FAITH
FAITH: belief, trust, intuition, hope. Religious/Spiritual faith. Artistic faith.
Curated by Kay Ottinger
April 2020
Video Performance Contributions from: Laura Bartczak, Remi Harris, Priscilla Marrero + Ferrán Martin, Zavé Martohardjono, Kay Ottinger, Mark Schmidt, and Calleja Smiley. Followed by an Afterglow Party with LIVE DJ set with André Daughtry and Galen Bremer. Dance wild in your homes and/or listen to some really good tunes!
These artists and Kay were planning to perform at Judson Memorial Church on April 1st. Due to COVID - 19 we decided to gather virtually in honor of Earth Day. It was no replacement for what we were going to do together live. It was it's own unique version. It came out of isolation and a deep desire to still work with these wonderful people and honor the show we were going to do. It came out of love. Love for the body, for dance, for the arts, for community, for friends and for family.
Kay has been drawn to conceiving group shows since 2012; gathering different souls to come together and share space. Share ideas. It has always been important to Kay to find a way to provide a space for artists where they could work without expectations. Where artistic practice and experimentation could always be at the forefront. Her intention being that the performance is still the practice and we could use the group to create the space we need to help further one another’s ideas.
Her shows are centered around a shared improvisational practice. The only set elements in the show are time (the performance is an hour), place, and the performers + their ideas. There is no set order or timed slots, there is only the hour. There is also always a pre show event where audience members can come early and participate, watch, listen, or just hang out. The meditation before the show, the setting of intention and the conjuring of energy. Time given to both performers and audience to connect with the place, it’s space and people.
SUMMERTIME
Curated by Kay Ottinger & Priscilla Marrero
July 2018
Priscilla and Kay curated two weeks of movement sessions every day led by a movement, visual, and or music artist(s). Some were outside in the park, at the beach, in the streets of Jackson Heights, or at my studio, 2nd Story Pilates + Yoga. These sessions were surrounded by the spirit of investigation and playing with an idea. Everyone was a participant. It was not a class/workshop, there was no teacher, it was not a rehearsal, there was no lead choreographer, but it was a lab where artists were more like guides and we all were participants there to help the idea along and in turn further our own ideas. And at the belly of it all was a sense of community. The beautiful feeling that we all made the time and space to come together. Artists who lead sessions also had the option to join a group improvisational performance at the end of the two weeks.
Let Light In
Curated by Kay Ottinger & Coco Karol
December 2016
Let Light In was an invitation to celebrate the light and warmth created when communities come together. Brooklyn Studios for Dance was located inside the historic Cadman Memorial Congregational Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The intention was to have an event that included both the congregants, the artists, and the spaces of Cadman Memorial Church which, at that time, housed both artistic and spiritual practices.
The evening began with a candle light service, then a dinner potluck. Co curator Coco Karol and her partner Sxip Shirley worked with the church choir on a version of his immersive choral performance The Gauntlet, which was performed in the parlor, and we ended in the BKSD studio upstairs for a group improvisational performance with works by artists: Ilona Bito, Julian Barnett, Jocelyn Tobias, Cris Beam, Justin Cabrillos, Sarah Chien, Ethan Meigs, André Daughtry, Dana Florin-Weiss, Mor Mendel, Rachel McKinstry, and Students from the Williamsburg Movement & Arts Center.
Moving in, to Performance
Curated by Kay Ottinger
May 2016
Moving in, to performance began with an audience-inclusive, improvisational jam lead by Katie Workum that cycled into performances by Zena Bibler, Gwen Welliver, Ferrán Martín & Priscilla Marrero, Thomas Gibbons & Joshua Tuason, and Dom & Aston.
Katie Workum’s offering was PUBLIC PRACTICE (an improvisational practice that came out of her experience with Authentic Movement, a practice where someone moves with eyes close while the other person witnesses and protects the mover).
TAB
Curated by Kay Ottinger & Stephanie Browne
TAB was the beginning of curating for Kay. The beginning of investigating and playing with group show platforms. TAB was the coming together of both Stephanie Browne’s and my curatorial shows at the time. Triangle (Stephanie’s) and Amuse Bouche (the title of the first show I ever curated with my friend Gorgas in Red Hook).
