Triskelion Arts presents its 2018 Artist in Residence, MMDC

dialogue is an evening-length work detailing city-life conversations and interactions. Characters as diverse as a gaggle of expectant mothers waiting for a doctor’s appointment to a trio of male boardroom members deep in argument share slices of urban life and the stressors, humilities, hubbub, and private moments of reflection therein. The highly physical choreography is complemented by the Kathak and Eastern European percussive scores’ intricate rhythmic patterns. Gestural exchanges give way to moments of tenderness, unity, competition, camaraderie, and humor.

 

“dialogue began as an exploration of turning formalized dance movement into gesture, to communicate a story,” says Mari Meade, Artistic Director of MMDC. “It morphed into a presentation of perception throughout a single day. I was drawn to the word sonder, the idea that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. We each live in our own realms, but those form concentric circles that constantly overlap and intertwine with those of others—we’re woven into everyone else’s experience. I wanted to present an array of exaggerated characters, from businessmen to pregnant women to an arguing couple to a polygamous relationship, and show how their realms coexist. To reflect this, every selection of the music/sound score has some sense of interaction and communication, even if we’re just hearing the monologue that’s been extracted from a dialogue going on inside someone’s head.”

 

dialogue (men’s trio excerpt) was the winner of Spoke the Hub’s Winter Follies 2017 (NYC) and a finalist in McCallum Theatre’s Choreography Festival (2017). dialogue (duet excerpt) was created with support from the UNCSA Choreographic Institute.  

 

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

 

 

dialogue

Artistic director/choreographer: Mari Meade

Performers: Allison Beler, Dia Dearstyne, Mat Elder, Breanna Gribble, Misuzu Hara, Sean Hatch, Morgan Hurst, Isaac Owens, Or Reitman, Rachel Rizzuto, Roza Savelyeva

Music: “Quartere,” “Somnium,” and “Desiderii Patriae” by Mario Batkovic; “Kanjira Solo” by Selvaganesh; “Drum Solo” by Amir Sofi; “Shy” by Hauschka; “Untitled” by Umamahesh, Umashankar, and Selvaganesh; “Adi Tala Konnakkal Solo” by Vidushi Smt Sukkanya Ramgopal; “Bodydrum” by Bikram Ghosh; “One Note Samba—Live at the Montreux” by Ella Fitzgerald; “Outsiders” by Jean-Michel Blais

Lighting design: Andy Dickerson

Costumes: Marc Witmer

Hair and makeup: Marc Witmer

 

 

About MMDC

Formed in 2009, MMDC creates intricate, fully-formed worlds with epic, abstract narratives. Highly physical, quirky movement forms tight-knit communities of exaggerated characters who are bound to complex narrative arcs. The company is driven by Mari Meade’s choreographic inspiration but is shaped by interactions with and contributions from other visual art forms.

            In 2009, Meade relocated to NYC as a recipient of the Kenan Fellowship at Lincoln Center Education and founded Mari Meade Dance Collective (MMDC). Meade has been awarded the 2017 University of North Carolina School of the Arts Choreographic Institute Development Residency; taken part in Doug Varone’s Devices: Choreographic Intensive and Mentorship; and been an Artist in Residence at Chez Bushwick (Brooklyn), Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn), and Lake Studios Berlin (Germany). MMDC has also received the Brooklyn Arts Council Regrant and Andrew W. Mellon Rehearsal Subsidy at Triskelion Arts. MMDC’s newest work, dialogue; a trio, was the winner of Spoke the Hub’s Winter Follies and was a finalist at McCallum Theatre’s Choreography Festival in 2017. MMDC has shown work nationally and internationally. Highlights include: the Clark Theatre at Lincoln Center; Dance:Access at Danspace/St. Mark’s Church (NYC); STUFFED at Judson Memorial Church (NYC); Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn); FLICfest (Brooklyn); Battery Dance Festival (NYC); New Orleans Fringe Festival (LA); Asheville Fringe Festival (NC); Baltimore Dance Invitational (MD); Katlehong Arts Center (South Africa); and Lake Studios Berlin (Germany).

 

About Mari Meade

Mari Meade is a Brooklyn-based artist born in California and raised just outside New Orleans. In 2009, she founded the Mari Meade Dance Collective (MMDC). Most recently, Meade was awarded the 2017 University of North Carolina School of the Arts Choreographic Institute Development Residency. She has taught intensives at Kas’Art Exhibition (South Africa) and Lelia Haller Ballet Classique (New Orleans) and master classes at University of Washington, Cornish College of the Arts, Idyllwild Arts Academy, University of Southern Mississippi, and Asheville Fringe Festival, among others. She is currently a teaching artist for New York City Ballet and Dancing Classrooms. She graduated from UNC School of the Arts.