ESS Quarantine Concert - July 16, 2020

ESS QUARANTINE CONCERT - July 16, 2020

Concept / Performer: Kristina Isabelle

Iphone Camera: Jenai Cutcher

Cello: Wilson Tanner Smith

Special Guest: Ginger 

Filmed at the ModFarm / Tryon Farm 

Thank you to Billie Howard for asking me to participate in the ESS Quarantine Concert series and for curating a great evening of artists.  Thank you  to the Experimental Sound Studio for the platform and opportunity for allowing artists to still do what we want to do - make art and share our music, dance and stories.  

 A few months into CoVid and I was meditating, dancing,  writing a lot and spending as much time as possible in my garden and nature with no outlet in sight, just being present in my body and in this overwhelming time.  When Billie reached out I was excited to share my explorations and to focus on making something, a much needed deadline. 

For the last few years I have been dancing and creating short video pieces in response to environments.  This was an opportunity to play with the angles of my house the interior, exterior and the in between spaces as well as being present and offering a body response to this moment in time.  

As I was dreaming up ideas for this concert, I did not want to be dancing in a box on your screen or dancing in one spot with a frontal viewpoint. I was interested in playing with the camera as a partner and Jenai who is also a dancer  was an essential collaborator to the vision. She became in a way a narrator ushering you along our moving story.  We wanted to explore the idea of how dance can be shared in real time, a live action piece on a single shot as if you were here with us moving through the environment.  

Wilson has collaborated with me for the last few years and he was a perfect sound partner to share his tones and layers in this concert.  From behind the camera Jenai was able to capture and share the beauty of this instrument, a close up view that most of us don’t usually witness with the beautiful sounds that emerge, float and move us forward through the piece. The three of us are improvising within the structure, the environment and time.

We could not actually livestream this work as much as we tried, our internet on the farm is not great and technology is finicky.  This is a continuous 25 minute single camera shot (Iphone camera) with no edits.  

I apologize for not introducing my dog Ginger who is the star of the piece and in our practice runs she was always in the right spot.   I also apologize for saying Experimental Sound Station they are called Experimental Sound Studio.