Pennsylvania. In 2012, she graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Dance. Since graduation, Sarah has performed works by Dylan Crossman, Jessica Lang, Jordan Morley, Pam Tanowitz and Elena Vazintaris. She has performed in numerous repertory workshops sponsored by the Merce Cunningham Trust.

Gry Bech-Hanssen is a contemporary dancartist based in Oslo, Norway. Since completing her education at Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 1995 she has studied contemporary dance and improvisation with Andrew Morrish, Julyen Hamilton, Kirstie Simson,, Martin Sonderkamp, Andrew de L. Harwood, Katie Duck, David Zambrano, Randy Warshaw, Frey Faust, and many others. After spending four years working in Stockholm, she returned to Oslo in 1999, and has since performed and toured extensively both in Norway and internationally, most notably with Kreutzerkompani/Eva Cecilie Richardsen and Dansdesign. Since 2009 she has been initiating projects and collaborations with other artists. The improvisation project Patches, a collaboration with three other dancers and a composer, premiered in Cologne in 2013, and was later performed in Oslo. The same year she co-produced and performed in an outdoor dance performance with live music on the roof of the Opera house in Oslo. In 2012 she participated in Deborah Hay's Solo Performance Commissioning Project, and has performed her adaptation of the solo 'Dynamic' in San Francisco and Oslo. Gry has taught contemporary technique at Oslo National Academy of the Arts and is a certified Pilates instructor. Through the years she has received numerous grants and stipends.

Gina Ianni is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in dance from Marymount Manhattan College, where she was awarded the department's highest honor, a gold key, for demonstrating excellence in her field. Since then, Gina has enjoyed working in both the concert and commercial realms of dance. She was a member of TAKE Dance as well as the Steps Repertory Ensemble. Gina has worked with Beyoncé, been featured at New York Fashion Week, and appeared on TV for America's Got Talent, NBC Red Nose Day, and BET's 106 & Park. Other industrial credits include AXE, Pepsi, and Tommy Hilfiger. Gina is also a certified Pilates instructor and has been teaching since 2011.

Tomoko Maeda was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She moved to New York and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Dance. She has been dancing for Pat Catterson and performed "There is No Conclusion" at Judson Memorial Church in June, 2010. As a choreographer, she challenged herself by always pushing the envelope with innovative ideas. One of her pieces, Destiny ≠ Consequences, was even chosen to represent Marymount Manhattan College at DTW. How R U? was presented in Reverb Festival, 2009 and 1 or A? was presented in Young Choreographer's Festival, 2010. Her collaborative dance company T-MADE Dance Company performed 1 or A? at N.N.N.2 in July, 2011 in Yokohama, Japan. After returning to Japan, she was crowned Miss Earth Japan 2011 and participated in the international competition. Among 84 delegates, she became the world's best in the National Costume Competition. As she pursues her modeling career, she works for various charity and the environmental protection projects such as Carbon Footprint of Products Communication Program and Earth Hour. She is also recognized as a competent reporter on the shows such as NHK World's great gear for her excellent communication skills and unique perspectives. www.tomoko-maeda.com

Adele Nickel was born in Portland, OR and trained on scholarship with Oregon Ballet Theater, the Joffrey School and the San Francisco Ballet before moving to New York to pursue a career in modern dance; she has since danced with Noemie LaFrance, Karole Armitage, Patrick Corbin and Sarah Michelson, among others. Adele was a member of the Liz Gerring Dance Company from 2009­2015 and was featured in the original cast of Glacier, named #4 on the New York Times' "Best Dance of 2013" and nominated for a Bessie Award. Most recently Adele assisted choreographer Annie-B Parson working with Grammy Award-winning rock musician St. Vincent and performed as a backup dancer at the Hollywood Bowl. Adele is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique; she maintains a private practice in Midtown and on the Upper West Side in Manhattan and serves as an affiliate faculty member at Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique (RIAT). www.alexanderwithadele.com

Maia Ramnath freelances as a dancer and aerialist while creating her own work with circus-theater fusion group Constellation Moving Company, of which she is artistic director. She is also a historian and author.

Rodolfo Saraiva was born in Rio de Janeiro, where he began his dance studies at the age of 9 at Center of Arts and Movements Rhitmus. He perfomed at Laso Dance Company, under the direction of Carlos Laerte, and at Cuballet with Laura Alonso, artistic director. He also worked at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, Municipal Theater of Niterói and São Paulo Dance Company, where he joined in 2009 until 2015. He graduated at University Paulista of Arts. As an artistic diretor, he produced his first dance-video in 2015.

Sania Strimbakou (Athanasia Strimpakou), born in Athens, Greece, in 1980, is a dancer and dance teacher who lives and works in Athens. She began studying dance at the Municipal Dance School of Kalamata (1990-1996). With a scholarship of Karelias Foundation she followed a summer course at the Royal Academy of Dance in London (August 1994). She graduated from the State School of Dance in Athens (2000). She continued her dance training with a scholarship of A. Onassis Foundation at Dance Space Center and Movement Research in New York (2002). Since 2003 he has been collaborating as a dancer with choreographers based in Amsterdam (Pere Faura, Marcela Giesche, Gosia Hedusch a.o.) where she used to live for four year (2004-2008) and with Greek dance and theater companies (Wrong Movement, Amalgama, Ypsilon, Yelp danceco, Quasistellar a.o.). She gives contemporary dance classes in Dancevacuum Centre of Performing Arts in Athens and at the Professional Dance School Dansarte in Patras, Greece.

Macy Sullivan (Camas, WA) is a New York City-based dancer, collaborator, and teaching artist. She dances for Dance Heginbotham, The Chase Brock Experience, and Caleb Teicher and Company and has performed the roles of Peter in Isaac Mizrahi's Peter and the Wolf, Marie in Chase Brock's The Nutcracker, and a featured tap dancer in Tyne Rafaeli's The Poor of New York. Sullivan's own work has been performed at Judson Memorial Church, The 92nd Street Y, The Tank, Jennifer Muller/The Works' HATCH, and The Juilliard School. As a teaching artist, she has worked with the NYC Department of Education, Lincoln Center Education, Cayman Arts Festival, Juilliard Global Ventures, and Artists Striving to End Poverty. She holds a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School (Martha Hill Prize, John Erskine Prize, Choreographic Honors). www.macysullivan.com

Asha Thomas (Atlanta, Georgia, United States) received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Juilliard School in New York City in 1999 under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy and, upon graduating, became a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater where she was a principal dancer for eight years. In 2007, Asha relocated to France to work as a freelance artist with several dance companies: Compagnie Salia nï Seydou (Poussières de Sang) , Raphaëlle Delaunay (Bitter Sugar/ EIKON/ Ginger Jive), Richard Siegal /The Bakery (Glossopoeïa), Prue Lang (Timeproject), Philippe Ménard (Air), and Boris Charmatz (Flipbook/ 20 Dancers for the 20th Century installation. In 2015, choreographer Philippe Ménard created a solo for and in collaboration with her entitled Héroïne which is currently being performed around France. She is also currently working with choreographer Olivia Grandville on a new piece, Combat de Carnaval et Carême, which premieres in France in January 2016.
In addition to her work as a dancer for other companies, Asha develops and produces her own choreographic work through her company, Compagnie Ima, which she created in 2010. That year she choreographed Mi Peñita Negra, a flamenco-inspired solo, which has been performed in Germany, Morocco, and France. In 2014, she created a duet, Ghazals, performed with dancer David Gaulein-Stef, which is inspired by the Persian poetry of Hafiz. Her latest project, Clay, in progress for 2015-16, is a collaboration with flamenco dancer Yinka Esi Graves. Asha also works with the Africa Regional Services (ARS) department of the US Embassy in France that sends American artists to countries within Africa to perform, give workshops, and do other cultural outreach.

Joshua Tuason is originally from San Francisco where he began his training at the San Francisco Ballet. He received a BFA from Marymount Manhattan Collage. He was a member of the Martha Graham Ensemble and has participated in various reconstructions of Merce Cunningham's work through the Cunningham Trust. He is currently working with Ian Spencer Bell, Ellen Cornfield, Wendy Osserman, Bill Young, Pam Tanowitz and has been a member of the Stephen Petronio Company since 2009.

Maria Uppin is a freelance dancer, dance teacher and choreographer from Tallinn, Estonia. She started dancing at the age of 4, when she joined an Estonian folk dance ensemble „Lee". There Maria grew so fond of dance that eventually she wasn't able to keep her hands (and feet) off of other movement styles as well. She made acquaintance with ballet, contemporary dance and yoga. After graduating high school there wasn't much doubt about the choice of her career path. Maria applied for the choreography curriculum at the Tallinn University and got accepted. There she continued to widen her reach in dance and was introduced to the art of dance composition and creation of choreography. She graduated from Tallinn University cum laude in 2011. After graduation she continued her studies in New York where she was first enrolled in the Merce Cunningham professional training program and then transferred to the José Limón professional studies program due to the closing of the international programs at the Cunningham Studio. As a result, she feels very fortunate to have studied not one but two very important modern dance styles, both fascinating in their own way and perfectly complementing each other. After her return to Estonia, Maria decided to pursue the Master's degree in choreography from Tallinn University which she received cum laude in 2015. Today she teaches modern dance and yoga in Tallinn University, Tallinn Ballet School and several smaller studios in Tallinn, is involved in various projects as a dancer and is preparing for her next work as a choreographer.