April 23, 2015
Ashamu Dance Studio
Directed by Shura Baryshnikov
The event was part of Thinking the Earth symposium.
This dance performance was commissioned as part of the Thinking the Earth symposium that took place on April 23 and 24, 2015. Thinking the Earth was the first signature event for Earth, Itself, an activity of The Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES), an interfaculty initiative at Brown University. The Institute is concerned centrally with the challenges facing us in ensuring sustainable life, and so aims to stimulate conversations across the natural and social sciences, humanities and the arts.
Aftershock was a dance performance developed in collaboration with ceramic artist Kelli Rae Adams. Aftershock asked us to examine how human beings impact the Earth, and, with a movement ensemble of 13, presented an improvised performance score which incorporated Kelli’s expressive clay slabs. The performers danced on bare floor and then dipped into their illustrative surface. They considered how to bring the audience into this tactile exploration and the form of Contact Improvisation.
Aftershock was be performed by: Shura Baryshnikov, Rebecca Lin Bone, Brando (Aaron Brandes), Neige Christenson, Olase Freeman, Sarah Konner, Tim Kopacz, Blake Nellis, Tim O’Donnell, Terhi Rasilo, Stephanie Turner, Taja Will