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Exclusive Theatrical Video-Dance-Technology Program Unveiled at Jacob's Pillow

BECKET, MA: Presenting an exclusive program derived from his innovative and illuminating public installation, Slow Dancing, visual artist David Michalek and hand-picked dance soloists are onstage at Jacob’s Pillow’s Doris Duke Studio Theatre, July 31 – August 3. The beauty of the body in motion is captured in Michalek’s super-sized slow motion video portraits, revealing details unrecognizable to the naked eye including the physical effort required to perform both simple and technically complex movement. For Slow Dancing, each subject was shot using a high-speed, high-definition video camera, developed by NASA, recording at 1,000 frames per second (standard film captures only thirty frames per second). The Jacob’s Pillow program includes live performances by select dancers, showings of Michalek’s video portraits, and commentary from the artists and Michalek himself.

“We produced this special engagement for the Pillow because it is a revelation and celebration of dance itself. People who know absolutely nothing about dance as well as long-time dance-goers will be equally amazed by Slow Dancing. The Olympian athleticism and beauty that the audience will see both live and on screen by extraordinary artists at the height of their power is nothing less than a transformative experience,” comments Ella Baff, Executive Director of Jacob’s Pillow.

For this special one-week Pillow program, Michalek and Baff focus on a few extraordinary dancers from around the world as subjects. Shantala Shivalingappa, an acclaimed master of the quicksilver Indian dance form of Kuchipudi, was born in India and raised in Paris. Noted for her electrifying lightness and grace, she has been a frequent guest artist in the contemporary dance arena with Pina Bausch’s Wuppertal Tanz Theater and will perform at the Pillow in her own full evening program, August 7 – 10. Fang-Yi Sheu is a celebrated contemporary dancer who has danced principal roles with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. The New York Times hailed her as “the finest present-day embodiment of Martha Graham’s technique and tradition.” Originally from Taiwan, she recently established her own company, LAFA & Artists, a contemporary dance ensemble dedicated to changing the perception of dance in Taiwan. The third artist will be announced shortly.

Each artist will perform a seven to ten minute solo from their own repertory, as well as the five-second dance phrase that Michalek captured on film. Five seconds becomes five to ten minutes in the video portrait of the brief phrases shown in Michalek’s super-slow motion format. What at first appears to be a still photograph unfolds gesture by gesture, revealing information and details that would normally escape the naked eye. The artists then return to the stage for a discussion with a moderator and David Michalek. This Pillow-exclusive program format gives audience members a full scope of the work as well as information about the internal workings of the dance pieces shown.

“Sculpting Movement and Time: Making Slow Dancing,” an exhibit showcasing Michalek’s Slow Dancing work, is open in Blake’s Barn Tuesday – Sunday, noon – final curtain (approximately 10pm) for the duration of the Festival season. The exhibit takes viewers on an in-depth, behind-the-scenes journey to learn more about Michalek’s inspiration and work process with his diverse group of subjects.

Slow Dancing premiered at Lincoln Center in July of 2007. Slow Dancing artists included contemporary dance legend Trisha Brown, ballerina Allegra Kent, Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre artistic director Judith Jamison, French tap dancer Roxanne Butterfly, Balinese dancer Wayan Dibia, hip-hop dancer and choreographer Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio, Japanese dancer Megumi Eda (who was eight months pregnant at the time of filming), Voguing legend Benny Ninja, Glen Rumsey as his drag queen alter-ego Shasta Cola, artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet Alexei Ratmansky, South Central Los Angeles krumper Christopher “Lil C” Toler, Samoan dancer Lemi Ponifasio, Chinese choreographer Shen Wei, Turkish choreographer and dancer Nejla Y. Yatkin, former Paul Taylor dancer Patrick Corbin (whose company will perform at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow July 16), and New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan who is also the wife of David Michalek.

David Michalek earned a B.A. in English Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1990 and also studied filmmaking at New York University. He worked as an assistant to noted photographer Herb Ritts for two years, began his professional photographic career in 1991 working as a portrait artist for various publications including the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Interview, and Vogue. Michalek began experimenting with performance and installation, developing large-scale multidimensional projects. His work has been shown nationally and internationally with recent solo exhibitions at Yale University and the Brooklyn Museum. Michalek has received numerous grants and fellowships from The Franklin Furnace, The Durfee Foundation, The California State Arts Council, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, Karen-Weiss Foundation, and the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, among others. He has been an artist in residence with the World Performance Project at Yale University since 2007 and is also on the visiting faculty of the Yale Divinity School, where he lectures on religion and the arts.

For more information on Slow Dancing and Jacob’s Pillow, visit www.slowdancingfilms.com and www.jacobspillow.org.