Elektrik Projections

Chard Gonzalez Dance Theatre performs a triple bill of their latest work.  The three works to be performed include: “ATAWii 3.0”, “Double Entendre Tooth Tiger”, and “Quarters”.  The Michalopoulos Studio sets the stage for this avant garde event on March 12 @ 8pm (with a post-performance discussion with the artists) and March 13 @ 2pm and 8pm.  Tickets are $15 or $10 for students & seniors. 

Chard Gonzalez is focused on collaborative multi-media projects that offer perceptual challenges to both the artists and the audience.  He was nominated this year for 2 Big Easy Classical Arts Awards for Best Modern Presentation and Best Modern Choreography.

“ATAWii 3.0” is a collaborative dance/film work created with filmmakers Daneeta and Patrick Jackson.  The objective of this work is to explore the integration of performance with recorded and live video projection.  Rather than using video as a background to a performance, the piece is choreographed as a dialogue between the two mediums.  Thus, the viewer’s focus is directed toward the interplay between performer and video.  The theme, based on video games, emphasizes the particular relationship between the player and the game.  The dynamics of the performer’s movement determine the specific cinematographic effects that are manipulated by the film artists in real time.  In a reversal of roles, the video will also be embedded with visual cues for the performer to respond to.

“Double Entendre Tooth Tiger” grapples with the issues of Evolution and Creationism.  To pursue individual freedom of expression, this work releases the constrictive rules and conventions of traditional dance forms.  Without specific codes often perceived in dance, the audience is also free to interpret what is meaningful or truthful from their own perspective.  The addition of contemporary film projection and musical accompaniment establishes the work’s multi-media aesthetic.  This provocative dance theatre production does not intend to make a statement about what is wrong or right, but does aim to challenge the viewpoints of two opposing sides.

“Quarters” is the company’s most recent work to date.  In this piece, the performers take a tumultuous ride down a path that includes a dynamic business meeting at “headquarters”, a drinking game, and a virtual walk through the French Quarter.  Based on a simple word association game, “Quarters” highlights some of society’s stereotypes and then amplifies what may be considered as “normal” behavior.