This past Saturday, students of University of Hawai‘i dance professor Peiling Kao’s dance improvisation class explored the three installations of Artists of Hawai‘i 2017 to develop scores that they will perform in the gallery on April 15.
Students starting by “tuning”—simply being in the gallery and absorbing the installations. Some lay on the ground in an almost meditative state, others sat and looked around, still others walked slowly through the gallery. Then Kao had them break out into groups and do spontaneous improvisations—one for each installation. The students expressively moved through the works. After each exercise, Peiling gave them critiques, encouraging them to push their interactions with the artwork—touch the fishing nets of Net_work, be conscious of using shadows in Intertidal Grandeur.
It was fascinating to watch two different art disciplines—visual and dance—influence each other to become one.
We can’t wait to see what Kao’s talented students come up with next month.
2.27.2017