Art visual np2

Dave Williams performs 'Roasted Swan'. Photo courtesy Rodell Warner . When Dave Williams performed 'Roasted Swan' at a retrospective of the Noble Douglas Dance Company last month, the piece was not new. Yet, something about it was timely, given the current raves surrounding the new film, Black Swan , by Darren Aronofsky. 'Roasted Swan' was danced to music from Carl Orff's kicksy (yet powerful)  Carmina Buriana (Olim Lacus Colueram). LISTEN BELOW : A crucial part of this piece for me was William's all-black costume which had a slight sheen: oil like, yet  also  ashen. I made the following notes after watching this piece: Going in, I had no idea what the title of this piece was. At first I thought, why is the dancer so passive, so 'un-fighting'? The edginess and power of the black and the seeming passivity were two contrasting and fascinating ideas. Then I read that this was called "Roasted Swan" and I realised that the creature was NOT ...

Ahem. I'd rather let Richard Rawlins explain. SEE more here .

Renowned local dancer: ‘NAPA an ornate twig’ By Andre Bagoo Newsday Friday, March 19 2010 ACCLAIMED dancer Dave Williams, who performed at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain last year, yesterday described aspects of the design of NAPA as “dangerous” for dancers as he criticised the building as being “nothing more than a very ornate twig.” In a statement on defects of the building, Williams, a renowned choreographer, also revealed new details of defects in the building which has been criticised by the Artists Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) in a report. “If you are going to build a landmark performing arts facility that not only looks as good as any other on the planet but also functions better and plays the part it is supposed to play on the local and international artscape as the newest space of its kind in artdom, then the NAPA is indeed nothing more than a ve...

  Inside the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain on Friday. To say it got mixed reviews is an understatement. Some people loved it. Others hated it. I wish I had seen all of it. But of what I saw, the following moments from the opening cultural show for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting stood out most: 1. Dave Williams was golden. He performed a shortened version from the opening act of his 'Scan-creation, civilisation, anarchy' piece. Unlike when he performed the full version of this piece at Queen's Hall earlier this year where he was draped in red , Williams was clothed in gold. It's a good thing too because under the lighting at the $518 million National Academy for the Performing Arts, we could barely see him. However, his moment was a triumph of technique and concentration; he quite literally placed everything in the hands of the world leaders gathered on stage before him. I wish he got to stay on longer though.   2. The poui trees a...

Still from Wendell Mc Shine's video for 12 the band's 'Prosper', featured in the latest Draconian Switch The new issue of Trinidad e-zine Draconian Switch , featuring the work of artist Wendell Mc Shine, is now online . Writing contributions are Darryn Boodan, Dave Williams, Sophie Wight, Tracy Hutchings and guest editor Indra Ramcharan. CHECK the publisher's blog, ARTSPUB,  here . READ Indra's blog here .

WHO? Who inspired me? When you are young you do not think about who inspired you; you are just busy doing. After a while you understand you did not do it alone. I stumbled into dance. But my mother, Florence Williams (deceased) and Noble Douglas have always been there. WHAT? I am trying to figure out what the ass it is I am doing - still. WHEN + WHERE? I have a piece I have started working on and I have one performance in the US early next year and hopefully one in Cuba around the same time. Working on an opening performance for the Youth Forum of the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting). WHY? Trying to figure it out - still. PLEASE SAY SOMETHING DEEP (ABOUT ART): I was in a mad meeting yesterday and wasn't the least bit excited about any of it. Just then I wrote in my blank notepaper, "Art is presenting the familiar in an unfamiliar way or vice versa ". This was in stark contradiction to the brilliant ideas that were being presented. ASK AND ANSWER THE QUEST...

Makeda Thomas performs FreshWater again tonight at Queen's Hall so go people! It's good when a title lives up to its name. Makeda Thomas ' FreshWater was exactly that: fresh. The piece, choreographed by Thomas, was performed at Queen's Hall at the COCO Dance Festival and will be performed again tonight. Thomas manages to subtly blend elements of local dance (such as belee and Carnival rhythms) in a way that is at once familiar, yet idiosyncratic. This is a vernacular that is sophisticated yet universal. FreshWater --or at least what was presumably an earlier form of it--first premiered on Saturday 7 October, 2006, at what was then known as CCA7 during Galvanize . It has since been performed in Zimbabwe and Mexico and also MIT’s Kresge Little Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Last night Thomas was ably assisted by a sound design by Keshav Singh and vocal accompaniment by Attillah Springer and all were on form. The integration of the Minshall-inspired costume (done b...