Baltimore County, MD smARTS, 31 Jan 2017

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From YouTube: Carol Hess and Doug Hamby

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Meet Baltimore Dance Project creative minds.

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( ♪♪♪ ).

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For a fourth year,, the baltimore county commission on arts and sciences.

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And gordon center for performing arts bring together our dance community for the take a leap, baltimore county, dance, celebration.

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For 2017,, there is more than a month of dance, --.

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From philadanco to the peking acrobats to the baltimore invitational,, a showcase of the region's best dance companies.

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One of the highlight performances is the baltimore dance, project.

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The company is known for bringing original, music, film, and fresh perspective to their works.

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with me. Are the founders and co-artistic directors of this contemporary dance, company:, carole hess and doug hamby.

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Welcome! hi! hi! thanks for having us.. How long has the dance project been around?.

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Baltimore dance project started in 1983.

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Wow!, so we have been around for a long time. we're a professional dance company..

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We have-- both of us teach at umbc.

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okay., so the company features our choreographic work..

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It features the performances of sandra lacy, who's, another faculty member.. We work with professional dancers in the area.

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And we also showcase performances.

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By area dancers and choreographers.

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How large is the company?, how many dancers?.

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I think maybe we have 12.. Do you really? yes.

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Okay, terrific. so does your--. I know you're two different people, individuals,.

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But obviously you have some agreement on the artistic vision.

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And philosophy for the group.- do you want to share that with me, doug?.

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I think that dance really involves the human experience.

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And what's in the human heart.- and I think one of the things that carol and I share is a feeling of experimentation and collaboration..

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And I think, what's really fun as an artist and challenging for an artist.

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Is to work with other artists, and-- work with a group of people,.

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Because another artist will say something that I didn't expect.

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And then that will push me in a new direction.

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interesting., so collaboration is key.

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Yes, and very fun.

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okay,, so we're going to see a wonderfully interesting collaborative project for-- during the dance celebration.

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Do you want to tell me a little bit about that?.

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Yes. well,, I'm creating a new work, called light forest.

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That's going to have five screens -- little screens -- throughout the stage.

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It'll be kind of a forest of screens,, with projections of nature,.

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But also those projections are going to be very colorized.

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And it won't always look natural, but it sometimes--.

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Mixture of different seasons and nature.

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Those projections will be mapped onto those screens.

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The dancers in the piece are going to wear their sound.

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So we're devising a wearable, sound device.

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That will hold a small speaker and an ipod touch.

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That will play the sound and the dancers will all push the button.

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And the sound will come out of their arms in the piece.

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So the sound score is being composed by timothy nohe,.

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Who's, a sound artist, who's worked with several companies in the baltimore area. and it'll work, so that the different sounds will coalesce among the dancers... hopefully.

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And that'll be one of the featured technology elements of the piece as well.

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Terrific., so is there one piece you're presenting as part of the dance celebration,.

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Or is this just one of many? one of many.

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It's a collection of different kinds of dances., and one of the dances I'm doing is called square breath in which there is a large table on stage as a set piece.

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And six women move under and on top of that table.

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And there are microphones on the stage that bring forward the rhythms and things.

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That the dancers are doing by hitting the floor and hitting the table;.

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At one point,, a dancer has a microphone in her mouth.

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And there are two composers who will be manipulating.

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And creating sound simultaneously with the dance.

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So, one thing that seems in common about your works.

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Is that there's this slightly improvisatory element to it,, because no two performances are going to be alike, right?, that's right.! It's terrific.

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Well, we encourage everyone to come out.

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I wish we had more time to talk about those projects that you are looking to do in the future,.

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But maybe we'll have you come back and tell us., but it's wonderful the work you do. thank you.

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and we look forward to seeing you at the dance, celebration. doug: thank you. carolyn:, and I want to recommend to everybody that the discover baltimore dance project at umbc, around town.

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And at the take a leap, baltimore, county, dance celebration.

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Is something you should definitely enjoy and take in.