Friday, December 27, 2013

Portland Winter Workshops

We are in the home stretch of the holidays and though I usually start to feel a downward pull on my psyche as we veer into the uninterrupted grayness not brightened by twinkling christmas lights, mindless shopping and presents, right now I feel done with it.  I'm ready for 2014. 


I'm teaching three days of classes in PDX for those that have had enough already and want to get back into studio/body/creative space.  Today on my walk through town, I was thinking about a simple score called "Composing the Room," and stopped to watch the goats perform it.

In February, I'll be back with Adam to teach our special two day dance film workshop (info below).   Sign up in advance so we can make some good, number-appropriate lesson plans!





 SPECIAL WORKSHOPS at Conduit in PDX
Dec 27 - 29 | 11am - 1pm
TECHNIQUE + SCORES


ABOUT THE SERIES
Technique + Scores is a daily practice that feeds the desire for physical rigor and spontaneous composition and improvisation.  The first half of the class will focus on technical and physical exercises that warm up and explore the capacity for endurance, athleticism, mindfulness, and specificity in our bodies.  In the second half of class we will introduce compositional scores for groups that bring integrate imagination, sensation, relationship, and and hone our craft as performers and creators.
 
February 8 & 9, 2014 | 12 - 5pm
PERCEPTUAL RIFT: Looking and Listening in Dance Cinema 
Perceptual Rift is a special one-time workshop that Adam and I will be holding in August.  We will share some of our key creative practices by making a film or films together as a group over the course of two days. It will take place both at Velocity Dance Center and at the Northwest Film Forum. 

The goal of this course is to heighten your perception of place while working in two mediums, cinema and dance. It is geared towards both filmmakers and dancers, or artists interested in exploring this observational practice.

Info & Registration

 More description:
The ideas that form our practice is similar to a perceptual rift, which the artist Vik Muniz has described as what occurs when two "seemingly contentious media," such as photography and drawing, are blended in such a way that the perceiver feels vision itself."

In these moments  the media we're working with transform from our individual media (dance and cinema) and become  the physical place and the perceiver's moment in that place. The rift that is created is actually a new space, opened up, a crack in our hardened, accustomed ways of seeing,
into which the new experience flows.

The workshop is an offering of tools that might help you open up that rift in your practice;  cinematic, choreographic or otherwise, allowing you to expand how you participate with these mediums, and use them to further your own senses.

More specifically it will include working with observational scores, movement scores, discussions of framing and edits, practice in making short films and editing them.  Bring your recording devices; audio, video, written. If you don't have one we can pair you with someone who does

Thursday, December 19, 2013

some good dance jams

I just finished my second session of teaching Intro to Dance and got a request for my playlist.  Because I obsess about having the right music, I very much appreciate this.  Here is the playlist I've been working off of for my beginning modern and intro classes.  cheers! 


Monday, December 02, 2013

RADAR in Brooklyn | Classes in SoHo


We are in NY and at this point I'm still walking around thinking how much I love this city.  Tons of awesome stuff going on as usual.  I'm excited to check MR's La Song Ya fest. (Favorite panel title: "We Came To This City To Shit on a Stage").

Here is what Adam and I are up to this week:

f i l m

 
We're screening dance films at Spectacle on Wednesday night as part of our RADAR: exchanges in dance film frequencies traveling series.  This time the exchange is Seattle -- New York and the line up is amazing. 

Embedded by Marissa Rae Niederhauser
Merely Mouthpiece by Adam Sekuler
Serpentine by Jessica Hester & Stephanie Wuertz
Nemo by Rob Tyler, Adrienne Leverette & Fred Nemo
Study For A Cruxifixion by Randy Sterling Hunter
Excerpt “Rite of Spring” by Kathy Rose
Nightinigale by Jacob Rosen, Kate Wallich
Say by Reggie Watts, Amy O’Neal, Gabriel Bienczycki
Behind The Front Lines by Katie Fleming
Humming Birds by Tracy Rector
1922 by Shannon Stewart, Adam Sekuler & Daniel Mimura

R S V P on the facespace

c l a s s e s 

 

I'm teaching at 100 Grand in SoHo

Dec 4 - 6 (wed - fri)
10am - 12pm. 


E V E R Y T H I N G: A morning physical practice for training, performing, surviving, and reveling in contemporary dance (aka your morning technique class)

Int/adv level for students & performing artists

This is a morning warm up that explores rigorous and playful approaches to physicality, body organization, spatial navigation, and set and improvised technical exercises that move us toward connection and freedom.  Gyrokinesis, release technique, gaga, Forsythe/Pite improvisation, CounterTechnique, workout fads, qigong, and somatic partnering exercises may all be incorporated.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

RADAR__vancouver

Here is the line up:

Vancity Theatre
Nov 21 @ 6:30 pm

cARTographies: Crystal Pite by Brian Johnson
Twixt by Anna Kraulis
Evelyn's Farm by Brain Johnson and Tomorrow Collective
Fragment by Sophia Wolfe, Alex Tam, Clare Twiddy
A Moving by Rob Kitsos and Flick Harrison
Butte by Byron Chief-Moon, Mouvement Perpétuel
Twilight Groove by Amy O'neal
Choros by Michael Langan,Terah Maher
1922 by Shannon Stewart, Adam Sekuler

Work In Progress Films
605 R&D by Josh Martin and Brian Johnson
Mima Mounds by Shannon Stewart, Adam Sekuler, Nandan Rao

----> b u y t i c k e t s <----- br="">

Sunday, November 03, 2013

Neuva York

We are headed east after RADAR in Vancouver for the Sekuler Thanksgiving/Chanukah extravaganza with an extra long stopover in NYC.

AND I'LL BE TEACHING THERE! At 100 grand!

Dec 4-6 | 10am-12pm
Everything: A morning physical practice for training, performing, surviving, and reveling in contemporary dance
(aka your morning technique class)

Int/adv level for students & performing artists

Shannon Stewart offers a morning warm up that explores rigorous and playful approaches to physicality, body organization, spatial navigation, and set and improvised technical exercises that move us toward connection and freedom.  Gyrokinesis, release technique, gaga, Forsythe improvisation, CounterTechnique, workout fads, qigong, and somatic partnering exercises may all be incorporated.

Here's a little glimpse of something we will not be doing BUT it is conveniently promoting a class that is at the same time. Danke!

Saturday, September 28, 2013


CALL FOR ENTRIES  ------ > > >      r a d a r   1 1 . 2 1 . 1 3  v a n c o u v e r   b c

DEADLINE:   11:59pm Oct. 7, 2013

British Columbia artists are invited to submit innovative examples of film and video that reflect the body in motion or dance-based performance for entry in RADAR, a night of short dance films screening at the Vancity Theatre as part of the Dance In Vancouver Festival.

Single channel video will be accepted in the following categories: narratives, documentaries, abstract and experimental shorts that are staged work remade for the camera (not documentation), choreography created specifically for the camera, as well as the moving body articulated through animation and new media. All work must be no longer than 15 minutes in length.  Performances videos are also considered. Please consider our curatorial question – would we rather see this dance live? Does the video represent a strong marriage of two arts, dance and film?

r a d a r  is a program dedicated to the exploration and evolution of dance film through connecting artists scene by scene.  Curated by filmmaker/curator Adam Sekuler and choreographer Shannon Stewart, r a d a r  features movement based films of many budgets, styles and perspectives, creating a platform of local/national/international exchange that allows artists to publicly screen their work, discuss, get feedback, and meet other artists working in the same form.  In 2013,  r a d a r  screenings took place place in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Portland, and Minneapolis. 

Who can apply? Current residents of British Colombia

Entry Guidelines

Submissions will be accepted until Oct. 7

Preview screeners must be submitted via vimeo, youtube or other links. If chosen, work must be available in quicktime formats.

Submissions should be no longer than 15 minutes in length.

Please enclose contact information with your submission. You will be notified by e-mail if your work will be screened by Oct 14.

Send materials to radardancefilm@gmail.com.  

Friday, August 23, 2013

Yes, let's pretend we are a company for a week. . .

I dream of being able to work with a big group of people.  To train every morning, explore ideas, improvise, make things, discover things.  I could be the leader and I could also be led. I don't know if it's a project.  I don't know if there is a specific idea in mind.  I just see this - getting up everyday going to the same space, going through familiar exercises as a warm up into delving into the unknown.  And seeing what happens.

This is the container:

AUG 26-30 / 9:30-11:15 AM
TECHNIQUE + SCORES

Velocity Founders Studio 1621 12th Ave
$15 DROP-IN


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Dance Film Workshop this weekend!


Adam and I have been mapping out our plan for this weekend.  I'm looking forward to having an intensive time to unpack our process with other artists and that we get to learn and make something together.   We'll be at Velocity Dance Center on Saturday and then working from the Northwest Film Forum on Sunday.

There is still space if you are interested!  More info and registration info is at Brown Paper Tickets.

If you want to see some clips of our work there are some on the "Films" page.








Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Twenty second artist talk


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At New Aesthetics last week, we had a pub night wherein the twenty participants had five minutes to share whatever they wanted about their work, practice, etc.  

I made this slide show that was over in twenty seconds and then said some very cryptic things.  

Here are captions for the slideshow:
 
[1] THIS IS WHAT I’VE GOT

[2]  my silly face in luche libre

[3] DANCE FOR OTHER PEOPLE

[4] A Crack in Everything by zoe | juniper (work in progress performance at Trafo in Budapest)

[5] Titan Arum by salt horse (photo by Tim Summers)

[6] Make Believe by tEEth (with Noel Plemmons, Whitebird, Portland photo by Aaron Rogison)

[7] Make Believe by tEEth (with Phillip Elson, Molly Sides, Noel Plemmons, Photo by Aaron Rogison)

[8] MAKE SHIT WITH SOME MONEY

[9] memory (loss) bank (a two year collaboration between myself and Adam Sekuler that spawned two films and three
works for stage)

[10] A Better Container by Shannon Stewart (photo by Adam Sekuler)

[11] Third Floor a film by Adam Sekuler and Shannon Stewart (for Seattle International Film Festival 2012, photo by Adam Sekuler)

[12] Third Floor

[13] A Better Container by Shannon Stewart (with Sam Mickens, Marissa Niederhauser, Mary Margaret Moore, Northwest New Works at On the Boards)

[14] An Inner Place That Has No Place by Shannon Stewart (Aaron Swartzman, David Wolbrecht, Mary Margaret Moore, Meredith Horiuchi, Rosa Vissers, photo by Adam Sekuler)

[15] An Inner Place That Has No Place (photo by Adam Sekuler)

[16] An Inner Place That Has No Place (SCUBA national tour 2013, photo by Tim Summers)

[17] An Inner Place That Has No Place

[18] An Inner Place That Has No Place

[19] 1922 a film by Adam Sekuler, Daniel Mimura, Shannon Stewart, Meredith Horiuchi, Rosa Vissers, David Wolbrecht, Aaron Swartzman, Jeff Huston (photo by Adam Sekuler)

[20] 1922

[21] DAVID AND DEBORAH
[22] more wind by Shannon Stewart (for Next Fest NW: Real/Time at Velocity Dance Center)

[23] cool picture of david lynch by I don’t know who

[24] thin skins a film by Adam Sekuler and Shannon Stewart with Mary Margaret Moore (made for Twin Peaks Film Festival 2012)

[25] Shannon and Deborah Hay after the apocalypse in Findhorn, Scotland

[26] 180 Days to Fail by Shannon Stewart (a tribute to my 9 month practice of “Dynamic” by Deborah Hay as part of the Yellow Fish Epic Durational Festival at the Hedreen Gallery)

[26] “Dyanmic” by Deborah Hay (a document of one of my daily practices practice early on)

[27] “Dynamic” by Deborah Hay, adapted by Shannon Stewart (my last practice after nearly 10 months of daily practice at the Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, photo by James Arzente)

[28] MAKE SHIT WITH NO MONEY

[29] COME.GET.TO.THIS

[30] come.get.to.this. (working class version) by Shannon Stewart (Seattle International Dance Festival, photo by Joe Lambert)

[31] come.get.to.this. (working class version) by Shannon Stewart (Movement Research, NYC, photo by Adam Sekuler)

[32] e x p e r i m e n t s

[33] In Transit a film by Adam Sekuler, Shannon Stewart and Meredith Horiuchi (Dances Made to Order, edition 22)

[34] Inside/Outside by Shannon Stewart, Mary Margaret Moore, and Adam Sekuler (a protest duet indoors, outdoors, and live streamed on the web as part of Mimi Alan’s Studies in Occupation)

[35] tiny tsunami by Shannon Stewart (mosh pit interventions, various sites)

[36] Mima Mounds a 16mm film by Adam Sekuler and Shannon Stewart (in process)

[37] “Your Material Here” by Shannon Stewart, Adam Sekuler, and Jody Keuhner (a seven hour open rehearsal in a storefront window for City Arts Festival 2012)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Teaching and being taught

Whoa boy, I'm four days into New Aesthetics Performance Intensive in Vancouver, B.C. with Crystal Pite and Pol Heyvaert (affiliated with CAMPO in Gent, Belgium).   It's amazing and a bit wild.  I'm processing all notes and thoughts for a later blog entry.

In the meantime, I wanted to post something about workshops I'm offering in AUGUST!!! 

YES VERY SOON.

In my continued resistance to having an actual website or a URL that makes any kind of sense at all, I decided to add PAGES to my blog and prolong that website building task another _________ years.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ LOOK, THEY'RE UP THERE ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
                                                                                                                                  
Which brings me back to my point about workshops.   That info is also up there ! ^ ^ ^ 


Thursday, July 18, 2013

DANCE CHURCH ONE TIME ONLY

DANCE CHURCH
SUNDAY JULY 21
10 - 11:30AM
VELOCITY DANCE CENTER   

I'LL BE YOUR GUIDE.


NEVER STOP MOVING.

The end of "Dynamic"

It wasn't quite like I expected.  It wasn't a perfect calendar of nine months of daily practice with the respective photos, time log and sound notes I had planned. I didn't write numerous diary entries to my patrons as I had intended.  I didn't make it more important than everything else.  I repeatedly forgot my phone, camera, notebook, to book space, to bring food to do the proper entrance like a duck with food in my mouth.  Sometimes I made a conscious choice not to do it at all.  Sometimes I just completely forgot.   

At the Hedreen this continued as I symbolically finished out my practice as part of the Yellow Fish Epic Durational Performanc Festival (curated by the amazing Alice Gosti).  I showed up late, forgot the food, forgot to write down notes, broke all the rules of the practice by caring too much about what the audience thought and/or allowing myself to get fixated on a physical idea or what my body can and can't do. 

BUT THERE. 

I DID IT. 

FAILING FOR 180 DAYS. 

(MORE ACTUALLY)

Here is the photo from my first practice in Berlin at Martin and Todd's apartment in Kreuzberg.

 



And here is a photo from my last practice on Monday at the Hedreen Gallery in Seattle (photo by James Arzante).



The first part of my practice was fairly well captured here.  Then I got too overwhelmed with life and now I have a backlog of photos to post.  I don't know if I ever will.


Saturday, June 29, 2013

Trying to get to New Aesthetics in Vancouver B.C.

I have spent weeks contemplating how to financially make this work and just before submitting a new credit card application, I stopped and asked myself, is there another way? When you are working as an artist, you never get an an influx of cash that helps you pay back your debt and it is rare to get a professional development grant. I decided to give myself the advice I give organizations and fundraisers all the time, "You have to believe in your work and ask for support."

Overnight, three people chipped in and covered a day of housing and meals.  I can hardly believe it

With hope and great humility, I thank you for your time and for consideration either way.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

PORTLANDIA


I'M BACK IN PDX.  IT'S SOLSTICE.  IT'S DREAMY AND TOTALLY LIVING UP TO IT'S "WORTHY OF HAVING A SATIRICAL TV SHOW ABOUT IT" STATUS.

I AM TOTALLY LOVING IT.

I brought my bike, my plaid, my yoga mat, my appetite for coffee, beer and comfort food.  It's chill.  It's cute.  There are lots of friendly vibes.  All the cliches are suiting me just fine.  

Most important, I'm having the MOST FUN in RISK/REWARD!

If you can't see it below, go here to watch the video trailer. 




 

I'm gonna go to the coast for two days and turn off my brain, my computer, my phone and listen to the ocean and, most likely, the rain falling.  

 

 THEN  ------> BACK TO PORTLAND

 

 Wednesday June 26 at 7:30pm

Adam and I curated a Seattle and Portland short dance film showcase at the Hollywood Theatre

Alice Gosti (Seattle) – Sea Tac Toilette
Robert Tyree (PDX) - Prototype XXXX
Adam Sekuler / Shannon Stewart / Meredith Horiuchi (Seattle) -  In Transit
Mitchell Rose/ Body Vox (PDX) - Contact
Adam Sekuler / Shannon Stewart (Seattle) - 1922
Patrick Weishampel / tEEtH (PDX) - Transfer
Molly Sides / Rodrigo Valenzuela (Seattle) - Alternator
Kate Wallich and Jacob Rosen (Seattle) - The White of Spring

There will be a short Q & A after the screening + hanging out and having beers. 

COME AND HANG OUT!  THEN GO SEE STILL PIGEONS AT HOLOCENE.  I FUCKING LOVE THIS TOWN.
nterpretive Site: Hanford Reach by Karn Junkinsmith and Adam Sekuler
Alternator by Rodrigo Valenzuela and Molly Sides
Transfer by Patrick Weishampel  and tEEth
Contact by Mitchell Rose and Body Vox
In Transit by Meredith Horiuchi, Shannon Stewart, and Adam Sekuler
Prototype XXXX by Andra Rotaru, Robert Tyree, and Dicky Dahl
Airport Project by Alice Gosti
Guerilla Fire by Maria Allred
1922 by Adam Sekuler, Daniel Mimura, Shannon Stewart, Meredith Horiuchi, Rosa Vissers, David Wolbrecht, Aaron Swartzman, and Jeff Huston
White of Spring by Jacob Rosen and Kate Wallich - See more at: http://hollywoodtheatre.org/cine-dance-2/#sthash.qZkDaqkn.dpuf

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Sort of like being a band on tour only in different bands and mostly playing within the same zip code except for that one festival in portland that officially makes it really a tour

In other words. . . here are some performances coming up:

Hatlo and Rosa from PE|MO.  Photo by Tim Summers

June 7-9  On The Boards
NORTHWEST NEW WORKS
I'm performing with PE | MO in the Studio Theatre!
These things sell out so get tickets

Me. Photo by Video plunder.


SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL
Raisbeck Hall
2015 Boren Ave, Seattle, WA
 
June 18 
Spotlight on Seattle, Solos Curated by Amy O'Neal 
I'll be doing a new and short excerpt from Come.Get.To.This.

Also on the bill:  Paige Barnes, Corrie Befort, Alice Gosti, Beth Graczyk, Jody Kuehner, Dani Long, Devin McDermott, Lou Henry Hoover, Amelia Reeber.

June 19
Spotlight on Seattle
I'll be dancing with Umami (Aiko Kinoshita & Aaron Swartzman)
Also on the bill: Allie Hankins, Danielle Ross, Lotus Body/Tara Dyberg, the YC.

June 20
Spotlight on Seattle
More Come.Get.To.This! Longer excerpt and I really need you there!
Also on the bill: Amy Johnson, BadMarMar Dance, Coriolis Dance, Ashani Dance. 

Info & Tickets

THEN IT'S OFF TO RISK/REWARD IN PORTLAND! I'M SO EXCITED!
June 21 - 23 |  Artists Repertory Theatre 
GET YOUR FREAKIN TICKETS NOW!

 


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Life is so much stranger than art



"Que sera, sera.  Whatever will be, will be.  The future's not ours to see. . . "

I'm in the geriatric psyche hospital with my dad and other "complicated cases."  It's activity hour on his second day.  The volunteer musician's guitar was painfully out of tune; his timing uneven and hard to follow, yet these eight sad souls (myself included) gathered around the creamsicle dining table under florescent lights in too small a room, meekly singing along.  My dad looked like a baby bird as his mouth opened his, chin tipped upward, singing quietly, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  you make me happy when skies are grey.  you always know dear, how much I love you.  Please, don't take my sunshine away.  He looked at me through his delusions and said very evenly, this is kind of a depressing scene, huh?  Then the musician introduced the Beach Boys hit, "Let me go home... Why don't they let me go home? This is the worst trip I've ever been on."   Yeah, Dad, it's depressing, also very surreal, and sadly, sort of genius. 

I think about what I've taken in in the last seven days performance-wise (Saint Genet & Ezra Dickenson) and relate it to this experience--the facade of mental stability, delicate well-being juxtaposed against the strength of physical constitution, the body's will to live even as it is attacked and neglected; the lack of resources to understand our minds and work with them when they have betrayed us in some way; the lack of dignity in living, the desperate and beautiful attempts to transcend the horror and banality of what it takes to stay alive and what it takes to die.  Or at least I get that from how the work is framed, perhaps more than what is actually in it.

I see, appreciate and want to go toward the attempts to create something brutally real and beautiful simultaneously.  I want to get at that, use ourselves as material and posit something magnificent, yet grounded, without the heavy dose of salesmanship and narcissism, the heroes and antiheros, the exploitation with no real analysis of exploitation to provide context.  I want more from it than what is there.  I say this with the utmost respect for artists that go headlong unabated towards their vision.  These are my questions and desires, not theirs. 

I myself am performing this weekend, attempting to dive into something vast and incomprehensible, to experience a series of fleeting moments of understanding in a performance space, nothing remotely as colorful or twisted as a room full of minds worked on by years of sadness or dementia.

But this is what we do.

I'm contributing to the work of Aiko Kinoshita and Aaron Swartzman's series of shows grappling with memory. The first showings at Project Space Available this Friday and Saturday.  Info is here: http://umamiperformance.wordpress.com/

Also, for lighter fare, In Transit screens in the Alt Shorts fest at SIFF tomorrow night - 9pm.  One hour in the Philadelphia Subway with a go pro.  

 

Please excuse the somber and slightly morbid tone.  It's been that kind of week.

Friday, May 10, 2013

T W E N T Y P E O P L E

-->
TWENTY PEOPLE FOR NEW PROJECTS
AUDITION | REHEARSAL | FILM | EXPERIMENT

SHANNON STEWART & ADAM SEKULER
THURSDAY MAY 16 | 4-6PM
VELOCITY FOUNDERS STUDIO

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS FOR?
Let me warn you, the answer is long winded. I'll try to make it short.  First of all, I have a solo I'm making that is based on an ensemble that is not there.  Secondly, I want to make a video of the ensemble.  Thirdly, Adam and I were asked to make a music video.  Fourthly, we have a long-term project in the works.  Fifthly, I want to create a loosely structured working group that gets together regularly to train, test, & improvise so that as sporadic projects arise, there is a body of knowledge and history to build from.  There are currently no set dates or times except for May 16.  Shoot me an email if you are interested --> shannonkstewart at gmail.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Monday, April 29, 2013

s t r i c t l y b u s i n e s s

While I try to figure out a more integrated, 2013 way of doing this, I thought I would post this link for subscribing to my email list!

GET RANDOMLY TOPICAL AND INCONSISTENTLY TIMED EMAILS FROM ME BY CLICKING YES!

Here are links to my last two:

Self Contained Underwater Drinking Apparatus - April 25

What Is Going On?  - April 19

The one before that is from 6 months ago, just to give you a fair idea of how they work.
 
Also, lucky me!  One day after finishing a tour, teaching classes, having shows, etc, my business cards arrive.  ISN'T THAT HELPFUL????

HEY!  HERE IS MY CARD! 




Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

SCUBA OPENS FRIDAY

GET YOUR TICKETS!  THEY ARE SELLING FAST!

AT VELOCITY DANCE CENTER


Photo by Tim Summers


APR 26-28 / 8PM
Velocity Founders Theater 1621 12th Ave
>>TICKETS $18 / $15 MVP / $12 students + seniors


+ World premiere MAUREEN WHITING DANCE COMPANY (Seattle)
+ GREEN CHAIR DANCE GROUP (Philadelphia)
+ SHANNON STEWART (Seattle)
SCUBA Master Class

“Ready. Fire. Aim.”Contemporary Dance Practice with Shannon Stewart
Friday April 26 / 9:30-11:15AM

This class fully warms the body and gets the creative juices flowing using improvisation and set material from Stewart’s SCUBA piece: An Inner Place That Has No Place to access technique, freedom and creativity. Open to the community. $15 drop-in.

Happy Hour Speakeasy ConversationNext Wave?
Sunday April 28 / 5:30PM
Boom Noodle 1121 E Pike St

What are the new directions in dance (aesthetic, political, digital. . .) that we see happening in Seattle and the rest of the country? Join the conversation with this year's SCUBA artists then head over to the closing night of SCUBA. Free


Two weeks ago I got back from taking An Inner Place That Has No Place on tour to Philadelphia.  The eight people in the cast and crew landed in a city that was unfamiliar to most of us and were shuttled from hotels to Temple University were we taught and performed.  We shared the bill with the smart and charming Green Chair Dance Group and were presented in a beautiful theater.  The whole thing was a whirlwind and an incredible experience.  It helped me to see my work in a new way and through the eyes of people who have no idea who we are.  The cast rose to the challenge of filling a huge space with their performance.  They worked their butts off and An Inner Place transformed and deepened. One reviewer said it was a “homerun.”

Velocity Dance Center and Philadelphia Dance Projects gave us a small stipend to make this tour happen.  The rest was supported by an amazing collection of individuals, not least of which were the performers, composer and video designer who worked for next to nothing. 

Almost ten years ago, KT Niehoff and Kathleen Hermesdorf dreamt up a partnership that would allow them to take their work on the road and named the program SCUBA. The idea being that motivated, resourceful artists who were used to self-presenting just needed a little boost (like an oxygen tank) to get their work into the national circuit.  Also, they realized there needed to be a network of smaller presenters that could take bigger risks, support emerging artists, and create a bridge to the more established national touring network opportunities. And voila, they created the breathing apparatus with just enough air for artists to pack their sets in their suitcases and venture to new territory.

Since then, many awesome artists from Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Minneapolis have been part of the SCUBA National Touring Network for Dance. Kara O’Toole and Tonya Lockyer have fought to keep the program alive despite major funding cuts from the National Endowment for the Arts and I’m extremely lucky to find myself the beneficiary in 2013, a year when there was almost no SCUBA.

It’s not easy—not for the artists, the performers, the tech crew, the presenters, the fundraisers, not anyone.  There is not enough time, space or money to really make this thing happen.  But somehow it does.  It's hugely important to developing as an artist and understanding how your work connects to a larger field, to other artists and other communities. And it’s totally fucking worth it.

I hope to see you at the shows!

xoxo

Friday, April 19, 2013

This is going on

*|MC:SUBJECT|*
View this email in your browser
I sat down to write and compile a newsletter and found myself lost.

As an unimaginable horror unfolds on the other side of the country, it’s hard to know how to locate one’s own place in an event that is already being framed as “history.” What are the correct actions to take? Is there anything to do? Is there anything that can be known that wasn't before? How much empathy and in what direction?   What does that look like? How does one perceive it?
 
Bodies pushed to the limit and then subjected to unthinkable violence as they neared the Boston Marathon finish line, a man (nineteen years old) being “hunted,” an uncle citing being “losers” as the source of malicious intent, opportunists tossing immigration reform into the discussion about a completely senseless event. 
 
Sometimes in the life of making, performing, and trying to promote art, I find an intrinsic contradiction – a desire and responsibility to signal, frame, and respond to the world around us but at the same time having to disconnect and disassociate, to live in a vacuum, and keep the work progressing, the promotional emails moving forward.
 
What do you do to make sense of this?
 
I’m curious.  Really.
 
I’m celebrating my 36th year on the planet this weekend, embarrassingly mired in my own anxiety about what this means for WHERE I AM AT IN MY LIFE HOW OTHERS PERCEIVE ME WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AGING WOMAN LET ALONE AN AGING WOMAN THAT IS A DANCER WHERE SHOULD I LIVE DO I LOVE AMERICA WHERE IS MY COMMUNITY AM I DOING ANYTHING THAT HELPS OR MATTERS OR MAKES ANY SORT OF CHANGE THAT ALLEVIATES PAIN SUFFERING FEAR AM I AFRAID MYSELF.
 
You know.  That sort of thing.
 
This weekend, I’m taking this (thankfully) well-functioning body as far into the outdoors as possible and far indoors into the interior landscapes of artists I admire (KT Niehoff, Luc Sante, and many others). 
 
 I’ll be celebrating by making things, teaching classes and sharing my work and moving into a very full spring.   SCUBAMaster ClassDances Made to OrderCinco de GyroSeattle International Festival of DanceRisk/Reward.
 
I’m sending my love and energy out to you, people I’m lucky to know, who have supported and inspired me, and for some reason or another ended up on my email list.
 
Thanks for reading,
 
Shannon
 

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Dances Made to Order Film Now Available

While in Philly, Adam, Meredith and I made a short film for Dances Made to Order called "In Transit," wherein Meredith and I get to experiment with being a filmmaker and dancer simultaneously.

Dances Made to Order is a dance film organization that selected Adam to make and curate films for their 22nd edition.  Three artist teams each created a short dance film inspired by concepts the audience chose: broken machine and dive, sharp, fly.

Dances Made to Order presents:
Hummingbird by Tracy Rector, created in collaboration with danza family Kalpulli Tlaloktekuhtl
In Transit by Adam Sekuler and Shannon Stewart
Alternator by Rodrigo Valenzuela and Molly Sides

Visit: www.dancesmadetoorder.com


Here is our trailer:

In Transit (an excerpt) from Dances Made to Order on Vimeo.


If you already purchased a ticket, simply log in to the Dances Made to Order site to view then select "dance films" in the navigation bar and scroll down. If you forgot, you can still buy a ticket for Edition # 22.

Your $6.75 ticket includes all three films.
65% of the ticket revenue goes back to the artists to help support their work.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Next 12 days

 WEDNESDAY MARCH 20TH, 8pm

MOVEMENT RESEARCH OPEN PERFORMANCE

Moderated by Larissa Velez-Jackson*
Falon Baltzell, Lorene Bouboushian, Thea Little, Shannon Stewart

Wednesday at 8pm
Location: ART/NY South Oxford Space in the "Great Room", located at 138 South Oxford Street
(Between Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Street)
NO RESERVATIONS and ADMISSION IS FREE
A suggested donation of $3 or more is asked of those able to contribute

THURSDAY MARCH 21ST, 1pm

Master Class at Temple University, Philadelophia 

I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS EXCEPT THAT IT IS FROM 1-2:30.
Actually, that's a lie.  I found some more info:
-->
Shannon Stewart Technique Class Pearson Hall, studio 221. 1800 N. Broad Street, 2nd floor


FRIDAY MARCH 22ND @ 8PM 

SATURDAY MARCH 23RD @ 2:30PM

SCUBA National Touring Network Performances
>>TICKETS
Featuring moi (or the cast of An Inner Place That Has No Place, rather) and Green Chair Dance Group from Philly

Conwell Dance Theater
NE corner of Broad Street & Montgomery Ave.
Philadelphia, PA
Phone: 215-546-2552



International House Philadelphia