4-23-09_Site Specific Downtown Pittsburgh

4-23-09
Site Specific Downtown Pittsburgh
Dance Choreography by: Pearlann Porter
Music by: David JM Bielewicz
Photography by: Aaron Jackendoff

Pearlann is working on a series called "The Urban Experiment":

The Pillow Project’s Urban Experiment is dance that exists without any walls between the observer and artist. Choreographic and improvisational elements based on informal, pedestrian movements make a practical statement that the subtle art of dance can be blended into every-day situations and environments. Urban Experiment challenges the conventional way of looking at dance by seamlessly integrating the dancer into common, familiar and approachable surroundings while preserving the natural integrity of the moment for spontaneous and fortuitous audiences. The Pillow Project’s Urban Experiment will tour a wide range of Pittsburgh city streets, high-traffic commercial areas, outdoor cafes, public transit, local establishments and happenings starting Summer 2009.

--www.pillowproject.org

Pearlann was working with some of these ideas with her class. So I came along to photograph.

We had planned this one a few days in advance. Then I was thinking about it and was thinking about my friend Dave's music, and Bam! it came together. I called Pearlann up and Dave was free the next day.

Dave has been known to play just walking around or in the skywalk or any number of random places, as I've been know to do with my camera or watercolours. So when his previous class ran late and overlapped this class, so he came late. He strolled into the concrete park downtown playing his guitar, I found it quite hilarious because no one knew where he came from or why he was there for a while. I found out later, some people that knew him really thought he was just walking around the streets of downtown playing, which he would probably do.

Anyhow, we moved from the concrete park to the streets of downtown, 30 or so dancers a guitar player and photographer. It was quite fun. Then all the dancers got on a PORT Authority bus, Dave and I decided not to get on, but instead and run along side for a block or so. So I'm shooting photos, Dave is strumming while singing and we're sprinting alongside a bus downtown while 30 or so dancers are improving inside the bus.

So here are some photos and an original song by David JM Bielewicz called "I'm not there"

(please be warned I am not recording artist, I just used a small mp3 player to record the sound, I tried to even out some of the pops using Adobe Soundbooth, but I am a rank amateur. This however may be another project I might get into more at some point, because it was fun...)