Otto Ramstad and Olive Bieringa

As co-directors of the BodyCartography Project Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad investigate the physicality of space in urban, domestic, wild and social landscapes through dance, performance, video and installation work. Works range from intimate solos for the street or stage, to large community dance works in train stations, short experimental films in national parks, to complex works for site or stage amidst installations of video and sound. Recent works include Symptom, with Minnesota twins Emmett and Otto Ramstad, Mammal, a commission for the Lyon Opera Ballet, ½ Life, a performance and installation with physicist Bryce Beverlin II, visual artist Emmett Ramstad and composer Zeena Parkins. The trilogy Holiday House (2005-2007) was commissioned in part by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and was the winner of two Minnesota Sage Awards. Their site spectacle Lagoon was the winner of the Perlorous Trust Creativity Award at the New Zealand Fringe Festival in 2003. They are featured artists in the first book about site dance in the USA published by University of Florida Press entitled Site Dance, the Lure of Alternative Spaces. Their work has been supported by the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Map Fund, American Composers Forum, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Creative New Zealand amongst others.

Symptom premiered at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis in November 2010.

Choreographic Fellows | October 3-19, 2010

Symptom

The Body Cartography Project collaborators researched Symptom, which investigates notions of social bodies versus biological bodies, teases out dynamics within sibling relationships, and explores the gaps between seeing, knowing and empathy. Symptom inspects the slippage between subjective and objective understandings of the human body, where a symptom acts as an indicator, trait, feature, mark or sign that is open for interpretation. During the residency, audience members were invited into early showings and conversations about the intentions and perceptions of the work in development.

Symptom had its NY premiere at PS122’s COIL Festival in January 2011.

  • Otto Ramstad performs work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Emmett Ramstad performs work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto Ramstad performs work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad perform work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad perform work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad perform work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad perform work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad perform work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Olive Bieringa and Otto and Emmett Ramstad discuss work in progress <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Olive Bieringa and Otto and Emmett Ramstad rehearse <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad rehearse <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Otto and Emmett Ramstad rehearse <i>Symptom</i>.
  • Olive Bieringa presents at <i>Symptom</i> Informal Showing.
  • Otto Ramstad dialogues with students about work in progress.
  • Olive Bieringa and Andrea Parkins in dialogue session with students about work in progress.
  • Otto Ramstad in dialogue session with students about work in progress.
  • Emmett Ramstad dialogues with students about work in progress.
  • Multimedia Icon Video

Collaborators in Residence: Emmett Ramstad [collaborator/performer], Andrea Parkins [composer/sound designer]. Slideshow photos by Al Hall and Cameron Wittig.         

Featured Artist

Pavel Zustiak

The Painted Bird
Trilogy
June 21 - 30
La Mama E.T.C.
(NY)

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