INTERVIEW: ZviDance’s ‘The Art of Fugue’ premieres in NYC
Photo: ZviDance will present The Art of Fugue in New York City. Photo courtesy of Maria Baranova-Suzuki / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
The Art of Fugue, a new work by ZviDance, plays through Nov. 13 at New York Live Arts. The piece is billed as an evening-length multimedia dance that is a result of a collaboration involving choreographer and artistic director Zvi Gotheiner, composer Scott Killian, lighting designer Mark London, media designer Joshua Higgason, and eight dancers. For classical music lovers, the work should be particularly relevant because it’s set to Bach’s “The Art of Fugue.” Interspersed with Bach’s selections is Killian’s original electronic compositions and Higgason’s cinematic projections.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Gotheiner about the new work. He began his career as a violinist with the Young Kibbutzim Orchestra, and then he started dancing at the age of 17. He eventually joined the legendary Bat-Sheva Dance Company and directed Jerusalem Tamar Dance Company in Israel and the Israeli Chamber Dance Company in New York. ZviDance came in 1989, and it has been his main creative outlet ever since. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can audience members expect from The Art of Fugue?
The Art of Fugue is an evening-length, multimedia dance performance collaboration between composer Scott Killian, lighting designer Mark London, media designer Joshua Higgason, eight wonderful dancers, and me, Zvi Gotheiner, as artistic director.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Art of Fugue” is a point of departure for this choreographic exploration that highlights the individual contribution of each of this creative team. In music, a fugue is a contrapuntal composition in which a short melody is introduced by one voice and successively taken up by others; we introduce this compositional structure as a metaphor to portray a non-hierarchical society. Killian integrates electronic original music with Bach, anchoring the work in contemporary culture. Higgason’s live and pre-recorded video projection adds an additional “voice” to the complexity of the canonic composition.
How important was collaborating with other artists for this piece?
Collaborating with other artists has always been extremely important for my work, and it is the same for this piece. The dance is created in collaboration with dancers, and each new element is brought in with care and consideration. After a lot of trial and error, the piece eventually clicks and finds a character of its own, making it very clear to all the collaborators how to move forward. The puzzle of piecing together the dance, music, video and lighting is an incredibly difficult but rewarding process. It is especially important in this piece though, as the fugue is created by these different artistic voices, building off of one another throughout the performance. Each element complements the other throughout, but shine individually when appropriate.
Is it challenging to translate something audio (a fugue) into some visual (a dance)?
Short answer, yes. We started by translating the rhythmic patterns of the score into movement phrases. It proved to be very complicated but also extremely rewarding. We eventually mapped out the first fugue with four movement phrases to match the four voices (alto, soprano, bass and tenor). The phrases worked beautifully together, and seeing the different configurations of these phrases in space was very exciting. Eventually, each dancer was assigned a “voice” while Josh Higgason and Mark London shared their visual interpretations of the fugue through their lighting and video design in beautiful and thoughtful ways.
What was the impetus for founding ZviDance in 1989? Is there more freedom when you can lead your own company?
The creative process is the most powerful force in my life. So when I started to choreograph, founding a company was a natural next step. Having my company gave me amazing opportunities to explore my artistic voice and work with truly inspiring people.
What are the qualities you are looking for in a dancer when considering a new project?
Talent is first, of course, but beyond that is character. I always wish to work with good communicators that will not be afraid to challenge me and my ideas. Since I love collaboration, I need to see that people are passionate about the work, this way they will have opinions about what shape it should take. Those conversations are what leads to the best version of any piece.
What’s the future look like for the company beyond these November performances?
We are lucky to have amazing support from many beautiful people and organizations. For this reason, I see more creative work happening in the future, similarly to how we have been working so far.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
ZviDance’s The Art of Fugue plays through Nov. 13 at New York Live Arts. Click here for more information and tickets.
