EVOLVE THE INTENSIVE 2013 | Faculty Spotlight #5 Pearlann Porter, An American improvisational performing artist, visual-conductor, physical-poet and experimental filmmaker, Pearlann is a passionate instigator of new ideas in dance and physical expression; a director of mixedmedia performance installations and jazz-happenings both in Pittsburgh [USA] and Paris [France]. Her medium is Freejazz: an original method of creating spontaneous musicality translated into motion. In 2004, Pearlann founded The Pillow Project. Inspired by concepts in method acting, combined with the philosophical and emotional origins of early American jazz music, her ideas in jazz and performance are reactions to the commercialism, technical and presentation constraints of contemporary Western dance; a way to challenge the common perceptions of what is ‘dance’, who is a ‘dancer’ and where dance is found in the zeitgeist. She sites significant influences and inspirations from Michel Gondry, Michael Jackson, Rick Allen, Whitney Moncrieff, and Thom York. In 2006, Pearlann established The Space Upstairs (an unconventional warehouse performance-gallery loft located above Construction Junction in Pittsburgh’s East End) where she is a full-time resident artist, as well as the host and creator of the Second Saturdays at The Space Upstairs jazz-happenings. Somewhat recently, she was named one of Dance Magazine’s ’25 To Watch on 2010′, and is [still] writing a book on physical-jazz. She currently lives 1.3 light-seconds from the moon.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 12:16:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015