Spirit PlayGround
A collaboration with nyc ballet star sara Mearns, choreographer Jodi melnick, sculpture diana orving
Role: co-creative director with carvalho park gallery
“CARVALHO PARK announces the inaugural project of its biannual performance series – a commissioned, cross-disciplinary and site-specific work integrating the practices of Swedish textile installation artist Diana Orving, with world-renowned New York City Ballet principal dancer, Sara Mearns, and esteemed choreographer, Jodi Melnick. Conceived of in tandem, the three invited artists will work together in CARVALHO PARK’s newly expanded gallery, creating a total, intersectional work, to be performed on three occasions – on July 11, 18, and August 8.
With a serpentine quality that gives way to expansive clouds of monochrome silk organza and jute, Orving’s installation titled “Spirit Playground” is comprised of over 1600 square feet of fabric. Built into the space, it travels with the characteristic of an organic being. Orving approaches form as if the sculpture possesses its own will and temperament – the flowing seams lending structure to her work resemble elastic and living lines, akin to blood veins or tree branches, never static and ever-expanding. The textiles’ lightness enables Orving to work on a grand scale, often leading to a sense of being overpowered by the installation’s volume. In this state of relinquished control, the work ignites, or even echoes, elements of uncertainty and unpredictability. As such, Orving seeks to give form to various states of mind, relationships, and mental and physical processes through the textiles’ movement and volume. Engaging a choreographic approach, her work captures a tangible sense of interconnectedness, emphasizing that one is not an isolated entity but rather a small part of a larger system.
Mearns and Melnick, who previously collaborated on two projects for the Guggenheim Museum, New York, will work within Orving’s textile installation in the week leading to the debut performance. The new dance work will give physical form to Orving’s aims that reside in the subconscious, the elusive and the concrete undulating in real time. Audiences are invited to view the choreographic work in-the-round, experiencing the textile installation in a heightened manner through the dancers’ singular contribution. In the meeting of artists in this intimate space, the installation becomes a site for new pursuits that eclipse the limitations of each discipline’s language.
The performance series is commissioned by CARVALHO PARK, and curated by gallery Partner and Director, Jennifer Carvalho, with Creative Director, Cynthia Dragoni.”
Flying Carpet Festival 2023: The Olive Tree
Performer/Choreographer/Educator/Creative Team
Touring festival along Turkish Syrian border
Flying Carpet is a volunteer-based collective of world-class musicians, circus artists, visual artists, designers, and visionaries who believe in the power of music and arts as a catalyst for positive change in the lives of vulnerable and refugee children in war-afflicted regions of the world. The Flying Carpet Children Festival is an intensive learning platform for artists and vulnerable children alike to create a harmonious experience through music, circus, dance, light, beauty and truth. We organize festivals specializing in forward-thinking design, music and art dedicated towards educating children who need it most. The festival selects artists, musicians and visionaries from all over the world with the common goal of creating the best possible educational experience for vulnerable children traumatized by war and conflict.
Children’s Production: Giselle Ballet & Cirque 2022
Co-Director/Choreographer/Producer
In collaboration with The Muse Brooklyn this is an original production of the romantic era classic Giselle. An inventive and magical production using classical ballet, aerial arts and acrobatics. Student performers worked alongside professional dancers and circus artists to tell the tragic tale. Inquire for full show video.
The Firebird Ballet and Cirque 2021
Co-Director/Choreographer/Producer
In collaboration with The Muse Brooklyn this is an original production of Stravinsky’s Firebird Ballet. Prince Ivan, Katchei, the princesses, monsters and the Firebird herself come to life in an inventive and magical production using classical ballet, aerial arts and acrobatics.
The Rite of Winter 2019
Director/Choreographer/Producer
A site specific piece in response to Se Yoon Park’s exquisite tree sculptures that capture the essence of the dancer’s spiraling movement and Rosalind Tallmadge’s atmospheric paintings. The Rite of Winter was created as a site specific collaborative work in the Carvalho Park art gallery in Brooklyn NY.
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW TO SEE VIDEO OF THE DANCE WORKS
Salon Series 2018-2019:
The Ballet Institute and various NYC choreographers
Director/Producer
Salon series was a way to offer young female choreographers a space to experiment with their choreographic voice by providing rehearsal space and a performance venue. New works where then offered to the community in the spirit of artistic generosity and joy. Shows included, image and video projections, jazz singers and short lectures as an experiment in mixing genres in a casual yet cool setting. Winking at the feeling of a speakeasy but really just a moment for art + fun.
Children’s Storybook Ballet Series
Director/Choreographer/Producer
A multimedia dance education series for young audiences. Each performance includes a ballet basics and dance history lesson, followed by an abridged telling of the story from the classical repertoire. Audiences are then invited to witness the story come to life through dance and visual media. Past stories include: Giselle, Nutcracker, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Firebird. Inquire for full show videos.
