Bill Webb, the lighting designer and technical director for the I Live Here dance project talks about his role in the piece.
J. McMerty and Lauren Kearns talk about their collaboration in the I Live Here dance project.
07
May
09
I Live Here opens tonight!
I Live Here opens tonight!
Shows are:
Thursday and Friday, May 7 and 8, at 7:30 PM.
Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30.
McCrary Theatre.
Get your tickets! VIBE will be $12 for non-Elon students and free for those with an Elon ID.
Read about tonight on E-Net here!
The four dancers of the I Live Here piece talk about their role in the performance, their take on the concept of the piece and what it’s been like working alongside the multimedia collaboration with the School of Communications.
A stop motion project to supplement the visual aesthetics of the I Live Here dance performance was created by communication majors Kelsey Bryant and Brian Meyer. During tech rehearsals, a decision was made to cut the stop motion from the piece, but the work Bryant and Meyer put into the endeavor is captured here.
04
May
09
Meet J McMerty
J. Mcmerty is the video artist for I Live Here and leads the team of freshman Communications Fellows that have played a large role in the production/advertising/filming of I Live Here.
Born in Holmdel NJ, J. graduated from Elon college in 2000. J. Has produced several documentaries from professor portraits to a series on AIDS in Namibia Africa. During his Graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro he directed several experimental, documentary, and Narrative shorts. J. also is also a photographer and has traveled to several countries to photograph service projects. J. spends the summers in Los Angeles as Director of the Elon in Los Angeles Program and is an instructor and coordinator of Video Projects for the School of Communications.
When asked about I Live Here, J. said:
“This will be a breakthrough for the elon stage and screen, it will be dancing with video, graphics, live music and the total visual experience. VIDEO + Dance = unbelievable .This project is made possible because of many students, faculty and staff coming together to collaborate with art. The school of Communciations freshman fellows have been there every step of the way. They are producing photos, videos, blogs, invitations, twitters, articles, and much more. They are producing them at a high professional level and I am very proud of their work. We are pushing the freshman fellows very hard and they are exceeding our expectations.”
03
May
09
promotional poster #2
01
May
09
Q&A with Bill Webb
Bill Webb has been instrumental in the progress of I Live Here. Professor Webb is the lighting/ set designer for the performance and was the co-writer for the grant that the dance department received for I Live Here. We interviewed Professor Webb, an expert in dance production, to hear the opinion someone working behind the scenes of what everyone believes will be one of the Performing Arts department’s most impressive productions ever.
Talk a little bit about how all of this came together, the collaboration, the grant, etc.
Lauren Kearns and I collaborated on a work entitled “Cubed” last spring in which we incorporated scenic elements as well as some basic projections. It was a great experience and we started to talk about another piece she was conceiving based on the notion that your body is a neighborhood, the piece was called “I live Here”. We felt that this would be a great work to incorporate video into. It was at this point that J Mcmerty got involved, and the creativity exploded. We realized that a collaboration of this nature was a great candidate for a fund for excellence grant, and the rest is history.
Have you ever done anything like “I Live Here” before? If so, how is this similar/different?
Like this, not really. I have used projection in many production including musicals, dramas and dance, but have never gone to this level. Usually we will use a slide show of some kind, or one or two prepared videos. This production relies on many different forms of artistic expression, and will rely on a large group of artisans. From a logistical standpoint, there are a lot of things that are unique with this project. We will put a lot of equipment into McCrary Theater, and will convert the stage and theater into multiple projection areas. “I Live Here” promises to be like no other performance McCrary Theatre has put on before.
What has been the biggest challenge, and what are you most looking forward to seeing come to life?
The biggest challenge will come during the technical rehearsal process. There will be a lot of elements involved (lighting, scenery costumes, live video, imag, still photography etc…), and the timing and coordination of them all will be time consuming and complex. I look forward to the Monday of technical rehearsal week, and opening night. The Monday of tech week is when we will sit back and watch the piece, in real time, without stops for the first time. It is the night that the designers hand the show over to the production personnel, and it is a night when I feel a scenes of artistic fulfillment. I look forward to opening night because it will be the first time an audience see’s the finished project, and in the case of “I Live Here” they will see something they haven’t seen on McCrary’s stage before.
What has it been like working with all of these different schools/departments that are involved in this production?
I have enjoyed this process greatly. It has been a truly collaborative gathering of great creative minds, and is in the sprit of academic freedom and expression that is at the heart of Elon’s character.
29
Apr
09
Promotional Poster #1
29
Apr
09
I Live Here in the Pendulum
Parker Brown’s article on the project is in today’s Pendulum! Read the online version here.
27
Apr
09
I Live Here: The Docs
The documentary team has released the first segment of I Live Here: The Docs. Enjoy!
27
Apr
09
From the Performers
All involved with I Live Here have certainly put in a lot of effort so that this production is a great one. Just to get an idea of how hard the performers have worked, journalist Parker Brown asked the performers about the hours they’ve put into this piece.
Here are some of the responses:
Allie Lochary:
“We had our first meeting for “I Live Here” before fall semester ended. Rehearsals started in the first week of February, and we finished learning the dance within two weeks. I also spent extra rehearsal time and a separate class period working on my solo for the first month. It was imperative that we learned the dance as quickly as we did so we could alter the movement as the set was being finalized, and so ideas could evolve in terms of the multimedia component.”
Caitlyn Juengel:
“We started learning the choreography for this piece sometime back in February after Winter Term. Since then, we have met every week, twice a week, each for about three hours at a time. We have also had a few video and photo shoots outside of rehearsal times, including a couple 7:00am shoots! Beyond that, we basically just have to keep ourselves healthy and our minds and bodies prepared for rehearsal every week. We must keep the quality of our dancing at the same level or an increased level at every rehearsal, which means practicing and preparing on our own.”
Kara Griffin:
“This cast has been working on the piece since February of Spring semester. We rehearse twice a week for about 3 hours every rehearsal. The video and photo shoots have been scheduled additionally. It’s not just about the dancing in this piece. It’s also about us embodying our characters in another medium, being ready for the camera and telling the story that way.”
