Where did you study and when did you graduate? I am currently in my 3rd year of Theatrical Performance at the theatre school in Maastricht and will graduate next year.
What inspires you as a theater maker/performer? The New Media is always a huge inspiration. Its endless possibilities.
Who is your favorite artist? Why? Hussein Chalayan is one of my favorite fashion artists. In my opinion he thinks more like a performer than like a fashion designer. Plus his shows can definitely be considered performances. I also love the way he uses the new media in his designs.
Another artist who inspires me is the sound artist: Alva Noto. His sounds and videos are mostly based on things that could go wrong in a computer.
What will you bring to FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2011? I will bring a performance surrounding my own fashion line. Seven beautiful people from my school will show my designs on the FASHIONCLASH catwalk.
The focus for me will be on the way I show my pieces. In 2010 I made a fashion show 'peak Oil' which was still a bit too much fashion and not enough performance. This year will be both! Last year when I visited FASHIONCLASH Maastricht I thought all the shows were too smooth. I would like to make my show more raw than the others.
Why fashion? Why theater and fashion together? A fashion show has a different audience than a normal theater audience, that inspires me. I started to get interested in fashion because of my uncle, 'Carel van Laere'. Because of him I started designing my own clothes. I got accepted at the Maastricht Theater Academy and began making costumes for performances and theater.
In 2009 I made costumes for the opera 'Kepler' by Philip Glass and in 2011 for the opera 'Rage D'amour' by Rob Zuidam. Both of these operas were directed by Peter Missotten.
In Maastricht I started to combine my performances and my designing skills.
What do you expect from FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2011? Lots of beautiful models in fresh designs.
What are your goals concerning your career? Where do you see yourself in the future? After the theatre school I want to continue studying and focuse on the new media.
Man I gotta hand it to BET, I was skeptical as hell about this years awards. I expected BET to coon it up as usual. But Debra Luciferina Lee and Stephen Hill put on a very entertaining and commendable show. Then again I did help to choose a lot of the winners who were announced on the live telecast so WOOT to me and all the other BET Awards Academy. Shout out to the pre-show and commercial break performers (they really played J.Cole hard). They never get any true recognition so hey let's give them some shine over here. FUMP Souljah Boy for performing that travesty known as 'Pretty Boy Swag' aka the Capper Anthem. I know every Capper was in their living room shimmying in their pannies...-runs-. Overall BET made up for last year's lackluster and highly embarrassing show.
HERE GOES!!
THE GOOD!
Chris Brown's Tribute to MJ - This shit right here, THIS SHIT RIGHT HERE. Chris Breezy redeemed himself in the eyes of many who had written him off as a has been, woman-beater. I had already forgiven C. Brown for his misdeeds but some people are holding on to grudges like he beat them personally. Think of all the family members or other close loved ones we know who may have been in Chris Brown's shoes at some point and we've FORGIVEN. Anyway I won't lecture at this time. Michael Jackson would've been proud to see Chris Brown. Oh and he better be happy Rihanna and Beyonce and Hov declined their invites this year or else he wouldn't have seen any parts of that stage.
CLICK READ MORE TO READ MORE OF THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE PAUSE?!
Tribute to Prince - Man between Patti Labelle making sure every up and coming singer took notes, to Esperanza Spalding (hmmm might need a new artist spotlight) killing it with her guicello (guitar and cello hybrid), Alicia Keys belting that Prince song then climbing on the piano (I know I wasn't the only one turned on) and Prince catching Patti's shoes with a ton of facial expressions that made everyone laugh. There left little room to even remember Janelle Monae's awesome cover. Prince really confuses the shit out of me though. How you gonna be prettier than your girl but still pulling CERTIFIED BAD BISHES like Applelonia and May Thai??
Kanye West - Man the show opened with KANYE WEST!! Yeezy's back and he gave a roaring rendition of his new single Power. I don't care what anyone says. The game has missed Kanye Omari West!
Drake and Jeezy - Drake killed it with the opening song being Fireworks (I was hoping A Keys would come out) then he did Over and Jeezy came out and KILLED IT with Lose My Mind!!!
Facebook and Twitter Status Parties - Man how were award shows before we discovered the beauty of live updates of statuses and tweets during major events? I won't lie man the shit is addictive as hell but always entertaining so shout out to all my FB friends and Twitter followers and people I follow. Yall always bring the funny and insightful oh and shout out to the HATERS. You guys make the world go around.
Nia Long - Did yall see Nia MUFFUCKING Long? I bet every chick who saw her wished they could be her and every dude wanted to bang her. -drops mic-
El Debarge - Medley : Somewhere across North America there were collective fist pumps from my light-skinned brothers and sisters as they made a resurgence last night at the BET Awards chairmaned by their lead spokesman EL DEBARGE. There were also collective groans from the Dark Skinned Contingent. Man I was happy to see the light skinned folks doing it big. TAKE THAT, TAKE THAT!!
Tyrese's Tribute to Teddy Pendergrass - Black Ty killed it and had the ladies waving their pannies in the air and held it down for the dark skinned fellas. WOOT!
The Bad TI's and his veneers - TI performed his single Yeah Ya Know and it was lackluster at best. I know the King of the South has more than that.
Tameka 'Tiny' Cottle - I am drafting an open letter to all camera men to please refrain from panning close up on to Tiny's face. She's a BUTTA HEAD if ever there was one. Tiny looks like a platypus that survived an abortion. STOP WITH THE CLOSE UPS HOMEY!
Trey Songz - Yo Side of the Bed/ Purple Rain - Another lackluster performance from studio singer Trey Songz. He needs to step his performance game up and work on that ugly face when he sings mayne. I got props for Trey cuz he makes some good love making jams but dude lost a lot of his Bandwagoners who are now riding pretty on the LV Express straight to Cloud 10! WOOOOOOOOOOOOT
Jermaine Jackson's Hair - In case you were ever curious as to how to achieve the Jermaine Jackson hair do here is the recipe sent over by his barber Thelonius Kincaide. Add 16 parts BP Oil spill oil collected from a beach in Biloxi, then add a couple generous pinches of blacker than black charcoal and 2 teaspoons of brown gel and KABOOM. You have a lard head.
The Pause B.O.B and Keyshia Cole performing Airplanes followed by Eminem - This made it to the Pause because there should've been a resounding HELL NAW to when they could not get Hayley Williams to sing her part in Airplanes. Keyshia Cole tries to prove herself every time she sings man and its crazy how she can kill a song dead..Eminem made a good transition though.
Dirty Money - Oh Let's Do It, Hello Good Morning Remix Melody: Man I really wanna ride with Dirty Money but the fact that Dawn and the No-Name girl are glorified backup singers when Diddy tries to LIE all the time and say that they're a GROUP. Makes this whole performance get a pause.
Nicki Minaj - Yall know I rides with Nicki Minaj, she's captured our attention and put female rappers back on the map so yall keep on hating. My pause is due to the fact that Nicki lip-synced all three of her performances. When she did My Chick Bad, All I Do is Win and the Hello, Good Morning Remix. Was she sick or something? She was talking fine when she directed those subliminal SHOTS at Lil Kim though hahaha. Shout out to Nicki for keep the folks talking though.
Usher - There Goes My Baby - Ionno man Usher seems to have lost his IT factor. shrugggsss...
Monica and Denice Williams - Man Mo killed that song but at the same time she looked like a real life Bat Symbol..I expected her to fly away at any moment or get hoisted into the air. Mo and Denice killed it though.
Todd 'Willis' Bridges - That nukka looks like he been through some things man, lip all crunchy black. SAY NO TO DRUGS KIDS!! RIP Gary Coleman.
So after watching this video I gained a whole ton of respect and LUST for the incomparable Nicki Minaj. Yall know I been messing with Nicki's unorthodox style that has divided the masses from my homey Rexy turned me on to her early last year. But after this video yeah Nicki bout to be my girlfriend so all you ladies and fellas fall way back and let LV holla..
This video is a special BECoon I mean BET did leading up to Nicki Minaj's Spring Bling performance entitled 'I Am Nicki' tell me she don't seem like a real chill person to kick it with??
photos: Bob Raymond (MAG) Shana Robbins (Atlanta, Georgia): “Tree Ghost” May 24, 2009 - performance art with tree installation
Videos of Shana Robbins' "Tree Ghost":
Part 1A:
Part 1B:
Part 1C:
Part 2:
Part 3:
A performance installation representing a hybridization of American military camouflage, an Islamic Burqa, a tree, and a "stripper" or courtesan in a ritualistic and sexually charged interaction with a dying, decrepit tree. Some of the inspiration of this work comes from: Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed--by Harold Koda: “..the platform sole's impairment of a woman's walk was seen as a way to control her morality, since mobility was directly associated in many cultures and times with the potential for unrestrained sexuality." "..the Oiran of the Yoshiwara, the quarter of the "Floating World," wearing their dochu-geta, were known for their slow progress when walking through the streets. These shoe styles lifted women higher than the norm, endowing them with greater public stature. Their encumbered walking was also an asset; it imposed a slow ceremonial gait that allowed the crowds to study the courtesan's beauty and fashions more closely.”
Shana Robbins is a painter, performance, and multimedia artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. She has exhibited and performed internationally in a variety of galleries, alternative spaces, and natural locations. Many of Robbins’ performances occur in remote areas with no audience except for the natural environment. This year, her work was featured in STUDIO VISIT MAGAZINE, OFF THE STRIP at the Las Vegas Contemporary Arts Center, and the STATE OF THE NATION V: Tipping Point--Art and Performance Festival in New Orleans.
Creating drawings/paintings as visual maps or references for handmade costumes, performance objects, and ritualistic actions, Robbins is engaged in an ongoing exploration and dissemination of the ecofeminist character she calls Monstrous Feminine. Various iterations of Monstrous Feminine, such as Tree Ghost and Axis Mundi, “haunt” places in order to reclaim space and destabilize static notions of the female body and of the natural realm.
1. First of all, I want to thank Shana (pronounced Shahna not Shayna) for her wonderful performance and for driving her tree all the way from Atlanta, Georgia to be a part of the Politics of Shoes.
2. Because all the other performances on Sunday night were going to be dance/movement pieces and were all relatively short (15 minutes or less), I told Shana that she could make her piece as long as 40 minutes if she w anted to. As Shana told me after her piece without laying the blame at my feet (although she could have most definitely), she would have made her performance 20 minutes or less.
3. There was a nine year old girl in the audience who was enjoying herself tremendously (throwing shoes at gongs and in the air) throughout the entire evening. When the performances ended that evening, her mother approached me and after some innocuois chit-char suddenly said that she thought Mobius should "warn parents" ahead of time of "unsuitable material". Needless to say, I could feel the surge of anger rising when I almost choked out: "You mean you think we should CENSOR the artists and performers?" and had trouble keeping myself from going into a long and angry discourse on Civil Liberties and pointing out that her offspring could see a hell of a lot worse on television and the trouble with the world is due to _ like you! and what do you think this exhibit and set of performances is all about and what is wrong with you, do you call yourself an AMERICAN? Fortunately, when I told Joanne Rice, one of the other Mobius Artists, about what had happened, she was able to calm me down.
Liz Roncka and Haggai Cohen Milo "a site-specific improvisational duet of movement and music" May 23, 24 2009 - movement and live music performance
The piece will be a structured improvisation and will incorporate interactions with the audience, artists and installations in the space. The architecture of the space (physical, sonic, energetic) will also heavily inform the improvisation. Thematically, the question of what it means to be "political" in one's "art-making" will be explored. Liz Roncka is an avid practitioner of movement improvisation and contemporary dance. Her early training was in the tradition of classical ballet at the School of the New Bedford Ballet. In college, Liz’s focus shifted toward contemporary dance and improvisation. She was a member of the Dance Collective of Boston from 1998-2005. Liz has had the pleasure of performing modern dance and improvisational work under the direction of: Ramelle Adams, Emily Beattie, Ruth Benson-Levin, Debra Bluth, Alissa Cardone, Sean Curran, Andrew Harwood, Dawn Kramer, Light Motion, and Micki Taylor-Pinney. Her improvisational work has been presented in Boston, NYC, Paris and Budapest. In addition to her own improvisational work, current performance projects include the Falling Flight Project, Moving Sound, The White Box Project and the Moment Quartet.
Liz has a daily blog "The Dance-a-Day Project" wherein she creates and videotapes improvised dances on a daily basis: "The intent of this project is to deepen my practice of improvisation. The commitment to and repetition of this process will inevitably lead to the evolution of my work. I am seeking information regarding patterns and themes in my work; my personal responses to the dances; the viewers' responses; what is my technique/my method; what characteristics define my work; where are the blocks; where is the magic; where is the "truth"?!"
