All of us at the Palladium are so proud to be the performance home of Beacon 2018.
Our artistic directors, Helen Hansen French and Lauren Ree Sloane, promise another an evening of dance, film and performance that will inspire and entertain you. It seems like were just only yesterday talking about the first Beacon show, and now here we are in year three! You can follow this link for tickets and info about the show that’s happening Friday, Jan. 12.
Helen and Lauren are great dancers and choreographers, but most of all, they love to collaborate with other artists, musicians and performers. Last week I chatted with Helen about this year’s collaborations.
One is an artistic partnership with the Iteration Project, out of Knoxville, Tenn. Harper Addision, who danced in Beacon 2017, runs this online project with the mission: Make Art. Build Community. Live Anywhere.
“With the small size of the St. Pete dance community, we wanted to connect with other communities of like-size,” Helen said. “Harper is in Knoxville. It’s a way to create community on-line and we share a artistic community through this organization.”
Artists responded to prompts from the Iteration Project and their responses will be combined into a film that will be shown at Beacon 2018, she said.
That collaborative piece captures the spirit of Beacon, Helen said.
“Lauren and I really wanted to work on collaborations and on how work gets made and how artists collaborate,” she said. “Lauren and I are much less interested in being the dictator in the process, but collaborators with our creative colleagues.”
“The idea that everyone’s voice can be heard and there is room for everyone’s voice – including the tech designers, costume designers and the dancers. They all have a valid voice and are part of these collaborations.“
Paula Kramer, one of our favorite choreographers and performers, will be off-stage for Beacon 2018. Charlotte Johnson will be performing Paula’s moving piece, Beyond Words.
“The piece is seeing a revival around the country,” Helen said. “(Beyond Words) is being done in Detroit and three other places including Beacon.”
Leave a Reply