Review

Performance collaboration explores the unseen movements of dance in space

Using technology, dancers will be transforming space with their movements in "Extensions of the Body," which is being performed May 1 and 2 in the Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri. Image: courtesy of Eric Souther

Friday and Saturday, Kansas City audiences have the opportunity to experience a unique collaboration between four local artists. The performance, Extensions of the Body, "will put the audience in an interactive environment where their experience of the dance will be extended through live video manipulation, projection mapping onto the body, live light painting via a LED hula hoop, and movement-responsive sensors generating soundscapes." Eric Souther, Elisha Stetson, Brie Blakeman, and Daniel Goggin will perform the work several times on both days, and video and other documentation will be on view between performances.

A behind-the-scenes look at staging for "Extensions of the Body." Image: courtesy of Eric Souther

Eric Souther's new work is part of a continuing investigation of order and organization within modes of information flow in which he controls and reinterprets code in order to create electronic forms. Using an algorithmic visualization program called Max/MSP and Jitter, he programs and manipulates video live to create interactive environments — this allows audiences to have immersive experiences. Next month, Souther will receive his bachelor of fine arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in photography and digital filmmaking and plans to pursue a master of fine arts degree at Alfred University in electronic integrated arts in the fall of 2009. He has participated in performances in the Kansas City region for the past three years, including live audio processing for the Gamelan Genta Kasturi and the “Flashback to the ‘60s” KCAI fundraiser, and he has collaborated with musicians and engineers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to map out brain wave data that manipulated sound and video.

Elisha Stetson uses sparkly, metallic, and reflective nylon lycra to make fitting bodysuits that explore ideas regarding human evolution into the future: new cities, societies, and ways of life are being created all the time as we move further and further along the postmodern landscape. Stetson also is graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in May, and she will receive her B.F.A. from in fiber.

Brie Blakeman is also known as Breeze and is a professional performance artist and hoop dance instructor. Music and art have always been the driving force of her life, and since childhood she’s been creating images through observation of the world around her. Her belief is that hoop dance has the power to disentangle the broken parts of person’s soul, allowing everyone to express themselves in ways they never thought possible. The hoop is a symbol of oneness, self-realization, and eternity, and when used within dance it provides guidance into one’s center. Blakeman plans to graduate from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2010 with a B.F.A. degree in interdisciplinary arts and has performed at various large concerts and events throughout the United States, including with The String Cheese Incident, Quixotic, and Hoop Dancer Spiral. She traveled twice to India (with Samsung Mobile) to promote the 2008 Olympic games.

Daniel Goggin uses his international and southern roots to make art that is both honoring and critiquing American culture and is the "techno-wizard" behind Extensions of the Body.

Where and when:

Central Art Space, courtesy of
Levitt Enterprises
2030 Central Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri

Extensions of the Body
Collaborative multimedia dance performances by Brie Blakemen, Penelope Hearn, Elisha Stetson, Eric Souther and Daniel Goggin
(The works will be performed multiple times both days, and between showings, documentation and video stills will be on view. The artists will speak about their work during the May 2 showings. Performance demonstration can be seen on YouTube.)
May 1, 7-10 p.m. & May 2, 1-7 p.m.

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