On 22nd March 2016 at the New World Center in Miami Beach, Florida, at the LightBox of Miami Light Project in the Wynwood District of Miami, and in Havana, Cuba, a 3 location network performance, the first ever with Cuba and on the occasion of the historic visit of President Obama to Havana!
Cuban dancers (including members of the respected Cuban contemporary dance company Compañía Rosario Cárdenas) and Cuban Conservatory trained drummers Dennys Papacho Savon and Eduardo Rodriguez met in a virtual world, a fantastic abstraction that echoed the visual realities, histories and emotions of Miami Beach and Havana, projected onto the 7,000 square-feet Wallcast projection screen of the New World Symphony’s Frank Gehry designed concert hall in Miami Beach.
In SoundScape Park (directly adjoining the New World Center) attendees of the annual Network Performing Arts Production Workshop were joined by many members of the public to watch on the giant screen and listen on the 160-channel surround sound system. Below the Wallcast a specially constructed stage hosted the Miami contingent of dancers (most of which were also Cuban but now living in Florida). A special area of the stage was equipped with a green-screen which facilitated live video capture of the dancers so that they could join the remote drummers and dancers in Cuba in the virtual world projected above their heads.
StudioBiscoe (Producer/Director, Visual Artist & Systems Engineering)
Jana Bitterova (Choreography & Artistic Advisor).
None of this would have been possible without a small army of performers, artists and support:
NEW WORLD CENTER/NEW WORLD SYMPHONY: Liony Garcia (Dancer), Alejandro Ransoli (Dancer), Samantha Pazos (Dancer), Ivonne Batanero (Dancer), Justin Trieger (Director of New Media and Distance Education), John Henry Dale (Assistant Technical Director for Distance Education), Dan Slentz (Chief Video Engineer), Roberto Toledo (Director of Audio Services), Cody Engstrom (Audio Engineer), Luis Quintero (Director of Information Technology), Andrew Salman (Support and Applications Analyst), Quanikqua Bryant (Production Technician), Michael McEvoy (Production Technician), Jonathan Kane (Videographer).
LIGHTBOX/MIAMI LIGHT PROJECT: Eduardo Rodriguez (Drummer), Dennys Papacho Savon (Drummer), Kristina Villaverde (Technical Director & Facilities Manager), Terrence Brunn (Programs Manager), Elizabeth Boone (Artistic & Executive Director), Isis Blanco (Lighting), Eventz Paul (Sound/Video).
CUBA: Claudia Lorena Rodríguez (Dancer), Yanet Garau Rodríguez (Dancer), Daniel Belcourt Valdés (Dancer), Luis Angel Delgado Gómez (Dancer), Marcel Márquez Martínez and Laura Araño Arencibia (Logistics, Translation & Technical Operations), Rosario Cardenas Danza Combinatoria (Rosario Cardenas Prieto – Artistic & General Manager, Ismael S. Albelo Oti – Manager, Ana Isabel Matos Hernández – Assistant, Judith Sosa Zayas – Assistant, Ramón Alberto Calzadilla Blanco – Assistant), Pavel, Gabriel & Wilfredo (Performance Support). Special thanks to Robert Friezo of Verity Partners.
ADDITIONAL MUSIC: Nacional Electrónica (Alexis de la O and Edwin Casanova González), Andrew Yeomanson / Spam Allstars.
