Necessary Weather

Dana Reitz | Jennifer Tipton | Sara Rudner

An inquiry into the climates of movement and light

March 24 at 7:30 p and March 25 at 2:00p NO LATE SEATING

Original Concept: Dana Reitz

Choreographic Score: Dana Reitz with Jennifer Tipton and Sara Rudner

Lighting by: Jennifer Tipton with Dana Reitz

Performed by: Dana Reitz and Sara Rudner

Costumes by: Santo Loquasto

Stage Manager: Rick Martin

Costumes Made by: Euro Co.

NECESSARY WEATHER aims in part to dispel some preconceived ideas of what the interrelationship of movement and light actually is, what the color of light does or means in an emotional context, how the external forces of environment (as created by light) mix with the internal forces of self (as evidenced in movement), how the interrelationship of the performers affects and is affected by the whole. It further aims to present these elements to “begin to touch the mystery.” The atmosphere is continually shifting; the “climate” is always in flux.

NECESSARY WEATHER is a journey, in silence, along the edges of dream andreal time. (Reitz-1994)

This piece is performed in silence and is approximately one hour in duration. NO LATE SEATING

History

NECESSARY WEATHER began in the spring of 1992. Reitz wished to continue her work in designing performance landscapes that allowed for personal style, timing, and presence. She invited Rudner, an accomplished dancer and choreographer with whom she had not worked in twenty years, to join her in the creative process. The two dance veterans spent months reacquainting each other with their dissimilar stylistic but common performance and personal concerns. From this, Reitz developed the choreographic score, fully integrated with light, in which each performer can take charge of personal nuance.

Reitz and Tipton had discussed their need to continue their investigative work in a highly concentrated manner, in a theatre with full lighting capacity for a considerable length of time –rare but essential. They proceeded to design an intensive 4-week workshop held at the Kitchen in New York City, September, 1992. This unprecedented workshop involved lighting designers and choreographers alike in the investigation of the essential natures of movement and light. In this workshop, as in the development of Necessary Weather, the participants switched roles often, to experience shifts kinetically and visually, and design accordingly. Since then, Reitz and Tipton have taught numerous workshops internationally.

NECESSARY WEATHER touring included the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Festival d’Avignon, the London Dance Umbrella, The Festival d’Automne in Paris, Culturgest in Lisbon and Rivolit Teatro Municipal in Porto, Portugal. In 2009, at Arnie Malina’s invitation, the work was recreated for performance at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (Vermont), which was made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. Since then, it has been performed at the Baryshnikov Art Center in New York.

Dana Reitz

Dana Reitz is a choreographer, dancer, and visual artist who has developed and produced projects since 1973. Most of these works have been performed in silence to reveal the movement’s own musicality. Since the early 1980s, she has created multiple scores that weave movement and light and has collaborated with lighting artists Beverly Emmons, James Turrell, David Finn, Richard Martin, and, extensively, Jennifer Tipton. Her projects include Unspoken Territory, a solo she created for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Necessary Weather, Shoreline, Private Collection, Lichttontanz, Suspect Terrain, Circumstantial Evidence, Severe Clear, and Field Papers. In 1996, she and Mikhail Baryshnikov toured together with a program of solos; in 1998, she created Cantata for Two, a duet for Baryshnikov and Tamasaburo Bando (Tokyo). Since then, her works include Gestures for Edwin, Again for Rudy Burckhardt, Cadences for Cunningham and Cage, Some Chamber Pieces, With Meredith in Mind, and Sea Walk. Reitz has toured internationally as a performer and teacher. She is a senior faculty member of Bennington College, where she has developed a wide variety of interdisciplinary initiatives, and is a founding member of Center for Creative Research. She is the artistic director of Field Papers, Inc., and her work has been supported by many foundations and public agencies, including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc., and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Jennifer Tipton

Jennifer Tipton is well known for her work in theater, dance, and opera. Her recent work in opera includes Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette directed by Bart Sher at the Salzberg Festival, La Traviata at the Welsh National Opera, and il Trovatore for the Metropolitan Opera—both directed by David McVicar—and the Wooster Group’s La Didone. Her recent work in dance includes Christopher Wheeldon’s DGV for the Corella Ballet of Spain at City Center and Paul Taylor’s Also Playing. In theater her recent work includes North Atlantic by the Wooster Group at the Jerome Robbins Theater, Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking directed by Charlie Newell for the Court Theater in Chicago, and The Glass Menagerie directed by Gordon Edelstein at the Roundabout Theatre, NYC. Tipton teaches lighting at the Yale School of Drama. She received the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 2001, the Jerome Robbins Prize in 2003, and the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture in New York City in April 2004. In 2008 she was made a United States Artists Gracie Fellow and named a MacArthur Fellow.

Sara Rudner

Sara Rudner is the director of dance at Sarah Lawrence College. She participated in the development and performance of Twyla Tharp’s modern dance repertory from 1965-1985. During this time she began to choreograph for the Sara Rudner Performance Ensemble, conceiving and directing a series of events that broke with conventional time frames, spaces, and occasions. Since 1985, Rudner has pursued her interest in choreography, improvisation, and performance, collaborating with colleagues including Dana Reitz, Russell Dumas, Christopher Janney, Jennifer Tipton, Rona Pondick, Robert Feintuch, Anastasia Lyras, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. She received a Bessie in 1984 and has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and New York State Council on the Arts. Her work in theater and opera includes choreography for Caryl Churchill’s The Striker directed by Mark Wing-Davy at the Public Theater in New York City; The Greeks directed by Gregory Boyd at the Alley Theater in Houston; Peter Sellar’s production of Olivier Messiaen’s St. Francois D’Assis co-produced by the Salzburg Opera and the Paris Opera; Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict directed by Tim Albery; Berg’s Wozzeck directed by Daniel Slater; Richard Strauss’s Salome; and Egyptian Helen directed by Bruce Donnell, all at the Santa Fe Opera. Rudner appeared in the films Amadeus, Ragtime, and Hair (choreographed by Twyla Tharp). She received a Dance Magazine award in 2009.

Dana Reitz | Jennifer Tipton | Sara Rudner