Breaking Ground – A Public Charrette
Two FREE Interdisciplinary Site-Specific Workshops for
Choreographers, Dancers, and Architects
Led by
Joanna Haigood
Federal Hall National Memorial
Thursday, November 12, 10 am – 2 pm
Friday, November 13, 10 am – 2 pm
Breaking Ground – A Public Charrette is a site-specific choreography workshop that will be held in one of New York City’s most intriguing sites. Led by nationally acclaimed choreographer Joanna Haigood, the workshop offers participants a unique opportunity to work across disciplines to explore movement composition within the context of architecture, history, and public spaces. Haigood offers tools to interact with this historic landmark and guides participants to create short studies using their own movement language and sensibilities. Participants will discuss architecture as object, its function and design, and its role as container of history, as metaphor and as a stage. The 4-hour workshop is modeled after the 5-day charrette process, which Joanna Haigood developed for Breaking Ground – A Dance Charrette, Dancing in the Streets’ critically acclaimed series that “raised the bar for site-specific dance in this city” (Gay City News).
THE WORKSHOP
• A guided tour of Federal Hall
• An overview of site-specific work
• Choreographers, dancers, and architects work together in small teams to create short movement studies in response to the site
Joanna Haigood is widely recognized for her site-specific and aerial choreography that uses natural, architectural and cultural environments as points of departure for movement exploration and narrative. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Zaccho Dance Theatre. Her work has been commissioned by the Joffrey Ballet, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Festival d’Avignon, and Dancing in the Streets, among others.
Federal Hall National Memorial: the Greek Revival building, designed by Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, was erected in 1842 on the site where George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the USA.
Dancing in the Streets has a 25-year legacy as a premiere producer of site-specific work. It has commissioned, produced and presented more than 500 performances and installations by over 300 contemporary artists. Breaking Ground is one of the organization’s two signature series. The other is Hip Hop Generation Next, a series of performances, films, and panel discussions that explore the local, national and international evolution of hip hop dance.
Presented in partnership with openhousenewyork
Breaking Ground – A Public Charrette is supported by Mertz Gilmore Foundation and with public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council
