Video still from the Landscape #4 project.
This June, a group of CalArtians are making a scene in the Czech Republic.
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (June 16-26) has invited the group of CalArtians, led by experimental composer James Klopfleisch (Music MFA 10), to premiere a new interdisciplinary project titled, Landscape #4.
The piece will be part of the Disk Stories section of Scenofest 011—an educational project of the Prague Quadrennial and OISTAT (International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians).
“We’re the only group from North America to present in the Disk Theater at the Prague Quadrennial,” says Klopfleisch. The festival, which has been held every four years since 1967, is the largest scenography event in the world, and features a variety of forms of performance and performance design.
The CalArts contingent in Prague includes scenographer and dramaturg Anahita Dehbonehie (Theater MFA 12), lighting designer Zoe Gopnik-McManus (Theater MFA 11), sound designer Stephanie Smith (Music MFA 11), video designer Maya Erdelyi (Film/Video MFA 12), filmmaker Emilie Sabath (Film/Video, Integrated Media MFA 12), and choreographer and performer Anne Moore (Dance MFA 12).
The work is based on a score by Klopfleisch, the text of which is no more than three sentences long. However, the text incorporates rich language and visual composition. The work “examines our tenuous relationship to silence and the uncanny moment of encounter when we choose to listen inward.”
“What excites me about the project is that it is truly collaborative. We all bring ideas to the table based on the text score and work from there. There is no real director and no over-arching personality,” says Klopfleisch.
On Saturday (April 16), the group will host a fundraiser and awareness event at HM157 in Los Angeles. Klopfleisch and Smith will perform music and preview Landscape #4, joined by musician Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir (Music MFA 11). The proceeds will help the group pay for costs associated with travel to Prague. For more information check out the Facebook event.
Fur/Prague
HM157
3110 N Broadway, Los Angeles
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