Photo Credit: Johanna Austin
Choreographer Nicole Canuso operates as an audio “guide” for Being/With:Home
Except for our personal relationships, few things have suffered from pandemic restrictions like the performing arts. With live events cancelled for the better part of a year, you might say performers and their audience members dance in a similar embrace of despair. Sheboygan’s John Michael Kohler Art Center and Philadelphia’s Nicole Canuso Dance Co. have joined forces to turn the present misery into a new kind of performance opportunity.
From Feb. 17-24, the two entities will join forces to present Being/With:Home, a series of 20 individual online “duets” that bring together two strangers for a guided interpretive dance designed to explore their separation, temporary connection and creative listening to guided comments and supplied music tracks. In addition, the program, performed over the Zoom platform, will include four similar workshops of 12 participants each for those who would prefer group work, according to Canuso, who conceived and “choreographed” the series.
“This program has been in the works for many years,” says Canuso, whose works often operate at the crossroads of movement, theater and visual arts. A version of this program was slated to premier at FringeArts, Philadelphia’s version of the Fringe Festival, but the pandemic stalled those efforts.
“The big theme of this program is absence and loss,” Canuso explains. “We miss the opportunity to perform on a stage, but there’s a different kind of vulnerability when you’re in your own home surrounded by your own things. We had to evolve our original project to suit the moment and access to technology.” Participation in Being/With:Home duets is free of charge, but only open to 40 individuals—first come, first served—who will perform together in 20 duets. The “dancers” will be guided by voice commands of Canuso and her staff and accompanied by a sountrack of music and ambient noises, such as ocean sounds and other natural phenomena. The 45-minute performances will not be filmed, but single screen shots will be taken of each performance. One does not need to have dance experience to participate.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Similar rules apply to the workshops, two of which are open to the public and two of which are being filled directly through JMKAC’s relationship with local schools. The two open workshops are Feb 11 and 13. The 20 duets are being held at different times Feb. 17 – 24. For more information and reservations, visit jmkac.org/beingwith.
