SoapBox at Union Square

December 11, 2008

Union Square Park, New York was a happy host to The IMA Gallery’s second event in the SoapBox Lecture Series. Though freezing rain was upon us, the SoapBox was transformed into a magnificent music and dance performance space. Thank you very kindly to the very cold participants and those who roughed it out in the rain to watch.

The Participants

IMA

Ryan Jewell

Ryan Jewell was born in a small Appalachian river town in southern Ohio in an environment set between the rundown post-industrial factories by train yards and the natural beauty of the forested foothills on the Ohio River. The juxtaposition of these two seemingly conflicting environments has profoundly affected his aesthetic. He studied percussion and electronic composition techniques at Capital University and has since studied drumset with Susie Ibarra and tabla with Dr. Lowell Lybarger. Ryan regularly works as a solo performer and collaborator in the arenas of very quiet improvised music and very loud harsh noise. In addition to being a perpetual traveler of the US, he has also toured extensively in Europe. He was invited to perform at such respected international festivals as the SOWIESO 1 festival in Paris, the Kraak Festival in Brussels, the International Noise Conference in Miami, SXSW in Austin and Les Sciences Bruitistes also in Paris.

He has collaborated with such diverse artists as C. Spencer Yeh, Greg Kelley, Nate Wooley, Jack Wright, Christine Sehnaoui, Bhob Rainey, Larry Marotta, Mike Shiflet, Tatsuya Nakatani, Reuben Radding, Hasan Abdur-Razzaq, Tom Abbs, David Boykin, Douglas Ewart (AACM), Jandek, Envenomist, Fossils, Wasteland Jazz Unit, and many more…

For the SoapBox Lecture Series, he performed for approximately 20 minutes in freezing rain. Affecting his performance in unexpected but positive ways, the weather became a medium instead of an obstacle. Ryan was very grateful for umbrellas.

To see videos of the performance, click >>>

For more information about Ryan Jewell, please visit his MySpace Page. A good online example of his sound/appearance can be found here.

Megan Sipe

Megan Sipe, originally from Moscow, ID, founded Dancing Fish Productions in 2006. Dancing Fish Productions is a multidisciplinary performance ensemble made up of dancers, actors, and musicians. Megan’s work has been shown in New York City, Brooklyn, Durham, NC, Seattle, WA and Columbus, OH. In 2006 she presented her solo roundabout at the American Dance Festival. Her work was hailed by The Independent Weekly as “one of the top 23 moments in a year filled with dance.”

While in the SoapBox Lecture Space, Sipe improvised beautifully. Especially considering the required constraint of keeping one foot in the gallery at all times, the piece that resulted from the collaboration with the IMA was in many ways unique.

To see videos of the performance, click >>>

For more information about Megan Sipe, please visit her MySpace Page.

Photos from Union Square...