The AtHOME festival project ran from 2001 - 2003. Over 200 artists and the general public interacted through open studios, exhibitions, performances, screenings, symposia, discussions and forums to consider what the word "collaboration" actually means for art-making and people making art.
Our main Question? How does work actually get done across disciplines, generations, cultures and, ultimately, between people?
Participants represented arts creation in Canada, USA, Finland, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Greece, VietNam, Indonesia, Singapore, Venezuela, Mexico, India.
Festival themes were: 2001: Dance in the arts: the arts in dance 2002: Music is a physical art 2003: Spontaneous creation
WHAT WE DID
Festival Schedules 2001-02-03
2001 AtHOME Festival May 28 - June 17, 2001 Produced by Across Oceans Hosted by York University Faculty of Fine Arts
THEME: Dance in the arts: the arts in dance
Artists-in-residence Kaeja d’Dance Co.(contemporary dance) with Edgardo Moreno (music) co-produced with Holmgang (visual art )and Jyri Suominen (lighting) Joanna Das (Kathak dance) and Blake Parker (spoken word) Grindl Kuchirka (clown), Oliver Schorer (music), Charlie (dog clown) Hanafi (visual art), R.W.Stevenson (music), Maxine Heppner (dance, interdisciplinary), Jessica Runge (contemporary dance) Elizabeth Langley (mentor of training participants)
Weekly schedule Daily physical training led by Elizabeth Langley 9:30-10:30 Workshops with artists-in-residence 10:30–12, 2-4 daily studios/rehearsals for observation of actual process lunchtime and happy hour discussions 1-2, 4-5 evening performances/exhibits
WORKSHOP THEMES (2 sessions each) Contact, interact, create: Kaeja d’Dance company Lighting as rhythm, time and form Jyri Suonimen Rhythm in Kathak: Joanna Das Music with sticks and bones: Edgardo Moreno Body in Language: Blake Parker Characterization: Grindl Kuchirka Colour in Space: Hanafi Performance energy is a cyclic path: Maxine Heppner Making music from the inside : R.W. Stevenson Integrating Information Elizabeth Langley
DISCUSSION THEMES Creation in intense environments guest Grant Strate Collaborative natures MC Maxine Heppner Elements across disciplines general Movement in all the arts general Collaborating across species (demo) Grindl Kuchirka and Charlie the Dog Collaborating with administration guest Linda Clouette-McKay Demonstrations/discussion of each artist group’s research
PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS Exhibition of Holmgang visual art (Sweden) Joe Green Foyer Pre-premiere “Resistance” Kaeja d’Dance Joe Green Theatre “Small Midnight” Moonhorse Dance Theatre works by Claudia Moore, Ted Robinson Artword Theatre Toronto Tabla Ensemble music duMaurier Theatre Harbourfront ArrayMusic Young Composers’ Concert The Music Gallery One2One Gallery exhibit of Hanafi’s paintings and performance: Padmonojati: Javanese mask dance and “Study for Distance”: Stevenson, Runge, Heppner “Older and Reckless” dances by Holly Small, Danny Grossman, Maxine Heppner, Viv Moore Claudia Moore Dancemakers Theatre
SYMPOSIA Collaborations as global ecology Art away from Home How do we work and understand each other KEYNOTE GUESTS: Rachel Cooper, Asia Society , New York City, Kay Flavell, New Pacific Studios Pacific Rim
2002 AtHOME Festival April 18-28, 2002
Produced by Across Oceans Hosted by The Music Gallery Toronto Canada
THEME: Music is a physical art
Artists-in-Residence Tran Quang Hai (music) Garnett Willis (music, sound installations) John Sharpley (music) Claude Smith (visual arts) Blake Parker (spoken word, writer) Maxine Heppner (movement, interdisciplinary art) Mark Trautman, Maryse Castets (music, opera) Canon Cook (interdisciplinary) Motria Sabat, Christos Giotis (videography)
Guest Speakers Andrew Timar (music : European and S.E Asian) Vivine Scarlett (African dance)
WORKSHOPS Sing like an Angel: Tran Quang Hai (two-tone and overtone singing) Inuit Drum, Dance and Song: Tracy and Lynda Brown, Siqiniup Qilauta (The Sun’s Drum) Preparing from inside out Maxine Heppner (cycles in time, movement, sound) (daily movement, drawing, sound) with Jess Runge, Louis Laberge Cote, Claude Smith Sound in Colour : Claude Smith (visual art) Master Class: Mark Trautmann, Maryse Castets Mysterious movements of sound waves: Garnett Willis Rap and Rhyme: Blake Parker (spoken word) York University Fiine Arts Music, Dance and Music and drawing? together? all artists-in-residence York U Fine Arts Master Class: Ellen Band (finding, composing, embodying music) Musical, physical and back again: John Sharpley (piano)
PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS Let Harp and Colour Move: Garnet Willis Clusterflux installation The Music Gallery Claude Smith (paint), John Sharpley (piano), Wiryawan Padmonojati (gamelan) Radio in the Dark: Christian Calon, Chantal Dumas (sound recordings) The Music Gallery Music to See co-curated with Vicky Chainey Gagnon and Loop collective (film/video): films by Richard Reeves, Norman Maclaren, Evelyn Lambart, Dwinell Grant,Garine Tarossian, Humphrey Jennings, Len Lye, Isabella Pruska-Oldenhof, Stan Brakhage The Music Gallery Secret Songs Tran Quang Hai (two-tone and overtone song) The Music Gallery Tapestry New Opera: Opera to Go: Isabelle Bader Theatre Marie Josee Chartier choreographs Dancemakers Premier Dance Theatre Harbourfront Ellen Band Ensemble (music & performance) The Music Gallery The Unknown Songs of Erik Satie: Janet Jackson (vocals) Eve Egoyan (piano) The Music Gallery Duets for Dance and Piano: John Sharpley (piano) Maxine Heppner (dance) Blake Parker (poetry) The Music Gallery Crème de la Crème: Soup of the Day dance and sound improvisations with Jessica Runge, Julia Sasso, Karen Kaeja, Sallie Lyons, Maxine Heppner The Music Gallery
FORUMS Elders, Mentors, and Young Upstarts: dialogue across generations discussing the role of elders and mentors in new creations group The Music Gallery Geography, experience and art-making: Is there an East and West in Art? Where do North and South divide? And other questions of location and art. group Indigo Café Operatic voice evolving through time and place: Mark Trautmann l’Alliance Francais Opera Zone CIUT Radio: discussion road music with Christian Callon (electronic music)
2003 AtHOME Festival May 12 – 31, 2003 Produced by Across Oceans in cooperation with Kaeja d’Dance and The Distillery Jazz Festival Toronto Canada
THEME: Spontaneous Creation
Artists-in-Residence Susan Lee, Jessica Runge, Louis Laberge-Cote, Maxine Heppner, Sallie Lyons, Karen Kaeja, Allen Kaeja (dance) St. Elementary Dirt Band (music) Sonora New Music Ensemble (music) Motria Sabat (visuals)
WORKSHOPS at Dancemakers studio Each of 7 days is led by one movement artist, introducing approach and ways used for improvisation and improvisational choreography collaborative development of performance scores development and tests of performance scores with music ensembles Improvise and remember
DISCUSSIONS at Dancemakers studio, Transac Club, Distillery District rehearsal hall Difference between improvisation and improvisational choreography Known dance, known music reconstructed into something…new? When music leads how does dance follow? When dance leads can music support without defining content? Constructing without locking
PERFORMANCES May 23, 30, 31 dance/music live performance The Distillery Jazz Festival including live videography and writing
POST-PRODUCTION editing of documentation of workshops, discussions and performance collaborations
