This past Friday, I caught a free show at Juilliard, Beyond the Machine. Students in the film, music and dance programs came together to perform and showcase their multi-disciplinary projects.
Friday’s show opened with Versions, with a drama student and violinist working together with a backdrop of altered images. The drama student spoke on how people prefer photoshopped images. The film displayed while they performed was a mash-up of different cartoon images, with one image the ‘original’ and the other an uncannily similar newer film using the same motions and characters against different backdrops, or completely different movies. I am not sure how this was made but it was insane. It opened with two scenes – one from Disney’s Winnie the Pooh and the other from the Jungle book, each with their main character performing exactly the same movements… throwing a stone, climbing a rock or tree trunk… in exactly the same fashion. HOW?
The second piece was Preferred Project(ions), with a dancer using her body and technology to create a live art display, similar to the augmented reality exhibit I saw at Eyebeam last month. The concept was thought provoking – she used excerpts of speech and pop culture as a juxtaposition to her “pure” white outfit and fluid movements. She utilized a sensor to project her body onto big moveable screens, fusing together film, sound, dance, and technology.
The final piece, The Projectionist, was a film shown twice, each time with a different new score written by students. Hearing each students’ take on the film opened my ears to different interpretations.
I understand this is part of an annual occurrence at Juilliard, and I am certainly going to keep my eye on their calendar for more events. I found this through Lincoln Center’s calendar (hint – check “Free” to find events free of charge). It makes me miss Binghamton and the myriad free events I would attend each month. Need to step up my game here in the big city and keep expanding my mind. More art!
What are your favorite free and cheap events calendars?
Lens by Sarah 