Event
International Workshop on the Neural and Social Bases of Creative Movement
Sunday, April 10, 2022
2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Vienna, VA
https://yourbrainanddance.egr.uh.edu/schedule
Three days of scientific presentations and a day of educational outreach and performances. Presentations will include demonstrations within sessions, while public lectures and performances are on the fourth day.
Concurrent themes that run throughout all sessions: biological and social evolution of creative movement and its relation to music; learning and memory of complex motor sequences in creative movement; transformation of movement and performance to artistic expression; action and performance to perception; therapeutic and the life-enhancing value of creative movement.
| 2:00 – 5:00 | Session 7 Glimpsing the Brain in Action Through Creative Movement Session organizers: Jose Contreras-Vidal (University of Houston IUCRC BRAIN) and Shihab Shamma (University of Maryland) A summary of conference ideas will be provided through education and outreach to the general public. This is intended to introduce and foster an understanding of the science of learning to move, from fundamental everyday movements to artistic expression in creative movement. This engagement of mind, brain and body has deep roots in human development and is vital to human health and well-being. This final session will highlight the joint engagement and perspective of scientists, artists, educators, medical practitioners and technologists in discussion of open research questions that are important for advancing our understanding of the social and neural basis of creative movement. Choreographers’ presentations include live demonstration, sample performances, verbal discussion and films. |
| 2:00 – 3:00 | Anthony Brandt (Rice University), Andy and Dionne Noble (NobleMotion Dance Company) and Jose L. Contreras-Vidal (University of Houston): For two decades Musiqa and NobleMotion Dance have been breaking artistic boundaries in Houston and winning national acclaim for their adventurous programming. At the same time, Prof. Jose L Contreras-Vidal, director of the IUCRC BRAIN Center at University of Houston and professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been pioneering nonsurgical brain-computer interfaces to understand the brain in action in clinical, artistic and classroom settings. For this workshop, for the first time, the groups converge to present the world premiere of LiveWire, an innovative collaboration between scientists, musicians and dancers who will wear EEG skull caps (brain caps), while performing a new work centered around a new string quartet by artistic director Anthony Brandt, set to choreography by Andy and Dionne Noble. The performance will be followed by a 30 min Q&A session; (https://musiqa.org/livewire-bios/). |
| 3:00 – 3:15 | Break |
| 3:15 – 3:45 | Megan Bridge & Peter Price (Fidget): Morphic Resonance - an improvised duet by Fidget co-directors, dancer/choreographer Megan Bridge and musician/composer Peter Price. In this research- based performance project, a solo dancing body is set into resonance with the sound and space that surround it. Price creates ambient, droning electronic soundscapes, punctuated by percussive loops. Bridge builds movement worlds like architectures that are both kinesthetically expansive and minutely precise. Each new performance situation is approached as a frame that re-orients and gives new definition to the work. |
| 3:45 – 4:15 |
Grégoire Blanc is a young French musician, mostly known for his work involving the theremin - this very unusual musical instrument invented in the 1920s by the brilliant Russian scientist, Лев Термен. Holding two Master’s Degrees, one from the leading engineering school of Arts et Métiers and another one in sciences applied to music offered at Sorbonne University by IRCAM he decided to pursue a career in music. With its characteristic sound and its astonishing expressivity, the theremin has a huge potential, from classical music to contemporary creations, film scores, etc. Grégoire Blanc is renowned as a promising artist, and is regularly invited to perform in various contexts: orchestral performances, classical concerts, lectures, studio recordings, all around the world, from Canada to Kazakhstan. https://www.gregoireblanc.com |
| 5:00 – 5:30 | Discussion |
| 5:30 | Conclusion |
