 |
 |
 |
Capacitor: Making the Scene (cont.)
Dance Magazine
Besides reframing the theatrical experience, Bandaloop is also one of many
companies rethinking movement itself, to expand their choreographic possibilities
and in the process, perhaps, attract a broader range of viewers. It is increasingly
common for choreographers to combine seemingly disparate techniques layered
with multimedia elements-text, visual art, video, and computer software. As
the Life Forms software of Merce Cunningham's 1999 work BIPED proved, the
latter has great potential to reshape dance.
And that's where Capacitor, which embraces most of these ideas and then some,
comes in. Lomask, an alum of the Cunningham Studio and The Royal Ballet Academy,
and Bernstein, a San Francisco Make*A*Circus apprentice who honed his circus
skills performing on European street corners, co-founded Capacitor in 1997,
in the giddy early days of the dot-com boom. They favor video projections
and electronic music; sometimes original compositions, sometimes existing
pieces remixed by DJs. Capacitor's typically ten-member lineup shifts according
to injuries, tours, and what it requires from performers and collaborators
in any given piece. The company has catapulted outside the black box, beyond
street fairs and corporate events, to the arty-freaky Burning Man festival
(held Labor Day weekend in Nevada's Black Rock Desert) and the Bay Area's
dot-com-driven Webby Awards.
"I've always felt like it's an artist's duty to listen to the pulse of
society," Lomask said. "There needs to be some way of breaking out
of dancers performing for dancers. You need to be clear about who you're performing
for. Are you performing for dancers? For your generation?" Capacitor's
carnival-like visuals and modern music seem to hold particular appeal for
the digerati and club kids. And at this intersection, Lomask (the child of
an artist and a scientist) has harnessed another kind of technology to attract
new viewers: Capacitor regularly performs at dance clubs, where guests are
asked to sign the company's email list. In turn, the company emails these
people about its upcoming concerts in
