In the summer of 1999 I learned of an opportunity to become involved with a dance/performance group directed by Erika Schmidt. Mrs. Schmidt (who earned her MFA from USF) works in a variety of mediums, including printmaking, video, and performance, with a large emphasis on modern dance. Her group, Vital Spark, was preparing to rehearse a new piece called Rumi Jatna, which would primarily involve dance, with large props covered with prints on the stage and a video projection. There were more dancers needed for this piece, so I fulfilled a role as a dancer, which became my first dance performance. We rehearsed this piece from November 1999 to February 2000, and performed it for the first time for a printmaking conference which was held at the University of Miami during the first week of March. We subsequently performed (this piece and another) at the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, Florida, and at a theatre in Winterhaven, Florida, in May.
During the summer of 2000 we planned a new piece, Igitur, to be debuted at a Vital Spark concert (at Florida Southern College in Lakeland) in September. For this piece, which involved dance, video, and music, I designed the sound in collaboration with a composer/classical guitarist, Robert Phillips, who is working on his doctorate in music at the University of Miami. He composed guitar pieces for each act (but one, the improvisation) of Igitur, and together we designed the sound that I would trigger live in accompaniment to his playing. Using a computer, we manipulated the sound of his guitar, and other sounds, in order to come up with arrangements that would be performed live during the piece. For the live performance, my computer was set up in the orchestra pit in front of the stage, in close proximity to Phillips. During one act, an improvisation by the dancers, I played the computer solo, improvising with the samples. During this performance I also had a small stage part in another piece, Desiderata.
I plan to continue working with Vital Spark. We have performance dates set for the spring of 2001, and we are planning to attend an international dance festival in Cesena, Italy, in June 2001.