Monday, April 1, 2019

Press Release

Cilla Vee with the sculpture of Patrick Pierce - Photo: Mary Ann Kerns


“While These Visions …. “

WHO: Two Diamond Art Farm presents Cilla Vee Life Arts

WHAT: While These Visions … (did appear)
– A Midsummer Night’s Revelry of Art and Dance

WHERE: Two Diamond Art Farm – 98 Hearn Road, Saco, ME

WHEN: Summer Solstice – Friday June 21st
– Gather at 7pm for pre-show reception

HOW MUCH: Sliding scale $5 - $15

This Summer Solstice, Saco’s Two Diamond Art Farm will become the scene of magical revelry!
“While These Visions … (did appear)” is a multi-disciplinary cornucopia of art, dance, music and literature (the title of which will have a familiar ring to Shakespeareophiles)
Two Diamond is hosting and presenting Cilla Vee Life Arts – an Asheville NC based arts organization with a mission of inter-disciplinary collaboration.
CVLA Director Claire Elizabeth Barratt (aka Cilla Vee) has paired regional New England based choreographers with the sculptures of Two Diamond’s Patrick Pierce, sprinkle in some live music and spoken word … and Abracadabra …. Midsummer magic!

Guests will gather in the barn at 7pm for a pre-show reception, then as the sun is setting they will be guided in a merry throng across the land to visit one sculpture at a time. At each stop there will be a dance performance that has been created in response to that particular sculpture.


Performers include: Jennifer Bourgeault (with Kurt Brown), director of Saco’s own Collective Motion, Portland based dancer / choreographers Esme Goldfinger, from the Bates dance program and Joie Grandbois with Middle Eastern influenced music by Stephen Carpenter and Barbara Truex. As well as performance by Cilla Vee (with NH based artist Dei Xhrist) and some Shakespearean oration by Patrick Pierce.

Tickets are on a sliding scale of $5 - $15 and can be purchased on the door.

For more information about Cilla Vee Life Arts, please visit: http://www.cillavee.com/

And for information on Patrick Pierce and Two Diamond Art Farm: http://www.patrickpierce.com/


Cilla Vee at the Asheville River Sculpture Festival, NC



While These Visions – Performing Artists


Additional Information


Sculpture / piece title
Choreographer / performer
Accompanying performers


Trillium

Cilla Vee 

photo: Laila Alimiri

Claire Elizabeth Barratt (aka Cilla Vee) is an inter-disciplinary artist with a performing arts background. She is the director of Cilla Vee Life Arts  – an arts organization with a focus on cross-media collaboration. Her work utilizes artistic disciplines of dance, music, text, media, visual and installation art.

Claire has presented her work in venues as diverse as Jacob’s Pillow, the New York
Botanical Gardens, Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center and Art Basel Miami.
She has performed and taught throughout the USA and in Canada, Europe, Japan and
Pakistan.
Claire received her professional training in London at The Laban Centre For Movement and Dance and at the London Studio Centre For Performing Arts. Her pre-professional training includes the Royal Academy of Dance and the Royal Schools of Music examinations.
She also served an apprenticeship with the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation in New York and holds an MFA in Creative Practice from the Transart Institute with Plymouth University, UK.

On moving to the USA in 1992, Claire held the positions of Dancer for Unto These Hills drama on the Cherokee Indian Reservation and for Asheville Contemporary Dance Theater in North Carolina, as well as serving as a Co-Founder and Director for Circle Modern Dance and as Choreographer for the Knoxville Opera Company in Tennessee.

Once based in New York in 2002, Claire founded Cilla Vee Life Arts and, with the support of arts advocates such as Chashama, Bronx Council on the Arts and Arts for Art, began to develop and present her signature modes of work – including Motion Sculpture Movement Installations and The Sound Of Movement projects.

She is the creator of the Living Art pedagogy for performance art.

Claire now uses Asheville NC as her home base and tours frequently to connect and collaborate with a variety of international artists.

“My work as an artist blurs boundaries and crosses categories. Re-defining the traditional
concepts of a “piece” and challenging the conventions of performance, time, space and audience relationships.”



Dei Xhrist

Multiple disciplinary artist using sound, performance, and sculpture to articulate dream logic, time travel, and the frustrations of being awoken from a deep, confusing dream.



Birth of Venus Hermaphrodite

Joie Grandbois: Creatrix


Dancer, choreographer, musician, writer…storyteller.
Whether using the medium of dance, rhythm or words Joie seeks to bring to life the voice present in a creative work.  Her creative work is deeply rooted in embodiment practice with an emphasis on the body being invited to listen to its own voice and to allow that voice to speak in movement, music and story.  Inspired by the spark that is created through collaborative improvisation she sees the environment, the stage, the musicians, and the audience all as co-collaborators in a performance work; each bringing their own experience to the performance and becoming a part of its story in that moment.

A lifelong dancer Joie entered the world of belly dance through the side door of raqs gothique (gothic belly dance) after falling in love with its dramatic storytelling nature.  She went on to study the more traditional cabaret and Turkish styles of the dance, which only made her fall more deeply in love with the art form. 

Joie is a practitioner and teacher of Contemplative Dance & Authentic Movement. 
She utilizes techniques from this practice to teach embodiment to dancers and other movement artists.  She works with students in classes and one on one to help them connect to and express their creative voice.  She has completed the Contemplative Dance Year Long Program (Year 1) with Daphne Lowell and Alton Wasson.

She is the founder and director of the interdisciplinary variety show performance troupe Dark Follies which formed in 2008. She teaches and performs around New England with Dark Follies and as a solo artist.
www.joiegrandbois.com


Stephen Carpenter

Stephen has been playing hand percussion for most of the current century, mostly in the Middle Eastern tradition. He also plays ney, guitar, and tank drum. He is an accomplished woodworker who makes many of the instruments he plays. 
www.presumpscotwoodworks.com


Barbara Truex

Barbara Truex lives in southern Maine where she performs, composes, and creates sound designs. She performs regularly with three groups, works with local theaters, audio drama producers, and hosts a world music program on community radio. Her instruments of choice are electric and acoustic mountain dulcimers, banjo and baritone ukuleles, tenor guitar and hand percussion. Musical meanderings include (but are not limited to) improvisation, jazz, French traditional, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and of course American folk music. 
https://barbtruexmusic.wordpress.com/




Eclipse

Esme Goldfinger

photo: Phyllis Graber Jensen

Esme Goldfinger’s choreography has, in the past, embraced theatricality and humorous elements to reach audience members of all backgrounds.
Portland-based Maine dance artist, Goldfinger continues to develop her technical training and creative process at Bates College. She works in a modern to postmodern style and often develops her choreography around the strengths of her performers.
Beginning dance at a very young age, Goldfinger has recently branched her knowledge of dance technique into choreography, lighting design, and music composition.
Influences include visual art, literature, and psychological theory.

As a dancer and choreographer, my work is made to reflect and inform the individual’s relationship with the body. I believe that the everyday ordinary gestures and body languages used by people are direct extensions of the self and should be explored with the same curiosity and fascination as any other aspect of human existence. I focus, in particular, on the physical and mental strength and beauty that emerges when an individual is faced with an archetypal struggle for which one often cannot prepare. My most recent work explored my panic at the thought of mothering a first child. Other experiences like this include first love, first loss, and other wholly overwhelming firsts that recklessly throw lives off kilter and infatuate the mind.



North Coast

Jennifer Bourgeault


Jennifer Bourgeault holds a B.A. in Dance from DeSales University where she studied the classical Modern techniques of Limon, Cunningham, Horton, and Taylor as well as the Cecchetti method of Ballet under Trinette Singleton. Additionally, Jennifer has trained with the Paul Taylor dance company and David Parsons dance. While in Philadelphia, Jennifer was a soloist with the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s “The Pearl Fishers” and “Aida”. Upon returning to her native state of Maine in 2006, she established Collective Motion (CM), a collaborative modern dance company. With CM she has had the opportunity to work with Maine’s best dancers and choreographers presenting work throughout Maine and New England. Most notable Maine performances include, “The Magic of Christmas” with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Maine Island Dance Festival, and “Been here Before” an evening work by Collective Motion. In 2013 Jennifer founded Collective Motion Arts Center, a non-competitive dance studio in Saco, ME. She continues to create work, teach and perform around New England and hope to do so for many years to come!


Kurt Brown

Kurt Brown is a songwriter and musician from southern Maine. He has been writing, recording, and performing with various area acts since 1998. He started and runs Second Order Audio, a music electronics company, based in Saco, Maine.



Patrick - hard at work!




Proposal Submissions









Dear New England dancer/choreographers,

Thank you for your interest in creating work for While These Visions … (did appear) on the Summer Solstice at Two Diamond Art Farm in Saco, ME.

As mentioned in the call for artists, the work will be created in response to the sculptures of Patrick Pierce that are out on the land at Two Diamond.
And, as the title suggests, there are Shakespearian hints of Midsummer Nights Dream woven into the theme.

We are seeking up to six artists to create and perform solo dance / movement pieces of approximately 10 minutes in length.

Performances can be in silence or with live sound, music, or spoken word.
Each dancer can bring their own sound collaborator OR choose to be paired in an improvised collaboration.
As there will be no power available, lighting sources will need to be battery operated.

Selected artists will have the opportunity for an on-site visit to work directly with the sculpture.


PROPOSALS

Take a look at the images below to see the sculptures.

Please propose ideas for TWO of the sculptures – this will give us more flexibility in the curatorial process.


Please include in your proposal:

1) A description of your concept for a piece.
Talk about your response to the sculpture and what it evokes for you, your ideas for movement, costume, sound and lighting – plus how it relates to themes of Summer Solstice and Midsummer Nights Dream.

2) A sample of your work
A link to something on YouTube or Vimeo would be the most convenient method of sharing.

3) A resume and biography, plus an artist statement that describes your approach to your artistic work.


Please send in your proposal by APRIL 15th at the latest.


Submit by email and feel free to contact Claire with any questions: cillavee@gmail.com

Thank you and we look forward to seeing your ideas!

Cilla Vee Life Arts and Two Diamond Art Farm.



Birth of Venus Aphrodite

Eclipse

None of That and Less

North Coast

Vertical Connection

Yin (left) and Yang (right)


Inner Lives of Discs


Night Tree


One More


Rouge Passage





















Saturday, March 9, 2019

Seeking dancer / choreographers




Cilla Vee Life Arts:

Seeking dancer / choreographers for

WHILE THESE VISIONS ... (did appear) 
- a Midsummer Night's revelry of art and dance.





Two Diamond Art Farm - Saco ME
Summer Solstice - Friday June 21st 2019

 Hi - this is Claire Elizabeth Barratt / aka Cilla Vee, I'm the director of Cilla Vee Life Arts - an inter-disciplinary arts organization based in Asheville NC.
This summer CVLA is partnering with Two Diamond Art Farm in Saco ME for a dance with sculpture event.

If this sounds interesting to you, please read the following information ...

* * *

Seeking dancer / choreographers for Summer Solstice performance event.
To create dance in response to the sculptures of Patrick Pierce on the land at Two Diamond Art Farm.

Each dancer will choose one of Patrick's sculptures to work with.
Performances can be choreographed, structured or improvised.

Dancers can choose whether to perform in silence, with music / sound or with poetry / text.
Any sound must be live and acoustic.
You can bring a musician or spoken word artist who you wish to work with - OR you can be paired with a local artist for an improvised collaboration.


EVENT

The event structure is as follows:

The audience will gather at Two Diamond Art Farm early evening for a pre-show reception.

Around sunset, hosts Patrick and Kathleen Pierce - plus Cilla Vee - will guide the audience across the land to the first sculpture. Here, we will introduce the first performance. The performance will go on for about 10 minutes (15 minutes max). Then the audience will be guided across the land to the second sculpture ..... and so on.

The performances will last for just over one hour total (with Cilla Vee as the final performer)

Afterwards there will be a post-show reception with music.


ARTIST INFO

For information about Two Diamond Art Farm: 

For information on Patrick Pierce:

For information about Cilla Vee Life Arts:

For information on Claire / Cilla Vee:


Performers will receive a payment of profit share from ticket sales.

Accommodation will be available for those traveling from a distance.

PLEASE CONTACT ME AT: cillavee@gmail.com




To see a previous collaboration between Patrick and Cilla Vee - follow these links:

Life is Art is Life is .....

Images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/114531261@N02/sets/72157639832686746/

Video documentation of installation:
http://youtu.be/4qrPIK4DX0M

Combined Video & Sound installation components:
http://youtu.be/O5DOjFDI3fY





 The structure for this event is based on The River Sculpture Festival, a festival that took place in Asheville NC in 2007, 2008 and 2009 - produced by Robert and Arlene Winkler.
Here are some images of my work in response to sculptures for that event:







 Thank you,

from
Claire, Patrick and Kathleen



Press Release

Cilla Vee with the sculpture of Patrick Pierce - Photo: Mary Ann Kerns “While These Visions …. “ WHO: Two Diamond Art Farm prese...