Asheville's Urban Arts Institute

Asheville's Urban Arts Institute "empowers and enriches the under-served youth of our community through the art of hip-hop," says Michael Hayes who founded the organization in 2006. Hayes is self-taught in theater and dance. "I've always had a creative vibe going on with me," says Hayes, "I figured I might as well use the talent to help the kids."

Learn more about the Urban Arts Institute: Hip Hop in the Heart by Joshua Cole for Mountain Xpress

Hayes and the students will be presenters at TEDxAsheville this weekend, and will be discussing the power art has to transform lives and communities.

Look for them in the Asheville Holiday Parade,

November 19th.

A special fundraiser for the UAI is planned
Friday December 16th 7pm to midnight
STEP IN THE NAME OF LOVE/ LOVE BALL
THE YMI CULTURAL CENTER on Eagle Street

$25/individual
$40/ couple
"This is a dress-up event" says Hayes. "There will be Chicago two-stepping and foxtrotting -- all the good stuff."

Asheville Rites Project: A public art + performance piece

Photo of Molly Rose Freeman by Matt Rose, courtesy of Verve Magazine

For the next two weeks Molly Rose Freeman will be painting five 10' x10' panels for the Asheville Rites Project, a collaborative performance piece that comes together on May 21. The panels are installed in amphitheatre format in the RiverLink sculpture and performance plaza, an outdoor venue located at 117 Riverside Drive, across from the Cotton Mill Studios and 12 Bones Restaurant.

A dance choreographed by Garth Gimball is set to take place at dusk on May 21st (raindate is May 28th) at the plaza with Freeman's panels serving as the backdrop. Live music will be performed by Michael Libramento. The event is free and open to the public. In the meantime, you can swing by and check out the mural as it progresses.

This project is made possible with the help of Kickstarter donations, RiverLink, Arts2People, Asheville Mural Project, The River Arts District Artist Community, and Asheville Ballet

Read more about Molly Rose Freeman: Wall Flower: Verve Magazine May 2011

Closing reception at FLOOD this Saturday

Due to bad weather, Claire Barratt’s multimedia art installation, Dance is the new visual art at The Flood Gallery went a little under the radar when it opened three weeks ago. If you still haven’t seen it, don’t worry: Barratt will be hosting a special closing reception this Saturday, Jan. 29, from noon to 4 p.m.

Barratt shines not only as a performance artist, but also in her ability to push boundaries. Something that is in danger of being overly sentimental — such as her fairytale video “Chloe” — maintains interest with its odd camera angles, rough edits and offbeat costuming. Though it’s not clear how the videos conceptually relate to each other, or to the paper surrounding them, it all works as an exercise in serendipity. In a moment when two videos randomly sync up with a crunching sound and a gestural movement, one gets the feeling that everything is exactly how it ought to be.

More info: Final week of dance is the new visual art; MountainXpress

Asheville Mall Flash Mob

This kind of stuff is so great.

Dance is the New Visual Art

DANCE IS THE NEW VISUAL ART
A video installation by Claire Elizabeth Barratt

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, January 8th

7pm – 10pm
FLOOD GALLERY
Phil Mechanic Building on Roberts Street
RiverArts District – Asheville NC

An installation of multiple videos on the subject of dance and movement.

Videos are all created by Cilla Vee Life Arts director Claire Elizabeth Barratt in collaboration with numerous artists from a variety of disciplines.

Collaborators include:
Kimathi Moore – Asheville NC – composer
Charles Elmer – Asheville NC – videographer
Michael Folliet – Asheville NC – videographer
Dr T – Boston MA – VJ video artist
Walter Wright – Lowell MA – sound artist
Randy F Simon – NYC / Jamaica – videographer
Tatsuya Nakatani – Easton PA / Japan – sound artist
Natasha Royka – Ottawa ON – dance videographer

The installation incorporates sculptural forms created of paper, fabric & wire that serve not only as screens for the videos, but also as devices to shape the space. Sound installation by acousmatic composer Dr. Rick Nance is produced by materials used for the installation.

Claire Elizabeth Barratt is a trained dancer, but she prefers to call herself a “motion sculptor.“ It’s a term she came up with while working as a figure model in New York City art schools for five years starting in 2002. Shifting from one pose to the other, she discovered that the contemplative movement was similar to dance. “Organically, it just started happening in my performances,” she says.
Read more: Motion Pictures; Verve Magazine Jan. 2011.

Splat! and Luna

Dancer/performance artist Claire Elizabeth Barratt and musician/composer Shane Perlowin recently joined forces for a live interactive performance at Pritchard Park. I missed it, but fortunately I was able to read the amusing and informative write-up by Jaye Bartell here: (Photos by Jonathan Welch) http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/splat_at_pritchard_park/

Barratt will be performing again this Sunday, July 17 8-11pm at FLOOD Gallery in The Phil Mechanic Building. Here's what The Mountain Xpress has to say about it:

Part dance, part performance art, part installation, LUNA — the brainchild of dancer Claire Elizabeth Barratt, set to the music of electronic sound-scape artist Kimathi Moore — is a continuous three-hour performance. Can’t sit still that long? No problem — the audience can come and go as they please. Barratt will be costumed “in a white powder which glows under ultraviolet black-light. This creates an ethereal & haunting effect”; she describes her slow-motion technique as “motion sculpture.” Held at The Flood Gallery in the Phil Mechanic Building on Saturday, July 17. 8-11 p.m. $10/$7 students. floodgallery.org.
From Mountain Xpress Smart Bets Your guide to what's happening in music, theater and the arts in Asheville and Western North Carolina 7/13/2010

Learn more about Claire Elizabeth Barratt at http://www.cillavee.com/

Trailer for Maria Voisin video

Friends, my latest video "The 48 Hour Dance Project" is nearing completion and will air on URTV next week. The video follows local Latin dance choreographer Maria Voisin and 5 dancers as they rush to complete a dance piece in 48 hours. I will be screening a rough version of it at Bobo's Gallery and Wine Bar on Lexington Ave. in downtown Asheville on Tuesday April 28th at 9:00. Following the video will be a live performance by Voisin's all women's dance group, Dulcinea

Circus! Circus!!!

The Runaway Circus is back!!!
Join them at Pritchard Park at 12:30 on Sunday March 22 for a parade to the Riverside Studios, where the circus will commence@3:30. I went to one of these circuses a couple of years ago, and I can't impress upon you enough how completely entertaining, enthralling, energetic and awesome the show was. My friend Sayde blew everyone's minds with her glorious trapeze act, and the tumblers, jugglers and musicians were fabulous and funny. I love performances like this that are derived on a shoestring budget, so uber creative measures are taken to achieve the spectacle we have come to expect of circuses. The performers take their art seriously - many of them have even attended circus school. This year's theme is "sunken ship in the frenchbroad river." The event is kid-friendly and does not use animals. Suggested donation is $5, but I encourage you to give generously. They should get a grant for this stuff. For fun pics visit www.runawaycircus.com

The 48 Hour Dance Project

Backstage before the show

Last weekend I followed a team from the 48 Hour Dance Project with a video camera. I have been documenting Maria Voisin dancer and director of Salseros 828 Dance Company. The making of her 48 hour choreography project Si Se Puede is the subject of my next episode of Art Seen Asheville. Voisin randomly chose 6 dancers out of a hat (one of them fell sick so in the end there were only 5) and together they produced a Si Se Puede - a piece that combines various Latin dance forms.
The 48 Hour Dance Project was hosted by the BeBe Theatre and Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatreand this was the first time it has been attempted. Read more details about the other participating choreographers and their dances here