[Dance]
Simone Jacobson and Holly Bass: DANCE 1

About This Event

Simone Jacobson and Holly Bass: DANCE 1
May 10, 2012
8:30-9:15pm

For forty-five minutes on just one night only, a group of dancers will swarm the area surrounding Doug Aitken's "SONG 1" at The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, creating a whisper of silent gestures. Both ephemeral and loosely conducted, this work will utilize structured improvisational movements. "DANCE 1" invites the participants to engage in physical contact with one another while responding immediately, viscerally to Aitken's 360-degree cinematic and audio work. Directed by Holly Bass and Simone Jacobson, "DANCE 1" will mimic the "liquid architecture" of "SONG 1" with a "liquid quilt" of bodies, both known and unknown to one another, utilizing trained and untrained dancers. The imperatives for voluntary movers are simple: no talking is allowed throughout the duration of the performance, and the participants are encouraged to remain connected to at least one other person at all times. The universally romantic tones of "SONG 1" will be translated by the moving bodies connecting one touch at a time, spurring a new kind of dialogue in the public space. "DANCE 1" is open to all (no dance experience required). If you are interested in participating, please e-mail booking@hollybass.com no later than Wednesday, May 9th.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Holly Bass (African American, b. Travis, California; lives and works in Washington, DC) is a director, choreographer, performance artist, and writer. Her work has been presented at the Kennedy Center, the Whitney Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Experience Music Project. She studied modern dance and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College before earning a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. She is a recipient of the Future Aesthetics grant from the Ford Foundation/Hip Hop Theater Festival and was voted 2012 Best Performance Artist in the Washington CityPaper.

Simone Jacobson (Burmese American, b. Phoenix, Arizona; lives and works in Washington, DC) is a writer, performer, and cultural worker. Recent performance highlights include: the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and the McPhail Center for Music. She studied dance and French at the University of Maryland prior to earning a Master's degree in Arts Management from American University. Her work has been published in The Root, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, and Tidal Basin Review. She is currently the curator-in-residence at Busboys and Poets.