Movmnt Issue 5 - Got Fame - Winter 2007

US: $5.95 CAN: $6.95

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74470 28498

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05

5 - Fall 2007 - www.movmnt.com

Fashion, Dance & Pop Culture as a Lifestyle

on newsstands until jan 08

iedman r F n ia r B , s d r o h c Con e h t f o t h vitch ig l o F b , u n L o r t a r L a , B e e g r n u a z L s e A eorg G , g in K ie m lson o Ja , h g ic r e N b ie b b o R , n o s David Hall ichael M id r g In , s Sloan l e in a t h is ic r K , e v a Mia M W e u g Postal Service, Reotti, Rasta Thomas, La Vie Mario Spin

letter from the editor

What

do

you want to be when you grow up ?

Whenever I pondered that question as a youngster, I always had a clear vision of what I wanted to do: to make a contribution to the media world. At a very early age I knew my passion for communication would remain a constant in my life. Journalism knocked at my door when I was eleven and never really left.

During my recent travels around the country, I asked quite a few teens what they want to be when they grow up. The frequency of the word “famous” was startling. What happened to wanting to be an actor, or an astronaut, or a fireman? Yesterday’s kids dreamed of becoming heroes. Today they just want to be famous.

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I always wanted to be on TV but only in pursuit of my work. Fame, however, has become accessible to anyone, from anywhere, and, unfortunately, for anything. Even worse: sometimes for nothing. Our culture’s obsession with famous people has mutated into an obsession with fame itself.

Today’s overexposed mediocrities have finessed an odd combination of exhibitionism and vulnerability into a career. We yearn for a movement where talent and dedication take precedence over a thirst for stardom.

To be as respected as Rolling Stone, or as recognized as Time, are the results of great achievement. But like fame, they are not goals in and of themselves.

Pop culture is part of our heritage. The challenge is to raise the stakes and add to its legacy instead of recycling it. movmnt aspires to bridge the gap between pop culture and today’s real talent, and recognize artists over fame junkies. We aim to bring fashion, dance, and pop culture together as a lifestyle.

David Benaym

tribute

Congratulations You Can Dance

to movmnt co-founder and artistic advisor this summer.

We

Danny Tidwell for his incredible stint on Fox’s So You Think Danny, but this comic strip is our favorite piece, created by Andrew Tran from San Jose, CA.

have received mountains of messages for

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New York - 47 Wooster Street - NY 10013 - Tel : 001 212 625 0066

contents

fashion

Ü>ÌV iÃ

42 A LA VIE, A LA MORT - 42

Life is a Circus

POP STYLE - 71

dance the calling - 13

Column by Mia Michaels

The king’s Choreography - 14

The man behind Madonna’s moves

Life is a Circus

VIP: Robbie nicholson - 17 Living the choreographer’s dream - 26

A Conversation with Aszure Barton - Photography by George Lange

The winger - 52

13

Blogging the lives of dancers

eclectic visions - 58

Rasta Thomas talks to Lar Lubovitch

Where Have you been? - 70

Finding Brian Friedman

music Ingrid’s Anatomy - 18

Interview with Ingrid Michaelson

American impotence - 61

Mia Michaels’ Calling

Column by Mario Spinetti

SUB POP RECORDS, The shambolic life - 62

The label that brought us Flight of the Conchords, Loney, Dear and The Postal Service

18

Fight the power! - 65

15 mythic songs that rocked the system

profileS - 66

Rogue Wave and Antibalas

Music Reviews - 68

Battles, Andrew Bird, Bjork, Bright Eyes, Christina Courtin, Bryan Scary

pop culture Culture club - 22 The nightlife cycle

Ingrid Michaelson

everyone is famous, where are the stars? - 34

By D. Michael Taylor

Wake up call - 40

34

The graffiti on the wall

Letter from the editor - 4 TRIBUTE - 6 Contributors - 10 affecting movmnt / directory - 80 Subscribe - 81 NEXT issue - 82

Everybody is famous

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vintage island - 76

Havana holds its breath

contributors

www.movmnt.com Co-founders

JARED RYDER Inspired from assisting some of the biggest names in photography like Mario Sorrenti and Mario Testino, Jared Ryder is no stranger to the world of imagery.

Although he has already been shooting professionally for a while, working with movmnt was a first.

Ryder is used to shooting still music portraits, so capturing the very alive cast of La Vie was a fresh perspective.

Ryder is a New York photographer who hails from Miami, and he considered this shoot more of a collaboration in art than any other he has done so far. jaredryder.com

JEANETTE PRATHER Jeanette Prather is a recent journalism grad hailing from Long Beach, CA. Here she danced in the Super Bowl, NBA and choreographed for an American Basketball Association’s dance team until she moved to the Big Apple determined to make a career out of both her passions, dance and writing.

The newest addition to the movmnt family, Jeanette is bringing to the table her varied knowledge from dancing and writing in France to working with a large dance publication in hopes of integrating both the worlds of dance and journalism. “You’ve only got one life, one shot. There’s absolutely no reason not to do what you love,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.

In this issue, read Jeanette’s interview with Jamie King, Madonna’s top Choreographer. myspace.com/jeanetteprather

Editor in Chief | Publisher David Benaym Artistic Advisor Danny Tidwell

RASTA THOMAS

MARIO SPINETTI

DOUG JAEGER

Even though he dreams of acting and not necessarily movement, Rasta Thomas has done wonders for the world of dance. A critically acclaimed dancer who got his start at the Kirov Academy in D.C., Thomas has been a guest artist at many prestigious companies like American Ballet Theatre, Complexions, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, and The Joffrey Ballet.

He was also the subject of a Bravo documentary in 1997.

A day after Danny Tidwell danced a solo to Mario Spinetti’s “Delirious” on So You Think You Can Dance, Spinetti had over 3,000 new listens on his MySpace. Don’t be fooled though, he’s no newcomer to the music industry.

By age 25 Doug Jaeger had already established the digital creative departments for JWT and TBWA\Chiat\Day. During his time at these firms he oversaw award winning work for Absolut Vodka, DeBeers, Elizabeth Arden, Merrill Lynch, Orbitz, and A&E. But, Doug’s most notable credit is probably that he founded thehappycorp global, a sleek group of progressive humans looking to improve overall happiness through innovative national brands and ideas.

Thomas continues to build his artistic talents and has big plans for the future. Currently he’s focused on directing his own company called Bad Boys of Dance, bringing quality dance back to the masses. And since the popularity of dance is on the rise, Rasta plans to jump on board. “I am in awe of Roger Federer and what he is doing for the sport of tennis, as well as what Tiger is doing for golf, and Beckham for soccer. My dream is to do the same thing for dance.”

In a society that praises celebrity over talent, Thomas believes that “if you want to be successful, you have to hang out with people more successful than you.”

Thomas was movmnt’s second cover story back in 2006. For this issue, he agreed to interview in the form of a conversation, someone he considers one of his masters, choreographer Lar Lubovitch. rastathomas.com

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_______________________________ Paul Brickman

Daymion Mardell

David Benaym & Danny Tidwell

By the age of 13, Spinetti had arranged, directed, and performed musical compositions for major television networks in New York City. By 16, he had taken a solo bow at Carnegie Hall and headlined a week-long tour in Mexico a year later.

Spinetti’s genius comes from taking his life experiences and the emotions he’s had to deal with, and developing them into different characters through song. “I am inspired by people as metaphors. I spend most of my days contemplating social issues – imbalances, wrong-doings, incongruities ... Every so often I see an individual who microcosmically represents everything I have been feeling. This person puts a face to my emotions and a character standpoint to write from. It is at this moment that I am able to create.”

There is no formula outside of Spinetti’s complete surrender to his process; dedicating his feelings to characters, his characters to music, his music to records, and his records to the world.

Since its inception in 2003, Doug has been appointed to the ADC as a board member, is a member of the Digital Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a jury foreman at D&AD London. His creative pursuits often find him behind a camera, designing t-shirts, holding 1000-person concerts at MoMA, building things, and having fun.

Jaeger worked with movmnt on this issue’s cover as well as the graphic design for “The Winger,” bringing his skills and knowledge with talent. Both projects were developed and designed with Jaeger’s team at AAARRR Studio. dougjaeger.com aaarrr.com

Page 42

The King’s Choreography Page 14

Eclectic Visions Page 58

American Impotence Page 61

Copy Editor Jeanette Prather Senior Music Editor: Lauren Adams Senior Society Editor: D. Michael Taylor Columnists: Mia Michaels, Mario Spinetti Contributing Writers Maia Jordan, David Martin Castelnau, Miki Orihara, Cynthia Salgado, Kristin Sloan, Serena Sanford, Bruce Scott, Tony Schultz, Rasta Thomas, Jeff Vicente Contributing Photographers Jean-Claude Figenwald, George Lange, Jared Ryder Contributing Graphic Designers Justin DeWalt, Laz Marquez, Andrew J Newman, Doug Jaeger (AAARRR Studio) Fashion Assistant: Melissa Carter Interns Jane Gogerman, Jodi Hosch, Wilbur Thomas Jr. Advertising

advertise@movmnt.com - Tel: +1 646 486 1128 www.movmnt.com/movmntmediakit.pdf

Board of Advisors Debbie Allen, MichaelAnthony, Kenneth Easter, Roger Moenks, Denise Roberts-Hurlin, Denise Wall Special thanks for their help and support Debbie Allen, Jason Arsenault, Daniel Babigian, Ilan Benaym, Nathalie Bishop, Adrienne Canterna, April Cook, Alexander Dubé, Brian Friedman, Ivan Koumaev, Reno Lam, Wes Marguerat, Robbie Nicholson, Amanda Pekoe, Amy Sato, Gil Stroming, Gino Tavernaro, Andrew Tran, Travis Wall magazine is an e-maprod Inc. Publication 139 Fulton Street - Suite 709 - New York, NY 10038 - USA Tel: +1 646 486 1128 - Fax: +1 646 290 9196

After being featured in the spring 2007 issue, movmnt magazine got to know and love Spinetti’s talents as a performer and songwriter. For his first contribution as a music industry insider, Spinetti discusses the pop generation and what should be demanded from today’s musicians in “American Impotence.”

www.movmnt.com - movmnt@movmnt.com www.myspace.com/movmnt

To subscribe please call Rami: +1 646 486 1128 Circulation customers: please call Disticor: +1 631 587 1160 All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or in full is prohibited without

permission of the publisher. movmnt magazine welcomes new contributors but cannot be responsible for unsolicited materials. movmnt magazine

mariospinetti.com myspace.com/mariospinetti

A La Vie, A La Mort

Production Manager Rami Ramirez

assumes no responsibility for content of advertisements.

The views expressed

in movmnt magazine by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

The Winger Page 52

Issue 5 - Fall 2007 Printed in the USA on 30% Recycled Paper

Column

the calling! t

By Mia Michaels

he calling in one’s life to be a creator is a huge responsibility to the world.

There is no backing down once this realization of artistic destiny takes place. It is the commitment of one’s life, the artistic version of the monk. We are being used by God to affect and change the universe, shift the planet, and hopefully leave it forever altered. Once our calling takes place, it is our duty to respect, nurture, and dig into it so deeply that there is no other way of living. It becomes our life and our every breath. Everything we experience transforms into art.

Then there are those who choose but have not been chosen. They make it a career (a business if you will) and have a different take on it. It’s a different way of life. They do it for the love of recognition, money, and fame. These people operate in a thing called the entertainment business. So many in this business have been successful without caring about creating their own voice or vocabulary, but just copying the great ones that have come before them. They constantly continue to repeat themselves without ever considering the “reinvention of oneself,” and without guilt or apologies. There is truth in both these worlds, they just have different heartbeats.

The fame will pass. The show will close.

The trends will change. What will remain constant are the true artists, visionaries, and creators, the ones that are called. They will stand as they are until they are gone.

Mia Michaels is a world-renowned choreographer.

She was recently awarded her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for “Calling You,” created in 2006 for Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. Mia has been collaborating creatively and as a regular columnist for movmnt since its inception.

I hope and pray to always stay true to my calling. A creator of beauty, ugliness, and worldly art of movement. I hope to be a constant because I am called.

MM miamichaels.com

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We are now in a time of reality TV and “instant celebrity.” It’s a time of mediocrity, not too much dignity or integrity on screens all over America. I am one of those so-called instant celebrities in the world’s eyes. It just happened over night.

I dropped out of the sky and became a big-name choreographer with a face.

The funny thing is I am just Mia doing what I have been doing for the last 25 years, but now I am MIA! Very funny and very strange.

Interview

KingC’shoreography

THE

A

casual interview with one of

H ollywood ’ s

most celebrated move makers :

J amie K ing

Interview by Jeanette Prather

Jamie King. The name has a ring to it. Chums with über-famous celebs like Madonna, Shakira, Prince, Mariah, Christina, Ricky and Britney, King is certainly the King of choreography for the pop stars.Between launching a new dance fitness DVD and book, designing and directing performances for A-list artists, and being nominated for countless VMA and Emmy awards, he took time before boarding an airplane to Vegas to talk to me, one of his former Nike Rockstar Workout instructors. The super friendly and down-to-earth King shed some light on dreams, passions and what it means to succeed.

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No. I didn’t really think about it. I just followed my dreams, followed my goals. I preach about staying headstrong and following your heart, and that’s what I did. I never let those thoughts about training occur to me. I learned as much as I could in my small town and tried to be the best I could be.

someone that dancers deserve the same credibility as athletes. We’re warriors. I had this idea and no one’s stopping me. I felt it in my body.

Do you have any input on who is selected to teach your Nike Rockstar Workout?

Yes. I get videos and headshots of who our instructors will be. I want to make sure that everyone keeps the same balance for the class.

How would you describe your choreography?

Did you know that I was one of your instructors?

That’s a tough one. It’s always different. It’s specific to each individual project. Nike and Rock Your Body, for instance, merge dance and workout together. It’s an athletic fusion between the two.

Yes I did! Did you have a good time teaching?

What made you want to merge dance and fitness?

Nike approached me. This huge corporation finally saw dancers as athletes. For the first time I could express to

Absolutely! The members and myself had a blast. It was so action-packed. What inspired you to choose the dancehall ragga theme?

Oh that was the old one. The new Rockstar’s choreography involves African dance.

I chose African because it’s been my passion. That dance is a full-body workout. The

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Did you find it difficult to enter the professional dance world with little technical training?

C

M

dancehall was influenced by a growing trend in island music. The new influence became very popular, and that’s how I decided what to use for Rockstar.

How did you begin your mentor-student relationship with Prince?

Prince chose me. He trained me specifically for his shows.

He’s influenced me through performance and fusion with music. It all started with him.

He took me under his wing and taught me to direct and choreograph for him.

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As a child, what career did you want when you grew up?

I was really influenced by the movie Fame. I was also part of the MTV generation. Honestly, I really wanted to be a backup dancer for someone famous. I wanted to affect pop culture through movement. I wanted to express myself anyway that I could.

It was really about reaching people, influencing society.

Do you (or did you) ever get star struck working alongside such big names?

No, neither. I do get excited concerning my work. But I only get nervous about what I’m presenting to the artists.

I want to make fun, genuine and correct work for them that reflects where they are in their careers. I want to give my work to those who want to be directed.

What do you do on your spare time if you have any?

I hang out with friends, go out to eat, watch movies, spend time by the pool and with my dog. It’s rare, but it’s great.

You do this in L.A. right?

Yes. What is one piece of golden wisdom you'd give to an aspiring professional dancer or choreographer?

Follow your heart and dreams.

Never let anyone or anything tell you otherwise. Learn as much as you can to help you develop into the best person you can be.

JP

jamiekingofficial.com

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ingrid’s Interview

anatomy Interview by Mario Spinetti

All

she can do is keep teething.

This

season’s most listened

to unsigned artist continues to sharpen her teeth on song placement after song placement.

But to what end? Find out Michaelson will and will not bite into.

What’s it like to write under the gun for a show like Grey’s Anatomy? You were asked to write for the show’s finale, correct?

Photos by Deborah Lopez

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They actually didn’t ask me to write anything specifically. I found out they wanted original music on the soundtrack while I was already working on a song.

So I tailored what I was working on in a different way than I normally would, went to my producer’s house and played it for him. Two weeks later, I had a fully produced track. The rest is what happened.

You’ve had four songs on the show: “Breakable,” “The Way I Am,” “Corner of my Heart,” and “Keep Breathing.” When I first heard “Breakable,” it sounded almost customtailored for the show, with all its body and medical references.

That’s a funny thing, because I wrote that before I’d even seen the show. I remember when everybody was suggesting that I put the music on Grey’s Anatomy, I was like 'Yeah! You know 'Breakable’ would go really well, with all the talk about bones and whatnot.' I was just joking around, but a few months later when they actually called and said, 'Yeah, we want to use it.' I was like, 'Holy shit!'

Is placing your music in television something you’re aiming to do more of in the future, or do you see your career moving in different directions?

I mean, I’m not going to sing at someone’s wedding, but in terms of television, movies, touring, and writing for other people, I’m completely open to just about everything, as long as I’m being true to myself when I’m writing.

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exactly what Ingrid

Well with things like MySpace and iTunes, and getting placed in television, it’s easier for independent artists to get their work heard without major labels. I’m gonna see how far I can take it before I need to ask for help. It’s a new world in music. There are no rules anymore and it’s kind of scary but kind of awesome at the same time. We’re just trailblazing and figuring stuff out as we go along.

I heard somewhere that it was actually theater that opened you up to performing.

Yeah. I studied theater in college. That’s what I was going to do. I went to see a friend of mine in this group called Kids on Stage when I was nine, and I guess I told my parents I wanted to do it.

I was very, very shy as a kid but I joined up. Funny enough, I ended up teaching for the same group after I graduated college, up until about last month.

Wow! So you only recently left.

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Yeah! I couldn’t fully commit to playing shows and working with the kids on theater. I had to choose between the two, and obviously I’m going to choose the one that’s less definite.

«I’m completely open to just about everything, as long as I’m being true to myself when I’m writing.»

So many artists set a goal to quit their day job. Happiness is just being able to sustain a life in the arts.

Yeah, it was really kind of momentous. It wasn’t really a day job, though. I got to dance around with kids, and put on plays, and make costumes and stuff. So I can’t really complain, but I had to make the decision. I can always go back to teaching theater, but I can’t always go back to where I am right now in music. This is the moment to grab I figure.

Amen. Shifting gears: I went to your MySpace page the other day and checked out your publicity photos. In both photographs you’re eating something.

[Laughs] That’s intentional!

Really?

Well, yeah. The hamburger one was intentional, then we did the watermelon one to follow up on the theme. I love to eat food [laughs]! It’s kind of silly and fun and human, and it shows me in a realistic light; with food in my hand.

The 'sexy shot' — like riding a horse or something? That’s not me.

«The “sexy shot” — like riding a horse or something? That’s not me. » knows what my life’s going to be like. Maybe I will become a rock star, but I doubt it. It doesn’t really attract me. My bandmate is married; she’s been married for a really long time. We’re like old ladies. We drink tea, we watch movies.

That’s the way we are.

I think they make you look really personable — less intimidating.

[Laughs] The funniest thing: I was getting some shit for eating a hamburger from the vegetarian portion of my fan base. They were like, 'Don’t eat meat.' That was probably half a year ago. And I actually did stop eating cows and pigs about four months

Maybe the rock star lifestyle is going out of style. Artists have much more responsibility these days. You’re responsible for getting yourself up, getting over to the venue, waking up for the magazine interview [Ingrid laughs]. No one else is there to make it happen.

ago. So I have this picture of me eating a hamburger even though I don’t actually eat meat anymore! But it was good. It was a bacon double cheeseburger.

Sounds good.

It was, I must say. I ate the whole thing. So, that’s going to be the theme. Pictures of me eating different things, depending on the season.

There’s an infinite amount of food, so we’ll never run out of ideas!

Is there one season that inspires you most?

Sometimes I’ll be in a dry spell, then I’ll write eight songs, then I won’t write for a while.

I don’t think it’s seasonal.

It’s more situational. Like an argument I’ll have with my boyfriend.

So you’re in a relationship?

I am! I have been for a long time. Well, not a long time.

Two years [laughs].

Two years! Congratulations, that’s not common by any measure. I’ve seen marriages last for less. [Ingrid laughs] How’s your boyfriend dealing with all the traveling? Does he travel with you?

No, no! I just go out and come back. It’s very undramatic.

Apparently so!

[Laughs] I’m not a rock star.

I don’t go out and get drunk and hang out with hookers. I pretty much do my thing, then I go to wherever I’m going to sleep, and I sleep. My touring schedule is going to get much more arduous in the months to come, though. So who

Yeah! I love that, though.

I like planning things, and organizing, and being ready.

We’re early for every date.

I’m trying to be smart about everything I do. You know?

I’m not going to mess this up.

If you could have lunch with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

Judy Garland.

Why? Cuz she’s awesome, and I feel bad [about] the way her life ended. I would just want to hug her. I grew up watching lots of Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers. My idols weren’t Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson, and New Kids. They were people who were born 50 years earlier. I’ve always had a slanted view of pop culture.

MS ingridmichaelson.com myspace.com/ingridmichaelson

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I admire that. Do you feel like it’s easier or harder to be honest these days? You know, with the major label hierarchy deteriorating.

Pop Culture

Text by Jeff Vicente | Design by Laz Marquez

Artists flock to forge their mark at these events in grandiloquent ways. It is here where they can be accepted and ultimately shape the minds of their potential audiences. We’ve all seen it on the faces of the DJ-fanatics, trembling with delight for every build-up and breakbeat. And we’ve witnessed the struts of the fierce drag queens that have made their living pretending to be and hoping to become celebrities.

But nightlife is the one place where we partygoers have most of the power. We are the chosen ones who help create these entities. It is our responsibility to sculpt the

landscape upon which our feet tread. Taking a look at the lifecycle of the party , we see the boys and girls pulling all the strings and controlling these fixtures of the night.

Building

the

Buzz

Every party inevitably starts off with some initial planning. It has become the responsibility of party promoters and hosts to garner attention for their respective events with all of the connections and energy they can muster. In the current climate of an oversaturated market, what makes a party stand out? What draws an influx of creative artists who keep an evening pumping with vitality?

Building — and maintaining — buzz is a constant in Freedom’s life. As the host of New York City parties like Room Service, Kush and the soon-to-be Shayz, Freedom has spent the better part of his adult life figuring out the formula for a successful night on the town. More of a concierge of culture than your everyday party promoter, he has been responsible for nurturing the necessary elements of excitement. “I’m always looking to find the perfect paint strokes for the night,” he says, “and so far, I’ve been pretty successful. I love being able to create an atmosphere where individuals from all walks of life can come together, and I’m able to watch that development of people.”

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A bead of sweat drips off your face and makes a singular splash against the rumbling floor.

Beams of light flicker against your body in a multitude of waves and patterns. Your body surges against the undulating crowd as you scan the room for a glimpse of the latest cultural icon du jour — momentary fame personified, ensconced in a dark bottle-serviced booth.

“More than ever,” says Freedom, “money is the grease that keeps the wheels turning.” The influx of bottle service and VIP packages can be a hindrance to attracting the artistic influences so crucial to the success of a party.

“Now it seems anybody can pay to play. If you have the money, you’re in — which in turn makes the people who really create the vibe not into it.” But now may

be the time where we, the people, fight back against the tyranny of the nouveau riche. The exclusive lounges that have popped up across the urban landscape over this past decade have started to witness a sharp decline in attendance and profit. The time is ripe for a nighttime renaissance that can bring culture back to the clubs.

A S

t a r

i s

B

o r n

In our world of instant fame on YouTube and MySpace, we forget that nightlife has been churning out stars for decades with the snap of a laced-up finger. In the world of Steve Rubell’s Studio 54 disco heaven, the household names in our pop culture vocabulary were the people who partied for a living. Would Grace Jones or Bianca Jagger still remain in our collective memories if it weren’t for their over-the-top and outlandish appearances on 54th Street? Or Klaus Nomi, performance artist extraordinaire, who cultivated

his craft and his otherworldly persona in the pressure cooker of 1980s club culture? These were all stars in their own mind, but now they finally had an outlet to show the world their true colors — a platform to create their own alter egos.

Even today, despite our celebrity addictions, we still have the power to morph and project our image into the night. Entertainers and artists over the last decade, including Amanda Lepore, the fashion design team Heatherette, and all manner of DJs and musicians have utilized the allure of the night to create and maintain their careers. And it has been our responsibility, the men and women who attend these parties, to either nurse them or kick them off their pedestal — a mess of glitter under the strobe lights.

The Party’s Over Despite our uncontrollable urges to keep the party alive, all good things must come to an

end. We’ve seen the inevitable decline of every so-called “messiah” of nightlife. Peter Gatien’s idea of a disco utopia at Limelight faded away as blown-up egos and plates full of blow became too much for anyone to handle. But again, the downfall of these parties is almost fully our responsibility. Just our presence (never mind our liquor consumption) brings cash flow and cache to any scene. We are the ones creating and sustaining the night. And as long as we keep our dancing shoes on, throw on the latest designer bag, and let our inhibitions slip away, there will always be another fierce party churning out future celebrities and culture-makers. And who knows?

This time it may be you.

JV

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Obviously, all of us are going out to see and be seen and escape the mundane cycle of our everyday lives, and a substantial percentage of partygoers strive to make their artistic mark on the world. The nightlife has always been a place where, no matter how rich or poor you are, the pulse of the city is always within your reach. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the best party promoters to grant us access to the hottest venues.

Conversation

dream Living the Choreographer’s

a s z u r e b a r t o n Written by Cynthia Salgado | Photography by George Lange

Few

choreographers have been successful and willing to allow

themselves the freedom to enjoy their gifts. born in

Alberta

and trained at the

Aszure Barton, who was National Ballet School in To-

ronto, continues to gain momentum and attention throughout the

New York arts community as her work reaches far beyond the city.

Even after the recent New York debut performance of Come In with one of the greatest dancers of our time, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Barton does not allow the pressures of having to produce and live up to expectations stand in the way of her love for creation. I followed

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her through a whole year to understand why.

i

n March 2006, Barton choreographed The Threepenny Opera, her first Broadway musical. “Creating for the ever-nimble and delightful stage veteran Jim Dale, and for the hot-blooded duo Cindy Lauper and Alan Cumming, was a crazy and fun experience,” she says. “In fact, the entire cast of Threepenny was wild!”

The following summer, Barton created Come In with Baryshnikov and the Hell’s Kitchen Dancers and toured with them around the U.S. and Spain, where she also performed a duet with the legendary ballet star, in a work choreographed

by Benjamin Millepied. “Working with Misha is wonderful,” she says. “He is very positive

and relentless, and he loves the creative process. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with him and I am thrilled to know him.”

Baryshnikov took Barton under his wing when the two met in 2002. Believing her to be “a fresh, arresting, and fascinating choreographer,” he offered Barton his first residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2005, and has continued to support her career by performing her works for two consecutive years. Preoccupied with performances at Hell’s Kitchen Dance, she took her then four-year-old company, Aszure & Artists, to Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, the Summer-dance Festival in Santa Barbara, and the Spole-

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Bar yshnikov is ver y positive and relentless, and he loves the creative process.

to Festival in Charleston. They performed Over/Come, Sweet Dream, Short-Lived, and Lascilo Perdere (containing Barton’s infamous duet in which a couple remains locked together by the man’s tongue and the woman’s teeth for four and a half powerfully sensual minutes). Rave reviews followed everywhere she went.

Barton then took seven intense weeks in the fall of 2006 to create Les Chambres des Jacques for Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, the company for whom she once danced and now serves as its resident choreographer. “The dancers in the company and my assistant, Ariel Freedman, were hugely generous and trusted me completely. It was an arduous but incredible process, and I love the piece.”

Shortly after she created Still with the talented seniors at Juilliard, with music by Alfred Schnittke. This was followed by another creation entitled Alto for Transitions Dance Company at the Laban in London.

Each composition of Barton’s is vastly unique, despite their often-overlapping creation periods. “Right now I enjoy walking into the creation process with no fixed plan,” she explains. “I am very interested in dancers as human beings and I like to have fun in the process. I try to remain open. I love to observe and seize candid moments and use this as the foundation of the work. The process has become listening to and observing my cast, rather than teaching steps. I am interested in creating dense, rapidly shifting environments onstage, in which each player is an individual and all are unified by a common tongue.”

Barton’s dream of going to Africa came true in February 2007 when she took three dancers with her to Kenya to take part in an environmental awareness project with dozens of other artists from around the world. Called Earth: Healing the Rift, the Laikipia Nature Conservancy performance was inspired by the prevalent theme of climate change and global warming, and our duty to do something about it.

Barton felt very strongly about working with the Kenyan children and community to try to make a difference. “The entire experience was so breathtaking and necessary at that point in my life. It was so wonderful to recognize how vital dance is and to realize that everyone is a teacher. I hope to go back again very soon!”

An artist’s dream to work with, Barton is attracting many aspiring dancers. Despite the fact that Aszure & Artists does not hold regular auditions, which can be frustrating for some dancers. Barton is very good at finding exactly what she wants. When searching for the perfect combination of dancers and music, she sounds as though she’s searching for a soul mate. “Trust,” she says.

“I love a dancer that is interested and interesting, honest, vulnerable, open, fearless, compelling and clear. I love laughter, so a good sense of humor is great too!” But music is every bit as important to her: “I celebrate and am deeply inspired by music.

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It doesn’t stop there. This 31year-old fireball of creativity has a lot to look forward to.

This summer she toured again with Baryshnikov and Hell’s Kitchen Dance around the U.S. and Brazil. She is now creating a new work for Les Ballets Jazz, then will travel to Prague to work on a dance movie with director Daniel Conrad.

In 2005 they collaborated on an adventurous film on the Queen Charlotte Islands on the Western coast of Canada.

She is also very excited to work with the Flamenco star Maria Pages, and to create a new work for her company.

VIP I listen to a lot of music and I am continually learning — and spending a lot of coinage on it!”

Her work has been described as intensely musical, structurally astonishing, and emotionally moving.

Robbie Nicholson, 22 Years Old | Performing Artist Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance

William Briscoe, one of Ms. Barton’s lead dancers and assistants since 2002, describes his experience creating with Aszure: “If you’re not very good at mathematics it can be difficult because of the timing and phrasing of her music. There’s always an ‘and’ count that you could easily miss. I’m a better teacher because of working with Aszure. I use all of the nuances in the music now, not simply the obvious. As a dancer, you never really perfect Aszure’s work in the process — there’s always a chance for it to become more enriched through expression and practice in the studio.” Briscoe finds that he has improved as an artist on many levels with Aszure.

“I still feel like there’s more to investigate, and we’re friends too. Most of us prefer to work with friends rather than some maniacal, crazy boss.”

“There is a line between dreams and reality.

Commitment is what breaks that line.”

Robbie Nicholson

Dealing with the financial end of the dance world is never easy, but Ms. Barton always chooses the most attractive experience over the most lucrative. Maybe that’s her secret!

Though it doesn’t hurt to have a name like Baryshnikov behind her, Aszure is a strong, independent artist who savors every opportunity to live the choreographer’s dream.

CS

aszureartists.com langephoto.com

Photo by Adrienne Canterna

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The unusual opportunities that present themselves to Barton are not simply good fortune.

Barton has a passion for collaborating with brilliant artists of all trades. From photographer George Lange, to the musicians of Les Yeux Noirs, to the filmmaker Kevin Freeman, she seeks out a wide array of work to stay constantly challenged and inspired. In her travels, Aszure gets to see the world from a new perspective every time and gains a fresh outlook on what it is to be a thriving artist.

Got Fame?

E veryone I s F amous , W h e r e A re T h e S tars ?

Written by D. Michael Taylor | Graphic Design by Laz Marquez

The Disease of Instant Celebrity In The Post-Pop Era The

scene:

A

starlet, recently freed from a grueling

72-hour

ordeal, careens out of a

correctional facility parking lot and dials the first coke dealer she can find in her iPhone.

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34 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Nothing can slow her down now. She is pissed but giddy over the press she has received.

Stupid paparazzi. And the studio keeps calling leaving threatening messages with her manager.

Can’t they see she’s having a crisis? No one understands how hard it is to be in the spotlight constantly, she thinks. Of course she parties a little, everyone does. She chucks a fast food shake out the window, hitting an oncoming car. Fucking idiots. No one understands what she is going through.

I n t h e 19 5 0 ’ s , a s m o d e r n c u l t u r e b e g a n it s h u r t l e i n t o t h e s e c o n d h a l f

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of the Twentieth Century, the idea of universal recognition took on a life its own. Advertising reached its artistic peak as grizzled Madison Avenue giants staked their reputations on buzz words and iconic images, creating the cave paintings of modern civilization. Everyday items like soap and cigarettes became more than mere daily necessities picked up at the corner store.

They became brands. Loyalty to a particular product was demanded and won by catchy jingles, flashy images, and big ideas. Branding is now the de facto language of consumer culture – we take it for granted – but it had a mystique all its own when the Marlboro Man was born, or the Avon lady came calling.

Technology served as the driver of seismic shifts in the pop cultural landscape, first through radio transmissions, then through the cathode tubes of a television set. Television quickly became the dominant medium for popular culture, only recently challenged by the Internet, which is rapidly becoming our primary source for information and entertainment. The evolutionary leaps made by these communication tools altered the way that we interact with one another and the world at large. Radio connected us with sound, television brought visual life to those sounds, and the Internet

broke through the barriers that prevented us from participating in the conversation. Communication is now a truly multi-media experience, and it is both empowering and chaotic. Information, as the cyberpunks of the 80s always said, wants to be free. But a beast like this one, caged for so long in the boardrooms of corporate conglomerates, is unpredictable and seemingly impossible to tame.

As ideas and brands became more and more universal, no one embodied the coalescing celebrity complex more vividly than Andy Warhol and his merry band of New York misfits. Love him or hate him, it’s impossible to chart the trajectory of celebrity culture without acknowledging his role as its poster boy. Even before the Internet gave everyone their own show on YouTube, this eclectic visionary saw that the future would be built on recognition and fame. Was he lazy and attention-starved? Was he a modern prophet, subverting the idea of fame even as he glorified it? That is for history to parse, but it is undeniable that he tapped into the coming zeitgeist in a way that will haunt us for a long time to come.

The irreverence and wit of his perversely repetitive silk-screens still has the power

to haunt artists who work much harder than he did to perfect their techniques, while his estate continues to garner millions of dollars per piece.

His commercial art background helped him understand the power of iconic simplicity and reproduction. His insistence on dwelling within a pervasively superficial world still confounds the very idea of art itself. With a dry, wicked sense of humor he foretold the age of tabloid journalism, teenage celebutards, and the nature of the Web itself. Everyone is now doomed to be famous for 15 minutes, even if it is only to 15 people, as the bloggy adage updates it. To be famous was not even a goal worth considering for the average citizen not so long ago. To be renowned within one’s specific area of expertise was rewarded handsomely for a select few, but the transformation of fame into a career in and of itself, commanding the attention of millions of people at a time for no particular reason, changed our world forever.

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t

he unmistakable stench of rot and decay lingers over popular culture right now.

Celebrity, once the domain of an elite (and elitist) class of hand-picked talent and wellcrafted studio production, is now mass-produced.

How did we get here? When did fame become an end unto itself? The promise of unlimited access to the means of media distribution was supposed to even the playing field, allowing the cream to rise to the top. Everyone can play; everyone can hit the jackpot; everyone can be famous. Yet the very nature of fame is corrupted by its ubiquity. It is meaningless unless there are those less famous looking up to you.

You can have 6,234 friends on MySpace and never meet more than ten of them. Fame is now the crack cocaine of success – cheaper, readily available, self-destructive, and quicker to fade.

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Art and high culture tend to a g g r e g a t e a m o n g a n e l it e f e w ,

precisely because of the disruptive nature of selfexamination. The creative life is often a lonely one, and the benefits to the rest of mankind sometimes go unappreciated until after the artist has died. So the revolution will be televised, printed, and posted online – but not everyone is fit for battle. Now more than ever, those who have the talent to see and express what lies over the horizon also have the means to broadcast themselves to a global audience – if they can find a way to be heard above the clatter and noise of everyone else.

It is that pervasive noise, the incessant hum of fame-seeking, that presents us with one of our greatest challenges right now. The excesses of celebrity culture have reached an absurd plateau; vanity and self-worship threaten to undermine the ability of anyone to rise above the fray and share the beauty of true creative talent with the world. With radical freedom comes a new kind of radical responsibility, and we are clearly not out of the woods yet. Glimpses of originality and greatness, while not impossible to find, are too often drowned in a maelstrom of flashbulbs. We have an idiotic obsession with the daily minutiae of people propped up precisely so that we can watch them fall. Anyone can find a spotlight, but no one is allowed to enjoy it for very long. There is a bloodlust to tabloid culture, and we are both witness and actor in a sprawling melodrama of meaningless people doing meaningless things. We covet their lives while rooting for their downfall; no one is allowed to have the pedestal for longer than their allotted fifteen minutes. The true media revolution and its artistic potential is still possible. But we are in the primal phase of a new pop culture paradigm, and it’s spitting directly into our cameras.

DMT

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It is useful at this point to emphasize that these trends, by and large, are by-products of a much larger shift. The power granted to individuals by technology is changing how we interact with one another and may be a force for great good as well as great distraction and confusion. There is no period in history when individual citizens have had so much control over their environment. It is only human to initially fritter away most of that power mimicking one another. We are creatures of habit by necessity; societies would crumble and fail if everyone went in a different direction all at once.

Graffiti W

Wake Up Call

orld

Tokyo, Japan London, England Belfast, Northern Ireland New York, USA Moscow, Russia In a land as rich with art and literature as Mother Russia, and in a political environment that goes out of its way to suppress free speech, it is no surprise that the dark intensity of the Russian people flourishes on the streets of St. Petersburg and Moscow in the form of graffiti.

Keith Haring embodied the intensity of urban life during the AIDS crisis, moving from subway cars in NYC to elite SoHo galleries in less than a decade. He gave a deceptively simple style to Manhattan’s tragic go-go atmosphere. His premature death was a grim exclamation point that gave his endearingly human characters poignancy that can still be felt.

Street art takes on the weight of intense religious and political conflict in Belfast. Elaborate memorials, as well as images of war and religious iconography fill entire walls throughout the rolling hills of Ireland. Seen as both an expression of fidelity to one’s cause and as an escape route from the daily grind of a once intractable conflict, the haunting images are a grim reminder of the toll of war.

The infamous street artist Banksy has been causing a stir in the street art world since the 1980s. His whimsical and thoughtprovoking style relies heavily on a distinctive stenciling technique. In recent years Banksy has made the difficult jump from anonymous street artist to enigmatic international art sensation.

Attempts to capitalize on his very public form of art, however, remain difficult.

Japanese art often seems like a surreal explosion of borrowed culture, and their graffiti explosion in the 1990s borrowed its vibe from the hip-hop generation, filtered through a punk aesthetic. Ancient mythology meets cutting edge futurism in the form of the animated style of manga and the appropriation of otherworldly symbols of the past, all incorporated into a hypermodern comic book environment.

Marc Ecko is a one-man conglomerate who owns an array of street-culture based clothing lines and magazines that promote a street-level aesthetic born out of a deep appreciation for the graffiti culture of the 1980s. Ecko’s enterprise pulls in almost a billion dollars a year, and he uses that fiscal clout to fight for causes dear to him, such as saving the rhinoceros and promoting free speech in the form of street art. In 2005, he sponsored a massive public art show involving famous NYC graffiti artists, and in 2006, he spearheaded and won a court case that overturned a NYC anti-graffiti law.

Graphic Design by Andrew J Newman

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New York, USA

Life is a circus

Style

A L a V ie A L a M ort

Written by Jeanette Prather Photography by Jared Ryder

a

mid a pinkish-gray streaked sky, high above

Manhattan skyline and contorting within the deliciously opulent Spiegeltent, seven gravity-defying acrobats peacefully enter the realm of enchanted death.

The 7 Fingers of the Hand (Les 7 Doigts de la Main) slither and twist, a circus so surreal, so sensual that their audience is fully engulfed in a bohemian fog; a the

smoky midday to midnight oasis opposite the bustling

Stylist: Rose Garcia Hair & Make Up Artist: Sasha Harford Location: South Street Seaport, Spiegelworld, New York City

Samuel Hoodie, sweat pants, and sneakers by Kim Jones for Umbro

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42 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

metropolitan streets outside.

Pete Hoodie by Kilo

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44 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Faon Shirt by Brad Digital Bathing suit American Apparel Jeans Levi’s

T

he five-year-old company that lives in a world of life and death is a glittering black medley conceived of alter egos through the glamorously sexy vixen, the stoic jock, the writhing psychopath, the dominating boss, the luscious flight attendant, the silent kitten and the elusive penis.

“I’m the director,” jokes Sebastien Soldevila between puffs of smoke with a thick Parisian accent as he perches on the edge of a sage-colored armchair behind the tent. The on-stage ringleader of La Vie works in collaboration with the Montreal-based troupe’s seven-member group of performers, directors, choreographers, writers, and company managers.

Mimi Thermal dress by Hooch Shoes by Steve Madden.

Max Thermal shirt Barking Irons Tomb Collection Jeans by APC Sneakers by Nike

Sebastian T Shirt by Anything Jacket vintage by Adidas Jeans by Earnest Sewn Hat model’s own Gold Sneakers by Nike

“The audience isn’t used to seeing a stage like this,” he motions toward the back door of the circus-turned-lounge.

“Many times they’ve just seen Cirque du Soleil. That is something very different from us. We try to develop a storyline so when we do our tricks it has meaning. We try not to do circus just to do circus.

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46 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Aside from the creepy Freudian undercurrent, Soldevila is exactly like his character.

His nonchalant demur and robust stature screams cirque nouveau, a new movement fusing dance and theater in a circus atmosphere.

Life 48 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

It was a rainy, sleepy-eyed noontime behind the small and intimate circus; a thick muggy afternoon under the base of the Brooklyn Bridge at the Seaport Village where The 7 Fingers performed every night except Tuesdays until September 30. Where between the clicks and flashes of the camera, buzzing of fans, and melancholy rhythms of Moby, a magnanimous event, real and human, unfolds. Suddenly, fellow Finger Samuel Tetreault burst through the doors and into sight.

He gestured toward a plush red booth inside and spoke with a vivacious animation. He was friendly and did not mirror his La Vie character, the toocool businessman in Armani.

Tetreault was thoughtful and open. “I used to work for Cirque du Soleil,” he said as he accidentally knocked down a nearby water bottle, and then five minutes later kicked the table. He didn’t skip a beat. “Even though I loved my time there, I wanted to be part of a more intimate kind of production, where the audience can really relate to the performers as human beings.”

A translucent draw on his character must secretly come from a childhood longing to join the Olympics (something of substantial power) that he

allows to surface during his performance. His character has the air of a suave heartthrob. “He is a successful businessman, but when everything is broken down he’s exposed, he can’t even use his legs. How does that feel? How do you cope with that?

“I wanted to show that process to the audience, and how behind everybody there is fear. It’s real.” Before he could elaborate, soft French whispers began to swarm around us.

Although she wasn’t physically there, the haunting echo of the elastic Isabelle filled the air. “Everybody at one point thinks they’re crazy,” begins Tetreault, although his words began to trail off, “‘What’s happening to me?’ you ask.

Sometimes you freak out, with reason or not...”

Isabelle Chasse plays the crazy girl in La Vie and is also the primary mastermind behind the company’s name, The 7 Fingers (derived from a French saying about five fingers from the same hand.

The company, however, has seven members).

Nimble is an understatement.

Chasse proves what Tetreault was talking about; the outlet each performer releases on stage taps into a secret desire.

She twists and turns in front of the public in a stylistic portrayal of the human soul. Chasse was fleeting, and in moments vanished.

Patrick Leonard, married to co-founding member Gypsy Snider, wasn’t there.

His legacy, however, was.

Leonard is the “elusive penis” from earlier, somehow managing to lose his pants twice in the show.

Pete Shirt Barking Irons Tombs Collection Jacket Umbro by Kim Jones Jeans by Diesel Sneakers by Jordan Samuel Hoodie PRPS Jeans Azzure custom by 22 Sneakers Umbro by Kim Jones Max Bubble Vest by Penfield Jeans by APC Sneakers by Nike

49 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

“We wanted to approach the subject of purgatory with a real, dark sense of humor, but to put that against a backdrop of something as inherently joyous as the circus.” The intellectual Soldevila pauses to take another slow drag from his cigarette, “We wanted to start our own company so that we could take these kinds of creative risks.”

e d “He’s a good crazy,” Tetreault laughs, “He’s just like his character; he wants to send a message to people to break out and not conform.”

Faon Shane, former Cirque du Soleil touring performer and another member of The 7 Fingers, radiated through the haze of the absent members as she stretched quietly with a reserved beauty atop a large and rainbow foam puzzle mat.

She smelled of a sophisticated light French perfume and spoke of her new baby. “I’m more relaxed now,” she says softly. “There’s a balance and a different perspective I get from taking care of the baby.

It’s so different from work.”

Because of their baby, Shane and boyfriend Max (a stagehand who cameos the show) don’t live in the Quebecois (former) convent that five of the other Fingers inhabit, but they live nearby.

50 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Newest member, Emilie (Mimi) Bonnavaud, also lives next door to the Fingers’ occupied convent. She has a bright energy and glows with a sort of childish innocence.

Cheeky Mimi finds hints of her character, the smoldering siren, within herself. Countless times during the show her character will sprawl provocatively on the top of a piano, or chair, or table. “I love the show because I get to play a very fun character,” Mimi flashes a huge smile, “She’s very slutty and very sexy. I mean I’m a sexy woman, but she’s over the top.”

Bonnavaud was tired of performing in Las Vegas’ Cirque du Soleil when she called her brother, Sebastian. That’s when she went out to Montreal to work with 7 Fingers.

Although not birth siblings, Soldevila adopted Bonnavaud when he was 19. “I’ve known her for 16 years,” says Soldevila, “She didn’t have parents so I adopted her.”

h t a

The brother-sister duo dances a particular number that illustrates their bond beautifully; a pas de deux of acrobatics and contemporary dance, fused with a hint of latin flavor.

Soldevila explains that this piece was choreographed by his wife, Shana Carroll, trapeze artist and Finger co-founder who plays the show’s pretty airline attendant.

There is a special closeness, a happiness and overall warm family within The 7 Fingers. Immediately you are welcomed into their world, as if among lifelong friends over blended margaritas.

This tranquil sunlight begins to descend as the star lights blaze over the glossy water.

The 7 Fingers prepare for another magical evening of obscure shapes twisted in dangling chains and ropes upside down in the air above a platform, while dreamy French music from the awardwinning DJ Pocket hums in the background.

Clear, profound and living.

That is the uplifting message delivered by these dazzling artists in a way that tickles you, scratches an itch that you didn’t even know you had. They expose themselves voluntarily, psychologically naked to the world.

Pete, rigger and backstage technician who also makes frequent cameos, relaxes moments before the long night ahead of him. “On a scale of one to ten how much do I like the show? 11.”

“We wanted to create a show where the audience would leave and think, ‘Wow, let’s live before we’re dead,’” states Tetreault. “‘Let’s live intensely, let’s love, let’s be passionate about what we do!’” And in an instant La Vie comes to life...

JP les7doigtsdelamain.com

Samuel Jacket by Reebok. Jeans by Nudie jeans.

Sneakers by Reebok

Blog

THE WINGER A N I N S I D E L O O K AT T H E DA N C E W O R L D THROUGH THE BLOGOSHPERE Text Artwork The Winger began as a mobile photo - blog of my dance life , and an experiment to see if people would be inter ested in the lives and opin ions of dancers . I t has now grown to include over 25

Kristin Sloan

New York City Ballet | Dancer The Winger | Founder

Even though I’d always rather be dancing, it’s my passion for dance that has fueled my interest in exploring the potential of the art form through new mediums.

I have been a dancer with the New York City Ballet on and off for the past nine years (the off times were due to injury), and while I’ve always been excited by what I do and the world I’m a part of, I am continually surprised by how few people share my interest in dance.

individuals from around the globe .

They

contribute to

the dance world in unique ways , and are generous in sharing their experiences with us on

The

The Winger.

creators of dance are

inspired and have a voice. The

Winger

is a place through

which those voices can be

heard firsthand , providing a forum for continued dia-

logue and exploration for

Apart from the occasional turn on the dance floor with friends (which is increasingly difficult in a city where many bars and night spots now sport ‘no dancing’ signs), dance as an art form

anyone who chooses to in teract with the site .

Whether

you ’ re following the story of an established choreog -

rapher , an eager student, a star dancer, or an experimen-

by by

Kristin Sloan Doug Jaeger

seems to be struggling to grab our increasingly limited attention spans. How is it that such a natural, human, and expressive thing like movement can start to lose its place in our lives?

As a reaction to this I wanted to try and present the dance world in a fresh way that speaks on a personal level.

I wanted to try to educate and pique interest in dance by giving people within the dance world a chance to share their stories and insights, showing them as the unique individuals they are, complete with opinions and personalities. I wanted to try and help facilitate creative connections and new ideas about dance by utilizing the Internet, while also considering aesthetics and design.

These desires are what The Winger is driven by.

I hope discovering The Winger in movmnt will incite you to join us online.

tal artist , one thing remains true ; they are all passion about

exploring

their

own relationships with the changing

world

around

Following

is a small taste

52 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

them through movement .

of life and insight from my self and four other mem -

The Winger famDavid Hallberg, Maia Jordaan, Miki Orihara, and Tony Schultz. I love learning from all of them and I hope you will too . bers of ily :

Kristin Sloan

thewinger.com

GRAFFITI

The wall of graffiti outside the room where I have my drum lessons happens to include a lady in passé amidst the tags, monsters, music notes, and smoking heads.

Is this a serendipitous representation of my life, or just a coincidence? Either way, I like it. KS

THE TODAY SHOW The Today Show came to one of our rehearsals to do a segment on Christopher Wheeldon’s newest piece for NYCB’s spring season. It was a bit distracting to have guys with big video equipment in there while we worked, but it was also interesting to see what they chose to capture.

When the piece finally aired, they played clips from Billy Elliot for over half the segment, and kept a graphic that said, ‘Reallife Billy Elliot’ over most of the dance footage. I understand the advantage of the association, but was disappointed that they had to push it that far to make the segment interesting to a large audience. KS

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ate

“THE C R E ATO R S O F DA N C E A R E I N S P I R ED AND H AV E A VO I C E . T H E W I N G E R I S A PLACE W HE RE T H OS E C A N B E H E A R D.”

THE WC BENCH

David Hallberg

One of the fortunate things about being with a big dance company like the New York City Ballet is that they have workers compensation for when their dancers get injured. From what I understand, it works for them because they are reimbursed by the insurance company for paying our salaries when we are injured. And, it works for us because we can still support ourselves while we heal our injuries.

American Ballet Theatre | Dancer

When I stop to think about things other than dance that inspire me, that feed my artistry for my work, it’s hard to pinpoint a sole source of inspiration. Any artist, whether it be a photographer or cellist, can act as inspiration for what I try and accomplish as a dancer. For example, I have watched some rather campy Errol Flynn movies from the 30s for help on Don Quixote.

For the most part, the system is fairly smooth. But periodically as your injury continues, you are called to a state building uptown for a hearing so that the insurance company’s lawyer and your WC lawyer can hammer out the finer details of your injury.

54 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Not much happened at this particular hearing, but it was a good chance to get some information corrected that I didn’t even know they had wrong in the first place. I feel very fortunate that this system is in place but it can be scary to depend on people who do not always understand dance as a profession, and often assume you don’t want to go back to work.

As injured dancers we want nothing more than to be pain free and get back to dancing as soon as possible. We try to explain how we need to go to doctors and get physical therapy, while still dancing. We explain how sometimes things like “Party Parents” in The Nutcracker happen, where we can technically be working with the company but not actually capable of doing real dancing yet. It doesn’t add up to them, which is disheartening to realize when we know that they are the ones who choose whether to support us or not. KS

Miki Orihara Martha Graham Dance Company | Dancer

When I first came to New York I hadn’t even thought about becoming a dancer.

But after taking a Graham Technique class at the Ailey School, I fell in love. It is so organic. As a ‘Graham Cracker’ at the Ailey

School, I soon realized that I needed to go to the Graham School. That was in 1981; I’ve been dancing there ever since.

I joined the Martha Graham Dance Company six years later and quickly learned that traveling is a huge part of my job. While traveling, we communicate with people from different backgrounds through dance. It is amazing to see how we reach and touch people without words.

Art is what feeds the soul in my humble opinion. It acts as passion for life. Seeing current artists, anyone from Pina Bausch to John Currin (pop art in itself), redefining the art they create is inspiration to me. Just when you think something is defined or created already, someone creates something completely new.

This also touches on the point of their complete dedication to their art form.

When Martha was still around in the 80s, audiences were more involved as everyone felt energized.

But now that Martha has been gone for a while, audiences are looking at her works as classic.

It is nice to perform in places like Chicago where people are genuinely interested in art like Noguchi’s and Martha’s work. Their appreciation is apparent and sincere.

CHICAGO

Outside the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, where we had performances this past March.

We presented all Noguchi/Graham pieces: Errand into the Maze, Embattled Garden, and Appalachian Spring. I had the privilege of dancing in all three ballets, of course not in one night. MO

BRIDGE

En route to a gig in Upstate New York, we took the West Side Highway and Sawmill Parkway to the Tappan Zee Bridge. We saw some smoke before getting on the bridge and it closed while we were right in the middle of it! Everybody waited but nothing was moving.

Finally they backed everybody up and we quickly had to make other plans to get there in time. MO

SCULPTURE

‘Where am I?’ Lost in the anonymity of these headless bodies at the Nasher Sculpture Garden. DH

SELF PORTRAIT

Post performance, after portraying Oberon in The Dream, with the beads of sweat multiplying. DH

TOKYO

A trip to Tokyo, on the subway, merits some feelings of being the outsider. DH

55 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

After signing in, everyone waits in this big room filled with incredibly uncomfortable wooden benchesgreat for us injured folk. There, your lawyer comes over to chat with you and let you know what everyone is hoping to accomplish in the hearing. After an hour of sitting, my lawyer and I were called back into one of the conference rooms. There was a big table and I sat at the head. The insurance company’s lawyer was on the left side of the table, my lawyer on the right, and the judge sat up a few steps higher on the opposite end of the table from me with a computer in front of him. There was a voice recorder in the center of the table.

While not providing the best research for movement, it helped with a certain swashbuckling characterization.

BGIRL

Rhodes University Contemporary Performance | Master’s Student

Movement is essential to life!

It is no coincidence that the word ‘movement’ contains a dual meaning; to move one’s body physically and to move an audience emotively. My work is inspired by the sense of a body in motion emoting a connection with the audience. Even stillness contains movement. Think of a sleeping body; the chest slowly rising, the heart pumping blood through the veins, dreaming … I am inspired by dreamscapes, my own and those I recognize in life around me.

I originally started to work in theater as an actress and director, but my interest and passion soon turned into performance and dance.

56 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Trained by Gary Gordon, Juanita Finestone-Praeg and Andrew Buckland, I soon realized that dance and movement could express the thousands of things I wanted to say in one single image.

My interest lies with the experimental because I believe through experimentation and asking questions we bring about much needed change and innovation.

Through physical intelligence, I work holistically by incorporating both mind and body.

In a society where the head is often cut off from the body, it is essential to bring head, heart and body together to counteract the headless body (body-without-a-head syndrome). I am inspired by life, art, music, the inquiring mind, researching, reading and watching work, and the work of other artists who are committed and dedicated to their work.

My work can be called physical, visual, image and dance theater, as well as live and experimental art, site specific, or an event. My work is openended, asking the audience to fill the empty spaces with their own appreciation and understanding of the work.

PINK BRA

Me in the site-specific Still Waters that I created and performed in last year. The work ended with me in my pink bra, half-submersed in the murky white water. I was petrified to approach this water because I could not see what was going on beneath the surface.

On a previous occasion during another performance, I had discovered a dead dog in the murky white water of the kaolin quarry. MJ

Credit: Wesley Deintje

Maia Jordaan

B-Girl Angel is a founding member of the all female London breaking crew Flowzaic. I met Angel through bboy.com and ended up visiting her in Paris for over three weeks in the summer of 2003. She taught me breaking fundamentals, but more importantly that much of the important work in dance cannot be accessed through the academy. This photo shows Angel popping out of a nasty set of munchmills that shook the pillars of the Lincoln Center during summer 2006 in We-B-Girlz 25th Anniversary Breaking Event. Crew members Genesis and Rowdy stand knowingly in the background. TS

Tony Schultz

Sarah Lawrence College | Dance + Technology Expert

In 1973 (the same year that my brother was born), Jackson 5 recorded ‘Dancing Machine.’ This song made the robot dance popular, and then electro-mechanical kinesthetic took off.

Since then, the ‘automatic systematic ... captivating stimulating’ dance machine has become the primary focus of corporate, government and academic research institutions around the world. Across disciplines, from computational finance to physics and biology, folks are beginning to understand their fields within the greater context of the dance machine. The interstitial space between fields facilitates the exchange of transposonic/ribosomal materials allowing languages and methodologies to jump between disciplines.

Dance itself is a machine.

Much like a robot in disguise, it can be fitted as a vehicle or a weapon. In her Mother’s Day 2007 perfor-

mance of The Talkie, an audience member asked Sara Rudner; ‘Where do you see dance going?’ She replied, while executing a perfect retrograde, ‘Where ever you take it.’ One strategy is to take it where it doesn’t belong. Be radical and disruptive. Disseminate your kinesthetic like a virus. Infect the culture of technology with repurposed dancing and thinking.

I build dance machines to notate, compose, interact, communicate and teach with. Getting students to build their own computational and analytic tools helps fill the toolbox that is their overall dance technique. My class at Sarah Lawrence College uses an eclectic set of tools from science, new media, critical studies and anywhere else to hack together these multicultural assemblies made of bodies, machines and ideas. Rather than dissecting dance through some scientific lens, my goal is to transplant it outside of its safely demarcated space to contaminate the real world. Try dancing and being a real human being at the same time and you will probably freak someone out, maybe yourself.

The practice of dancing with a computer creates a feedback system made of animal, machine and language. The cybernetic organism that emerges presents itself as both a problem and a solution in the ever-vexing entanglement of power, technology and the body. Clearly fitting bodies with technology has contradictions far beyond the fact that you can’t do windmills with a VR helmet on. Computers, cell phones, iPods, social networking sites, and the rest of our digital media communication landscape leave us increasingly alienated from our physical selves and the human beings around us. At the same time, these tools allow us to intimately connect with people we would never have the opportunity to meet otherwise. Some of my most communicative relationships are digitally mediated. I met Kristin Sloan, B-Girl Angel, Black Cherokee, and my girlfriend/Blackberry all online.

You can make moves on a computer though you must be, as Jackson 5 say, ‘right on the scene ... a dance, dance, dance, dancing machine.’

eclectic

Visions

Photo: Chris Callis

Conversation

l a r l u b o v i t c h

Interview by Rasta Thomas

When did you realize you were a choreographer?

I always choreographed but didn’t know it was something that anyone actually did other than as an intuitive hobby.

I happened to be in a movie theater watching a musical and there was choreography.

I didn’t know what the word meant. I asked my parents and they said a choreographer made up the steps. I realized that was me.

Rasta Thomas performing Lar Lubovitch’s Little Rhapsodies

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Was Othello something that ABT called you for?

No, this was a project I brought to American Ballet Theatre. I had worked with them a number of times and interned with [Kevin] McKenzie [ABT’s Artistic Director].

I had an incline to create a freehand story and McKenzie introduced me to the San Francisco Ballet. They shared a whole production with Lubovitch Dance Foundation of Othello.

Is it harder for you to choreograph when it’s commissioned versus in your apartment or house?

It’s a different challenge, difficult in another way. When I work for a director it is my responsibility is to bring his stage to life rather than my own. I have to—to a certain degree—go in his mind and choreograph the way he would choreograph.

Are there any new projects or upcoming commissions you can discuss?

Next year is the 40th anniversary of my own company, so I will be trying to prepare some work and going on tour for several years.

I did tour for 33 or 34 years, then took several years off to focus on being in the studio and working

creatively. Now I feel like it’s time to get back on the road.

And something that constantly inspires you, I would imagine, is music?

It is music. But the reason I search for music is also because there is a dancer that I want to see dancing.

You’ve done stuff from theater to film to ice-dancing.

How do you move from one medium of choreography to another? Are there different things you try to achieve?

There’s the basic steps of movement that are called

Irreplaceable. I count on people who have a formidable talent. The only reason I can make a dance is because of the dancers that are in front of me. I need to see those beautiful people dancing and I love to utilize their gifts.

Sometimes I’ll make a dance in order to see a great dancer dancing.

One thing you haven’t done on stage that you want to do?

I almost never go into the studio and am able to do what I’m seeing in my head.

I think that I’ve probably kept absent that question. In recent years I’ve been valuing the present much more than the past and future. I try to be as much as possible in the moment. The really impossible task is that there is no such thing as the present. The present is what is between the past and future, and barely exists at all. Being in the moment is the only thing I can really focus on.

How would you describe your choreography?

It’s a response to music. It’s a way of playing the music with my body and seeing the music with dancers’ bodies.

What’s been the major change in your style?

I’d like to think that I’ve gone further each time I do a dance. My ability to make clear what it is I’m seeing has enhanced. I’d like to think I am telling it better each time I go out. It often is a case that I don’t believe I have, and must go on to a new one.

Is there an accomplishment you are most proud of?

To have survived this long?

[Choreography is] a very useless talent and somehow the world has made room for this fairly useless and bizarre ability. I have managed to keep doing it for 45 years or so.

I love it, I love that! Do you have a favorite quote or motto?

I have something that Picasso said many years ago. I actually laminated it and keep it in my wallet. He said, ‘Some line and color have tried to say what is mostly truthful and therefore most beautiful.’

I think all artists are fascinated by beauty.

With their own understanding, beauty is completely personal.

RT

lubovitch.org rastathomas.com

Rasta Thomas rehearsing with Lar Lubovitch at DRA’s Fire Island Dance Festival

Beautiful. And the one quality you look for in a dancer that you would want to work with?

One quality: I don’t know if I can give it a single attribute. There are many attributes and one of them is exceptional movement imagination. That means when this dancer is given a series of steps, they intuitively create much more out of it.

What percentage of what you create or see in your head is lost in translation on

59 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Photo: Nan Melville

How important is technique in your choreography?

someone’s body? Is that ever frustrating?

Photo: Rosale O’Connor

Lar Lubovitch is a man of many trades, having choreographed over 100 dances for both American Ballet Theatre and his own New York-based company. Lubovitch’s highly technical moves are celebrated throughout the world. His works range from ballet to ice-skating and have been seen from Broadway to PBS. In 1997, Lubovitch created a ballet from Shakespeare’s Othello for ABT. It has traveled around the world and back again, has been named “a spectacular addition to the international repertory” by the San Francisco Chronicle. In July, Lubovitch broke away from his LA-based rehearsal to speak with performer Rasta Thomas about what it is like to be a notable choreographer.

‘movement steps appropriateness’ and ‘logic.’ There’s a kind of frame of logic that goes through responding to music. There has to be a balance, a kind of synergy over time. The difference is vocabulary and sometimes the depth of what is being called upon because of the music.

Column

Finally, a book that brings together the emotions of fashion, photography, and dance

American impotence

A Book of PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROGER MOENKS* CHOREOGRAPHY

BY LAUREN ADAMS

Pop has never been so unsexy! As an

FEATURING: DANNY TIDWELL Travis Wall CINDY WELIK JASON PARSONS KENNETH EASTER ALEXANDRE HAMMOUDI CJ TYSON

independent popper and an avid fan

of the genre,

I’d like to

discuss pop

— what it means, sexuality

how to spot

it, and what

to demand of

Generation AI (American Idol), as we push the turn

a life performance

www.movingstill.net

Something about the cable wrapped around my neck. The strain on my back as I tighten the screw. The fleeting melody that I seize by the ankles, and pin to my chest. This battle of knowing, and not knowing; writing, and recording music — this process — is sex. Good sex.

Life-changing sex. Everything else is just the morning after.

Personal Journal Entry Summer 2007

The sex appeal of a pop artist is based on what you’d want from them in bed. It’s about talent and, at least, the promise of longevity, if not the real thing.

Generation AI may have talent, but with its emphasis on overnight success, it lacks longevity, or even the promise thereof. Longevity in pop is fueled by the idea that you can’t continue to be successful if you don’t have your finger on the mainstream pulse. It’s defined by a marked interest in one’s environment, and because of that, relates directly to process, which is an artist’s instinct to evolve, and better understand his or her relation to the immediate moment and space.

American Idol contestants audition believing they’ve already

Photo: Paul Brickman

Moving Still

*with Laurent Alfieri - Dancer featured: Danny Tidwell

of the decade.

S

ex in music is hardly ever where you’d expect to find it, and nowhere near where American Idol is looking.

By Mario Spinetti

arrived. “I’m the next American Idol,” they boast. Concerned with votes, they seek validation that they’ve already made it, in the form of a crown and contract that says their hard work is over. They forget that pop is nothing if not a grand romance between artist and audience, and that process is its gesture of camaraderie. It’s the only gesture that says an artist is still living in the same world as his or her audience.

As soon as an artist claims to have arrived, whether explicitly or subliminally, they lose sight of process, and become un-sexed. Their work will either become recycled, like Maroon 5’s self-caricaturing LP It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, or unrealized, like Fantasia’s premature debut Free Yourself.

The problem with Generation AI is the blind pride it bestows in its “artists” and the valor it associates with their loss of process.

Because of the Internet and independent distribution, major record labels, on the verge of destruction, desperately play it safe. They sign American Idol contestants based on proven fan bases, and re-sign bands like Maroon 5 based on reliable sounds and images. None of it has anything to do with quality of work. What proliferates the mainstream, as a result, are inexperienced non-artists and

watered-down former artists, both of which leave pop sexless and sterile, yet, still, royally received.

So what do we have to watch out for? Well, major labels weren’t always such terrible barometers of “sexy” pop artists. They were actually pretty damn good at it up until about the turn of the millennium.

Technological circumstance has made it such that they no longer have the foundation to take risks, and accordingly, have to die out, sooner rather than later. This leaves decisionmaking up to you, the audience, for the first time in history.

It’s important that you not fuck up.

I’ve written this column as a guide to understanding what you should demand of your artists: The dialogue to welcome, and the nonsense not to tolerate. With the power in your hands, don’t let a talented group like Maroon 5 get away with a sub-standard follow-up record. Certainly don’t make it Number 1 on Billboard.

Pressure them. Make them do better work. Because they can.

As for American Idol, have fun with it! It’s a great show. Just don’t buy the records unless they move you.

Life is too short to settle. Remember that pop is a romance, and choose as though your heart depends on it.

MS myspace.com/mariospinetti

Generation AI - Someone who claims to have arrived artistically, whether explicitly or subliminally, forsaking process in their words, actions, work, or any combination thereof.

Process - An artist’s instinct to define, evolve, and better understand their relation to the immediate moment and space.

Longevity - An indefinable artistic commodity only achieved by continued process.

Pop - The grand romance between artist and audience, initiated by talent and enlightened by process.

61 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

David Benaym Presents

Label Review

The

ShambolicLife S u b - P o p

in the business.

Sub Pop survived the grunge years and reclaimed itself as the most eclectic record label

i

t all started in a glorious flood of flannel, long hair, and power chords. The place: Olympia, Washington. The year: 1979, when Bruce Pavett, a rock enthusiast with an entrepreneurial vision, launched a fanzine called Subterranean Pop. Featuring cassette compilations of eager garage bands from all over the country, readers and listeners got to experience firsthand music previously unavailable to the public, all without the intrusion of big labels and slick producers.

And so began the inner workings of a sonic revolution that was to change the face of music as we know it.

Yes folks, I am talking about grunge and the shambolic mosh-pits, converse sneakers, and thrift-store getups of yore. Oh, what a joy it was to look so sad!

Due to a surge in popularity, Subterranean Pop soon switched to an all cassette format until finally releasing their first LP, a compilation simply titled The Sub Pop 100, which featured renowned artists such as Steve Albini, Skinny Puppy and Sonic Youth. It was around this time that Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil introduced Bruce Pavitt to Jonathon Poneman in a mattress store, of all places. From there, the two forged a partnership that would inevitably lead to the launching of Sub Pop Records in 1986. The first EP to be released was Soundgarden’s Screaming Life.

Some of you may know what follows: With the release of Nirvana’s Bleach (which was incidentally

62 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

By Bruce Scott

the first and only Sub Pop album to go platinum), Sub Pop became the forerunner of the grunge explosion, launching idols like the late Kurt Cobain into the eternal pantheon of rock, while also seeing the early releases of bands like Babes In Toyland, Afghan Wigs, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, and L7. Then there was the crowning of Jon Poneman as CEO of Sub Pop Records, and the exit of Bruce Pavett who went on to pursue new ventures. Sub Pop also joined forces with Warner Brothers, creating a sort of meta-label.

But what some of you may not know is that during this time there was much more going on within Sub Pop than just grunge, grunge, grunge.

Part of the secret to Sub Pop’s endurance through the years has been their willingness to try on new outfits, even when it wasn’t so chic to step out of the flannel. And in the past five years or so, it has again claimed it’s title as a forerunner of cutting-edge music by featuring bands like The Postal Service, Iron and Wine, Wolf Parade, Dntel, Band of Horses, and of course The Shins, who recently gave Sub Pop a gold record with their 2006 album Wincing The Night Away. So lets raise a glass in honor of Sub Pop, and in the following pages take a closer look at some of the best and brightest to don the Sub Pop label right now: Loney, Dear, Flight of the Conchords, and The Postal Service.

F l i g h t o f t h e C o n c h o r d s conchords.co.nz

subpop.com

L o n e y, D e a r Loney, Dear, a.k.a. Swedish one-man band Emil Svanängen, is already making waves with his first release on Sub Pop Records, Loney, Noir. With a sound comparable to Sparklehorse - but without the inevitable star-studded line-up of special guests - Loney, Noir boasts the voice of an inward-seeking troubadour conducting and performing orchestras from the comfort of his tiny Stockholm apartment (and sometimes his parent’s basement!).

Despite a background in both classical and jazz, Svanängen cites

loneydear.com

Brian Eno, A-ha, and Kraftwerk as influences, further broadening his musical palette. Releasing three albums on his own, one being the first incarnation of Lonely, Noir, Svanängen had already sold over 5,000 copies of his homespun demos by the time he signed onto Sub Pop Records. Since signing, Loney, Dear has toured with such acts as Sonic Youth, Joanna Newsom, Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah, and Bloc Party, and will soon be supporting Peter, Bjorn, and John on their upcoming September UK tour. Loney, Noir is available on Sup Pop records.

New Zealand’s “fourth most popular folk parody duo” are taking the world by storm as of late, thanks in part to a record deal with Sub Pop and a hilarious new hit show on HBO. The cable series finds the Conchords’ creators and members Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement fresh off the boat from New Zealand and adrift in New York City. They’re hopelessly trying to make it into the music industry with their digi-folk parody duo called (you guessed it) Flight of the Conchords.

The situations the two find themselves in are funny enough, but what really sets this show apart from the rest are the songs. From folk to reggae, covers to self-effacing originals, McKenzie and Clement really hit their stride by doing what they do best, being the “fourth most popular …” eh, you know the rest.

Between sold-out summer gigs in Seattle and LA, and the taping of their new show, it seems that the guitar-toting duo are quite busy in real life these days. With their cute New Zealand accents and sidesplitting combo of parody and humility, it’s no wonder the premiere episode of their song-filled HBO show grabbed the attention of some 1.5 million viewers. Their EP, The Distant Future, took flight to all record stores last August.

63 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

movmnt finds out how

R e co r d s

The

ShambolicLife S u b - P o p

“Fight the

R e co r d s

Playlist

Power!”

By Bruce Scott

Four years into the Iraq war and with no end in sight, music as social critique has never seemed so relevant.

Here is a vital list of some of the best reactionary music to emerge from hardship, injustice, and war.

If you hear people talking about the Postal Service, and chime in to curse the two-cent postage hike, you may be living under a rock. What started as a side project between Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Dntal producer Jimmy Tamborello soon became an indie phenomenon, all but eclipsing their past outfits. Their 2003 album Give Up, which sold over 650,000 copies to become the most successful record released on Sub Pop since Nirvana’s Bleach, boasts a unique post-new wave style that imitators everywhere have tried to recreate. You know the sound - a soft, digitized beat patters alongside understated synths, all hovering beneath Gibbard’s delicate, soft-spoken vocal. Buzz about their forthcoming album has reached fever pitch with anxious fans who have endured a four-year wait. Rumor has it that recording for a new album began as early as June 2006, but with no release date in sight, critics, teens, and scenesters alike are getting restless. And then of course, there is the song “Such Great Heights,” which has been used on a multitude of television ads, including a spot for the United States Postal Service.

The band handed the song over as a compromise, after the USPS threatened to sue for trademark infringements. Ironically, you can now buy Give Up on the official USPS website. How’s that for trade and commerce? postalservicemusic.com

1. “Not Ready To Make Nice” The Dixie Chicks “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”

— Natalie Maines. These words were all it took to launch former country darlings The Dixie Chicks, into a sweltering cauldron of public disapproval, hate mail, and even death threats. Pan to four years later and public approval ratings of the President have hit an all-time low, suggesting a much different social atmosphere where Maines is no longer the outspoken heathen as portrayed by the media years before. But the Chicks still got their chance to shoot back with their seething 2006 single, “Not Ready To Make Nice.” With lyrics like, “How in the world can the words that I said/ Send somebody so over the edge/ That they’d write me a letter sayin’ that I’d better shut up and sing/Or my life will be over,” the Chicks try to comprehend the blind anger of pro-Bush extremists.

2. “Redemption Song” Bob Marley Marley offers the sage advice that peace in our time can be found within. In an unfortunate turn of events, this solo acoustic performance was to be the final track of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ final album, 1980’s Uprising. Bob Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981 at the age of 36.

His final words to his son Ziggy were, “money can’t buy life.”

3. “Holiday in Cambodia” The Dead Kennedys Acerbic, humorous, and startling, “Holiday in Cambodia” depicts an American upper class young man getting drafted to Vietnam. Here, lead singer and lyricist Jello Biafra paints an acid-tongued account of a young man going from American decadence to Eastern totalitarianism with: “And you know you’ve seen it all/In daddy’s car thinkin’ you’ll go far” … “Well you’ll work harder/With a gun in your back/For a bowl of rice a day.”

4. “Army Dreamers” Kate Bush A potent and oddly poetic antiwar message from the perspective of a parent who has lost her child, Kate Bush is never one to fuss with overtly political slogans and sayings. She goes right for the jugular here, telling the story of a “mammy’s hero” being brought home from the war in a tin box. A mother grieves over the loss of her son and questions her decision on allowing him to join the army in the first place.

5. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” Bob Dylan In this seven-minute anti-nuclear war anthem, Dylan challenges his listeners with a surrealistic account of life after the atomic bomb. In true Dylan fashion, this song made its debut shortly before the Cuban Missile Crisis.

6. “What’s Going On” Marvin Gaye One of the first songs released through Motown to make a direct political statement; “What’s Going On,” was also one of Gaye’s first forays into the songwriting process. The bold statement of the song - that “war is not the answer” - proved to be a potent one as “What’s Going On” peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1971.

7. “Strange Fruit” Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” is a white, Jewish schoolteacher’s response to a photograph of two black men being hung from a tree following a lynching in Marion, Indiana in 1930.

Billie Holiday first sang this song to an integrated crowd shortly after it was written. Her heart-wrenching rendition left such an impression on listeners that it quickly became her signature song. Holiday oddly credited herself as the writer of this song in her autobiography, an inaccuracy some have attributed to her prolonged drug use.

8. “Fear of a Black Planet” Public Enemy Written during a crucial time, Public Enemy’s much-heralded album Fear of a Black Planet marked a significant change in Black America. In the title track, Public Enemy create a discourse on attitudes towards integration with hard-hitting statements like: “Are you afraid of the mix of Black and White/We’re livin’ in a land where the law say the mixing of race/Makes the blood impure/She’s a woman I’m a man.”

9. “Ohio” Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young Performed and recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, “Ohio” is Neil Young’s reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970. Legend has it the band entered Record Plant Studios in LA and finished a live recording of the track as we know it in merely a few tries.

Recalling this recording session later, Young noted that “David Crosby cried when we finished this take.”

10. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” U2 Written from the perspective of someone observing The Troubles (a term for communal violence in Ireland involving various sects of the Irish and British government), “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is not just Bono role-playing someone recalling the horrors that exist in civil war, it is also a sobering plea for peace and unity.

11. “Mississippi Goddam” Nina Simone Medgar Evans, an African American civil rights activist and NAACP secretary, was gunned down in front of his Mississippi home by a Ku Klux Klan member hours after JFK’s nationally televised speech in support of civil rights. It was this, in collaboration with a church bombing in Alabama that killed four African American children, that drove Nina Simone to compose this justifiably pissed-off protest song.

12. “Biko” Peter Gabriel “Biko” is inspired by the life and death of South African anti-Apartheid activist Stephen Bantu Biko, who died in police custody at the age of 31. Biko is famous for not only his resolutely nonviolent stance regarding the Apartheid, but is also known as the originator of the slogan “Black is Beautiful.”

13. “Spanish Bombs” The Clash Who better than a distinctively British punk rock band to cover the Spanish Civil War? Well, that’s what Joe Strummer and Mick Jones thought when they wrote “Spanish Bombs.”

Referencing Andalucia, Federico Garcia Lorca, and the Guardia Civil, The Clash offer a front-seat history lesson, complete with a chorus sung in Spanish. Oh mi corazón!

14. “The Rising” Bruce Springsteen Springsteen returned from a sevenyear silence to musically reflect on the September 11 attacks. Introspective and full of metaphor, “The Rising” is told from the perspective of a FDNY firefighter whose oxygen tank is a “sixty-pound stone” and whose truck bears “wheels of fire.”

15. “Yo George” Tori Amos “Yo George” is a satirical takeoff of George W. Bush’s “Yo, Blair” greeting to British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the 2006 G8 summit. Here, Amos addresses the President with lyrics like: “I salute to you Commander and I sneeze/cause I have now an allergy to your policies it seems … Is this just the madness of King George? Yo George, well you have the whole nation on all fours.”

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ThePostal S e r v i c e

Profiles

R

Rogue Wave is the incarnation of singer and guitarist Zach Schwartz (a.k.a. Zack Rogue), a former member of the Bay Area band, the Desoto Reds. When Rogue lost his job as a dot-comer, he headed for New York to team up with producer Bill Racine and lay down the tracks for Rogue Wave’s debut album. Out of the Shadows was privately released in 2003. A newly formed Oakland California quartet, including Pat Spurgeon (drums, samples, guitar, vocals), Gram Lebron (keyboards, guitar, drums, vocals) and Sony Westcott (bass, vocals) - later replaced by bassist Evan Farrell - embarked on a nationwide promotional tour. Rogue Wave quickly earned a spot on the indie label Sub Pop Records, who re-released Out of the Shadows in 2004.

Hazy and charmingly melodic, Rogue Wave’s debut couples pensive lyrics and ghostly, eerily whimsical strings.

The opening stanza of the first track,

o

g

u

“Every Moment,” serves as a window to the album: “Every moment that you’re here/I feel ashes on my ear/subtle difference disappears.”

Rogue’s vocals are airy, as if it’s trying to capture something in the ether. The lightheartedness is complemented by Simon and Garfunkel-like string combinations.

For their sophomore release, Descend Like Vultures (2005), which was written entirely by Rogue, the band opted for a louder sound, though the album is still fundamentally atmospheric. The new weight can be credited to the album’s production, which has evolved significantly since its Shadows era.

There is a certain amount of relief offered by heavy guitar manipulation and harder synths, but Rogue’s cadence remains unchanged. His voice breaks through in “California,” where he cries, “Screw California/And friends that are never there... And ice that will never melt.” The album is substantial, even, as its title suggests, meaty.

But Vultures is not the departure from Shadows that it initially appears to be; the differences are more cosmetic, and certainly beneficial. A mysterious liveliness is born here. Well-orchestrat-

e

W

a

v

e

ed musical dimension results in interesting textures, and a more cohesive Rogue Wave sound.

The band’s upward climb came to a halt after Vultures, when member Pat Spurgeon was diagnosed with kidney failure. Spurgeon is a dynamic artist; in addition to Rogue Wave, he’s played in the bands Antenna, Stranded at the Drive In, Ramona the Pest, Brando, Steve Kowalski and Lessick, and released solo work as The Phantom Drummer. Fans showed their support with donations as well as many hopeful words for the fun-loving Spurgeon, the man who felt it necessary to add “ass slaps (left and right cheeks)” to his repertoire.

Rogue Wave was pleased to announce Spurgeon’s successful kidney transplant on January 12, though in the same month bassist Even Farrell officially left the band. The band has yet to declare a replacement, though they are currently performing. Their most recent show was an in-store performance at Urban Outfitters in Santa Cruz, California, on May 25th.

Serena Sandford roguewavemusic.com myspace.com/roguewave

MUSIC AD

ANTI BALAS

Founded in 1998 by Martin Perna as Conjunta Antibalas, the group took shape over the next two years, collecting members along the way and writing enough original compositions to play at live shows. The now eleven-member band released their first album, Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1 in 2000. That summer also saw the group touring England twice, as well as playing various gigs throughout NYC. Talkatif was released in 2002, and 2004 saw the release of their third album, Who Is This America? It wasn’t until 2007 that Antibalas joined forces with Anti Records, who plays host to such musical heavyweights as Tom Waits and Neko Case, to release their fourth album, Security.

Produced by John McEntire (a.k.a.Tortoise, Stereolab, Tom Ze), Security was recorded over the span of a month, alongside McEntire in his Chicago studio. Constructing a world all their own, Antibalas recorded some of their best work to date on Security. From the 1970s-inspired, gritty guitar opening “Filibuster XXX” to the Yo La Tengo reminiscent horns of “i.c.e.” Antibalas manages to not only genre-hop but also span the map stylistically, all the while still sounding distinctively them. It’s no wonder then, that they have developed such a devoted fan base over the past 10 years. Antibalas has toured 23 countries, ranging from Cuba to Japan, Turkey to Portugal, as well as all over Europe and the United States, and continues to wow audiences with their intense live shows.

BS antibalas.com myspace.com/antibalas

67 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

66 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

They come from Bushwick, Brooklyn, but their sound is pure Nigeria circa 1960. This makes sense, considering Antibalas - whose name means “bulletproof” in Spanish - uses Afrobeat as the template for their diverse world sound. For those of you not familiar with Afrobeat, here’s a quick rundown: A really cool Nigerian dude named Fela Kuti coined the term “Afrobeat” in the 1960s after having experimented with a bevy of musical styles, including jazz, funk, African percussion, and Yoruba music. Given the state of politics and government in Africa at the time, Kuti used music as a way of communicating outrage toward the government, which led to a sound that was both danceable and confrontational. Afrobeat is now characterized by large bands, high-energy sets heavy with improvisation, and polyrhythmic percussion much like, well, Antibalas. It makes sense, then, that Antibalas fully employ the Afrobeat sound into their universal musical cauldron of jazz, Latin, classical and funk.

Bjork

apocrypha

Andrew Bird is obsessed with the game Operation.

“I’m not lying.” He says so himself on “Darkmatter” from his latest album, Armchair Apocrypha. It’s oddly comforting to know this, or to at least have some grasp on just why he always feels the need to sing of Bunsen burners, formaldehyde, and girls who want to tie you up and drill tiny holes in your head. Bird’s latest carries remnants of his prior masterpiece, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, echoing throughout, but to his credit. With his oft-plucked violin strings, masterful whistling (yes, I said whistling), and soft but steady croon, his sound is more than working for him. What is different this time around is a newfound confidence in melody and hooks. Armchair’s 12 songs all yield a directness and playfulness that only showed up in bursts on previous work. And if you’re up for the challenge to memorize his cryptic stream-ofconsciousness wordplay, these songs are also a lot of fun to sing along to.

Take these lyrics from the catchy-as-hell chorus of “Imitosis:” “What was mistaken for closeness was just a case for mitosis/She fatal doses, malcontent to osmosis/Why do some show no mercy/While others are painfully shy?” Not exactly sing-along-worthy on page (though engrossing in their cleverness), but sung by Bird, the chorus of the year.

BS andrewbird.net myspace.com/andrewbird

Bryan Scary

volta

Often at the heart of a great album is an uncompromising nature that sets it apart and ultimately renders it a classic, whether it be one, five, or fifteen years down the line. As with all things Bjork lately, Volta is as uncompromising as they come. Boasting an array of collaborators, including Timbaland, Konono No. 1, Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale, and Antony Hegarty (of the Johnsons), Volta comes at you with everything from dirty beats to lush orchestration, legions of troops marching, to foghorns blowing on a sun-soaked harbor. More a patchwork of songs than the high-art, vocal-only concept of Medulla, and more organically textured than the beat-heavy Vespertine, Volta’s 10 sprawling songs tend to be more questioning than conclusive. And once this idea is accepted, the fun truly begins.

Bjork has said the initial drive for the album was “cabin fever,” and she traveled to faraway places like Africa, Tunisia, and Jamaica to appease her restless spirit. It was from these trips that much of these songs were conceived. Like a moodier, more reflective “Anchor Song,” “Wanderlust” finds Bjork singing, “Restlessness liberates me/ sets me free,” over an all-female 10-piece brass section. Brass is a recurring theme in Volta, featured on nearly all of its tracks. On “I See Who You Are,” Bjork is vulnerable and reflective as she recalls the beauty of innocence and youth.

In the vein of these more organic, open-wound compositions, Volta also bears the emotionally charged colossus, “The Dull Flame of Desire,” featuring Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons.

With lyrics lifted from a poem by Fyodor Tyutchev, Bjork and Antony serenade each other in a densely arranged brass and string arrangement, tempered by a restless kick drum that eventually unleashes into a full-on drum solo. The trembling vibrato of Antony paired against Bjork’s deceptively precocious vocal makes for the duet of the year.

But all is not foghorns and delicately plucked strings here; as much as Volta is an album of sincere introspection, it also comes equipped with some kick-ass, politically charged protest music. Opener “Earth Intruders” finds Bjork howling about “turmoil” and “carnage” over Timbaland’s tautly accentuated tribal beats. And then we have the ear-slicing juggernaut “Declare Independence,” where Bjork screams, “Damn colonists/Ignore their patronizing/Tear off their blindfolds/Open their eyes/Declare Independence/Don’t let them do that to you,” over a rapid techno stomp. Ultimately, Bjork has left us with an album where we may not always find a hummable tune, but just might achieve some form of enlightenment. God love her for that.

Bruce Scott

bjork.com myspace.com/bjork

Christina Courtin Julliard-trained violinist Christina Courtin’s selfproduced EP, Christina Courtin’s Running Kicks (2006), is a testament to good education and quirky giftedness. As a songwriter, Courtin offers ironic, proverbial lyrics.

On the EP’s most popular track, “Foreign Country,” the songstress begs the question, “If I was a foreign country/Would you vacation in my big city?” The simple cynicism is justified by Courtin’s unabashedly amalgamated vocal styling, which ranges from folk to jazz, with moments of tempered blues. She is accompanied on the track by her band, which includes Kyle Sanna (guitar), Mathias Kunzil (percussion) and Johnny Gandelsman (violin).

With pianist Steven Beck by her side, Courtin delivers the skin-and-bones ballad “Mulberries.” The

running kicks

song showcases a breathy, childlike chant: “Blue sky/Shining down on me/I shine right back.” “Mulberries” leaves the listener with visions of a subdued, late-night speakeasy. “Renaissance Song 2” is a majestic tale, lined throughout with courtly violin strings. Courtin waxes philosophical with the lyric, “My tree is losing leaves/It’s losing things I never knew it had.” Her courage to objectify herself as a plant is refreshingly subversive.

Running Kicks is also available as a DVD of live performances. Seeing Courtin in action is like peeking into someone’s window to catch them dancing naked in their living room. She makes you feel like it’s all right to like music again. It’s no wonder the band has sold out nearly every show they’ve played, at venues including New York staples Joe’s Pub and the Cutting Room.

Serena Sanford christinacourtin.com myspace.com/christinacourtin

the shredding tears

Bryan Scary’s debut shares the pseudonym of his bandmates and fellow Scaryville citizens, the Shredding Tears. The 15-track concept album is a catalog of shifting genres ranging from 1960s psychedelia to glam rock, to chamber pop, to musical theater. Scary is a true scholar of intergalactic indie-pop. Tears blooms with hooks, energetic arrangements, and strange singa-long lyrics. Scary single-handedly composed all instrumentals on the record, with drum accompaniment from Jeremy Black of Apollo Sunshine and a mix performed

by Brian McTear at Miner Street Studio. This Brooklynbased band, including Graham Norwood on guitar, Dave Ostrem on bass, Mike Acreman on keyboard and Brian Bauer on drums, delivers a sound comparable to late-period Beatles, Queen, XTC, and the Kinks. Rolling Stone recently honored Scary and company with a nod as one of “the best bands on MySpace.”

The album opens with the pop symphony, “A Stab at the Sun.” The track cascades across half a dozen musical scenes in less than five minutes. Scary’s psychedelic influences are prominent here, both in his vocals and his Pink Floyd-like storytelling: “Dawn is on its feet again they’re stabbing into the street again/But the loneliest ones/Take a stab at the sun.” Another meticulously polished gem is the track “The Ceiling on the Wall,” featuring the albums cleverest and most consuming lyrics. In one stanza, Scary pleads, “Don’t let the ceiling/On the wall derail me.” As a vocalist, Scary’s range is unsurpassed. He couples the sometimes-rough nasal twang of John Lennon with Beach Boy harmony, like a match made in heaven, then suddenly drops to a baritone, just because he can.

World-renowned Redeye Distribution serviced The Shredding Tears to major retailers on February 20th; the album is also being internationally released in Australia, Japan, and Europe. The band promoted Black and Greene Records’s release of the album with a Northeast to Midwest mini-tour in March. Scary is currently geared for a summer-long tour in the United States.

Serena Sanford bryanscary.com myspace.com/bryanscary

Battles mirrored If you haven’t heard NY indie math-rock outfit Battles, imagine a trigonometry-laced rockopera where digitized munchkins roam free and drums beat with machine-like precision.

Containing four men who are no strangers to the music scene (members of past groups Helmet and Lynx), Battles forge a unique fusion of futuristic indie rock and digitally tweaked, mathematically precise electronica — think of them as a cyborg band, half human, half machine. Much like the title of their recently released fulllength debut, Mirrored, Battles seem to exist on two analogous quantum planes, playing along to one another via parallel universes.

On their kick-off single “Atlas,” Battles channel the best in the business; equal parts Kraftwerk and TV On The Radio, “Atlas” thumps along with razor-

sharp precision and eventually morphs into a thrilling perversion of club music. On “Rainbow,” a Philip Glass-worthy concerto of fastidiously placed snare drums and call-and-response guitars deconstructs into a cacophony of feral, reverb-laden noises courtesy of singer/guitarist/keyboard player Tyondai Braxton.

One key element to the success of Mirrored is the way in which Battles allow the songs to collapse into themselves, only to be rebuilt again by way of

a perfect union between analog and digital, organic and electronic. By the time we get to the final song of the album, “Race: Out,” we’ve come to understand that Mirrored isn’t just Steve Reich on crack. Instead Battles has pulled off the unthinkable in 2007; they’ve made an album that sounds like little to nothing else in modern music.

BS bryanscary.com myspace.com/bryanscary

Bright Eyes

cassadaga

Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst left his “pine on the west coast” to explore the less sentimental terrain of the greater United States for the bands’ newest studio album, Cassadaga. The title is an obscure homage to a community of psychics in central Florida, visited by those who wish to “commune with the dead.”

How ethereal. The town is conjured up in the album’s first single, “Four Winds,” where Oberst sets “off to old Dakota where genocide sleeps/in the Black Hills, the Badlands, the calloused East/I buried my ballast, I made my peace.” This singer/songwriter is an eternal bleeding heart, though, from the sound of things, it appears he’s poured serious salt on his wounds. The results are invigorating. The song “Hot Knives” is vivid and energetic, reminiscent of a young Oberst’s folksy lyrics, punctuating the Bright Eyes symphony. “Make A Plan To Love Me” is a playful and malleable love song, complete with female backup singers. This indie album stands to be one the most elaborately produced with theatersized orchestration and a cosmic, manifest-destiny reach.

Though Oberst’s presence is revered in every track, trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, a Bright Eyes participant since 2003 and now a permanent fixture, provides the theatrical string arrangements responsible for Cassadaga’s cohesive boom.

SS myspace.com/brighteyes

69 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

music reviews 68 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Andrew Bird

Talent

Selection

Brian Friedman

e

Where have you been?

veryone around the globe dances to their own beat, but it’s different when it comes to choreographing. That’s where Brian Friedman, a well known and respected choreographer and dancer in the competitive entertainment world steps in.

Friedman’s passion for music and dance has grown strong since childhood. His days of being in Newsies are long gone, but he has had the privilege of working with huge stars like Britney Spears, Mya, Hillary Duff, Prince, and *NSYNC. Friedman had the pleasure of choreographing a number of Britney Spears videos, such as “Overprotected,” “Toxic,” “I love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and “I’m A Slave 4 U,” which he received a nomination for outstanding achievement in music video choreography for in 2002.

More recent, Friedman’s judging days on Simon Cowell’s The X Factor has been transformed into creative directing. According to Friedman, he felt he wasn’t “fulfilling [his] duties as an artistic person” but is more than “thrilled to take on this role.”

What makes Friedman stand out among other choreographers? He dedicates his time to young aspiring dancers around the world, teaching them his technique. Not only do they gain confidence in their dancing, they also develop respect toward their fellow dancers.

70 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Friedman is no amateur. He’s been nominated for four MTV Video Music awards, two Music Video Production awards, and five American Choreography awards (ITV. com). His dance contributions to films include Bubbly Boy, Uptown Girls, She’s All That, and more. In She’s All That, Friedman was a dancer in an exciting scene toward the end.

And, just to blow everyone off their feet, Friedman celebrated this summer the release of his new BFree apparel and footwear line with Frontline Dance/Capezio.

The “Elite” shoe is finally available to the public. Clearly Friedman believes he has more to offer the dance world and does not lack the confidence to state it (check out his MySpace page for more info on this). He takes risks and reaps the benefits. So if you want to learn how to dance like a professional from a professional, Brian Friedman is the guy to go to. myspace.com/brianfriedman

POP STYLE Selection By Melissa Carter - Design By Justin DeWalt

71 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

Being that he is still a young choreographer, he is a role model for aspiring professional dancers and choreographers, showing them that if they strive for what they deserve, then no one can stand in their way.

Sleeveless shirt by John Galliano - Nooka Zen watch Sneakers by Prada Sport - Printed denim by John Galliano

WARHOL

Heels by Cheetah Wedges - Black high heels by Mary Janes - White leather wallet

by Marc Jacobs - Ring by Kenneth Jay Lane - Brown leather business bag by Wolford

73 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

72 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

LICHTENSTEIN

Watch Marc Jacobs - Sneakers by Prada - Hoodie by John Galliano Gym dance legging, yoga socks and gym dance suryia by Stella McCartney for Adidas

by Prada Sport - Grey jeans by Sass and Bide - Sport bag by Gucci - Lightweight INDIANA Hat saga and tight pants by Stella McCartney for Adidas - Sneakers by Porsche for Adidas

75 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

74 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

HARING

Journey

A typical cultural collision between Florida style and the tropical Caribbean socialismo, walking around La Habana you can imagine what Miami would have looked like if the USSR had won the Cold War. Definitely exotic.

VINTAGE

Report by David Martin Castelnau | Photography by Jean-Claude Figenvald

One of the few wreckages I saw on the street where the buildings are close to being ruined and the cars fixed and well-maintained. Cuba sometimes gives the feeling of a perfect time-warp.

“A poor, not free but always-partying nation” is one of the most erroneous clichés about Cuba.

When you live among them, you quickly come to realize that they are fairly unhappy, and fascination for violence is spreading among youngsters. They often describe the future as a Scarface remake.

No worries, this one’s just playing.

Amazing cars have long disappeared from America’s roads, but not in Cuba. The streets and highways in La Habana are an impressive outdoor museum.

Photo taken from the Miramar bridge.

Hood ornament collectors would go crazy here. At every corner you find genuine antiques that are not even sold on eBay. As a treasure and memory, Cubans pamper their bonitas Americanas.

La Guarida insight: Normally the owner wouldn’t allow photoshooting, fearing that pictures would reveal he’s running more than the legal 12 settings. But we promised that movmnt was not yet on Cuban newsstands.

As it is Latino, you would expect Cuba’s favorite sport to be soccer. Wrong.

Cubanitos are very proud of their national baseball team, who constantly win over American teams. However, there’s also a national fancy for boxing.

No caption needed here.

If you appreciate caricature and old-style pop propaganda, you’ve found your homeland.

This is the La Guarida restaurant/building, a former furnished hotel for wealthy bachelors. It’s the perfect metaphor of Cuba: Beautiful and decaying.

Since he vanished in September ‘67, Ché is everywhere in Cuba: Public Icon Number One.

Don’t press ‘#’! It’s an office at the Ministry of Trade for when scarcity turns vintage.

Along with The Floridita (where Papa Hemingway used to sip dozens of frozen daiquiris), the Tropicana cabaret is one of the last pre-revolutionary spots tolerated by the regime, who ironically run it!

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Dance New Amsterdam 280 Broadway – 2nd Floor New York, NY 10007 Tel: (212-625-8369) dnadance.org The Pulse on Tour Jazz, Hip-hop and contemporary workshop on tour with Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Brian Friedman and Shane Sparks November 10 - March 9 thepulseontour.com Mark Morris Dance Center 3 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY 11217 Tel: (718) 624-8400 markmorrisdancegroup.org

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80 - movmnt magazine - 5 - Fall 2007

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