DanceBreak Session 11
projectALCHEMY
Dance
Join us for the 11th Session of DanceBreak, an outlet for dance artists to talk about their practice, their work, and their goals for themselves and the community at large, with hosts Alexander Jones and Esophia Higgins. This special event celebrates one year of dance conversations with local artists all over our community.
On Friday, June 18th from 8:00PM-9:00PM, we go back to the roots of the this platform with a special screening of White Silence/White Noise, a collaborative video series visualized through dance, illustrations, videography, and original scoring. Alexander and Esophia will be joined by collaborators Rebekah Lazaridis (visionary and visual artist), Joey Clay (videographer), and James Curran aka minusminus (composer) to discuss the process and timeliness of the creating this work. This is also a chance for viewers to ask questions and keep the dialogue going well after the talk is over.
This talk will be both in person at The Studio@620 and via Zoom webinar.
Advanced tickets are required. Masks are requested to be worn by the in-person audience out of courtesy to others.
About the project:
White Silence/White Noise
A moving art piece set to a series of illustrated silent film with intertitles that explores White Silence and it’s deafening noise.
This collaborative video series invites you to an ongoing conversation about personal location, reaction and action within systemic racism and oppression. Visualized through dance, illustration, videography and original score, this series explores the chasm of perspective within racism. With an intention to engage the community at large, we hope to create fruitful dialogue, allow room for discovery and create action for change.
About the Artists:
Rebekah Lazaridis (visual artist) is a multidisciplinary painter that creates mixed media art inspired by the theatre. Rebekah graduated with a BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2005. She has worked in the theatre industry professionally for 20 years as a scenic artist and has designed sets for local professional theaters. In addition, she has held solo art exhibits in New York City and St. Petersburg, and is known locally for her large scale immersive art installations. Her collaborative installations include The Unseen (October 2018) and Bloom and Residue which she co-produced with projectALCHEMY at The Studio@620 (March 2019).
http://www.rebekahlazaridis.com
Alexander (Alex) Jones (choreographer) is a Tampa Bay Area-based choreographer, educator, dancer, and founder and artistic director of projectALCHEMY. He received his BFA in Modern Dance Performance at the University of South Florida and MFA candidate of Hollins University. Jones’s thesis, i think we should meet, examines introspectively how polyamory is innate in being, how it is a part of the body that holds memories and sensation of both platonic and romantic encounters, and thus intersecting with the multiple versions of self. He has worked for Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts for more than a decade as a parade performer and AEA Equity performer, a status he holds currently. Currently, he is adjunct faculty at University of Tampa and Florida Southern College. Internationally, Jones has presented his solo full length work Voices in Amsterdam, Netherlands and solo work Running…Blank in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
https://www.projectalchemy.dance
Joey Clay (videographer) Forth most; Joey Clay is a father to a daughter who he credits to be his greatest creation and blessing. Furthermore; he is an International Director of Photography & Cinematographer residing in Saint Petersburg, Florida. 21 years behind the lens has led him worldwide, creating for an array of brands and professionals such as Julian Marley, Guliana Rancic, Publix, Checkers & Rally’s Restaurants & Home Shopping Network to name a few. Quality over quantity is highly regarded with each of his projects at hand to reach the finest vision possible. He seeks for positivity, originality, and authenticity in every aspect.
https://www.joeyclay.com
James Curran (aka minusminus) (composer) was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, FL. He creates ambient electronic music as minusminus. minusminus is experimental dark music and sound art that explores emotions, often difficult, through dense textures and forces. They tell stories of pain and glory through waves of sensation, eschewing traditional pillars of composition like melody and rhythm.
https://minusminusmusic.com
Heidi Brewer (dancer)
Pacific Northwest native and University of Washington alum Heidi Brewer has worked as a performer and collaborator in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles with Mark Haim, Rebecca Davis, Cori Marquis and The Nines [IX], Gretchen Weber, Josselyn Levinson & Michael Richman, Milka Djordjevich, Pennington Dance Group, Lionel Popkin, Myrrhia Rodriguez, Gracie Whyte, WHYTEBERG, Mollie Wolf, and Kevin Williamson. Her own work has been shown at Pieter and Highways Performance Space in Los Angeles, where she also founded the LAYERS platform to produce 3 workshops in L.A. between 2017-2018. Currently based in Tampa Bay, Heidi is the Communications Director at Kinected Pilates Studio in NYC and honored to be working with Michael Foley, ProjectALCHEMY and Rogue Dance. https://heidibrewer.squarespace.com
Esophia Higgins-Wilkins (dancer)
Florida Native Esophia Higgins-Wilkins is a graduate of the University of South, receiving her BFA in Dance Performance . Following graduation, she became a member of Shoes at The Door and freelanced with various local and international artists/choreographers. In 2014, her dance studies took her abroad to India, where she served as an international guest artist dancing for a Bellwood company and teaching Western dance and modern techniques. Since returning to the states, Esophia continues to collaborate and perform freelance with artists in the Tampa Bay area and is a company member of a Bollywood company that performs throughout the nation. She is excited to embark upon her newest journey as a company member of projectAlchemy and looks forward to being a vessel for movement and creations that is to come.
