The work of Brett Muckler

  Here is information on World Dance Day (April 29th).

Professor Gill Wright Miller brought this to my attention. Professor Miller is the author of the piece below.

 "

International Dance Day (World Dance Day) has been celebrated on April 29 through promotion by the International Dance Council (CID), an umbrella organization within UNESCO for all kinds of dance.

The holiday was introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute. The date was suggested by Pyotr Gusev to commemorate the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre.

Among the goals of the Dance Day are to increase the awareness of the importance of dance among the general public, as well as to persuade governments all over the world to provide a proper place for dance in all systems of education, from primary to higher.

While dance has been an integral part of human culture throughout its history, it is underprioritized by official establishments in the world. In particular, Prof. Alkis Raftis, President of the International Dance Council, in his 2003 Dance Day Message said: "In more than half of the 200 countries in the world, dance does not appear in legal texts (for better or for worse!). There are no funds allocated in the state budget to support this art form. There is no such thing as dance education, private or public." [1]

The year 2005 focus of the Dance Day was on primary education. CID urged dance establishments to contact the Ministries of Education with the proposals to celebrate this day at all schools with writing essays about dance, drawing dance pictures, dancing in the streets, etc.

The 2006 message of President of CID addresses the reluctance of dancers to join collective organizations, expresses an opinion that this is a major reason of the lack of the due recognition (legislation, financing, visibility) of dance in society, and calls: "Dancers of the world, unite!"

The 2007 Dance Day was dedicated to children.

In 2008, Alkis Raftis circulated an e-mail which said, in part: "Governments, sponsors, and the media is our main concern this year. Governments (national, regional or local), sponsors (private or public) and the media (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV) are the three most important factors affecting the practice of our art. Dance professionals struggle to approach them individually - with poor results. We propose a better way: through CID Sections representing all forms of dance, all levels, all functions."

"

April 28,  2009: performed dance in orange raincoat inspired by the rain and my mood called "Shelled".

The mood was related to a preoccupation with a friend, an ex-marine who worked in Iraq discussing studies of the brain's of veterans, specifically a friend of his with post traumatic stress syndrome who has a brain shown in scans to be changed. Also, my housemate's report that suicide rates among children are rising in America.

The movement resembles movements in Kazuo Ono's "The Dead Sea" and Martha Grahams's "Lamentation". 

 This was the first time this dance "Shelled" was performed.

The piece will be presented again in the Sheehan Gallery on April 29th (ah it is already the 29th now...) in conjunction with International Dance Day. 

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38803372

This site is under construction! Like, as in, actively being constructed SO it'll be changing in the day even to incorporate more content. 

I just had a long dream about brushing my teeth. I had to use more than one tooth brush because the first one's bristles were seriously BIZARRE. Luckily so far life hasn't been as boring as my dreams...

There are many more photos of sculpture and performance to be added very soon AS WELL AS

 an exciting video study! of hoards of people moving in places like malls, sports stadiums, and on the ice rinks. Those videos were taken in December 2008, while visiting St. Louis, MO.

 If you have any questions or comments or anything about the site or the work here please email me:

mucklebp@whitman.edu

Thank you!

**Update**

Saturday April 25, 2009

Performed ~noon – 12:55pm
Dance featured jogging movements, staring at paintings stationary and other movements.
Dancer wore black briefs and red RayBans only.

Around 2:30pm:
Met two alumnae who were excited to take the stroll to 325 East Alder. We toured several campus buildings as well. Feedback included “This made it for me”.

After that tour, returned to gallery and met two gallery goers (Martin and Kate) just before they got shooed out as it was closed for the day. The couple also was interested in walking to the wall, and came along with me. They took a surprising number of photos, and said they would email them to me.

Sunday April 26, 2009

Performed several odd numbers featuring whistling, and hiding around the corners from gallery goers, peeking out around walls in white cable knit sweater and blue flannel pants.

 Later performed brief undressing dance (photos at  www.brett.mosaicglobe.com )

Contact:

mucklebp@whitman.edu