New dance work by Kolcio to premiere at Wesleyan University (11/21/04)

New dance work by Kolcio to premiere at Wesleyan University

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - A new work titled "Flutter" by Katja Pylyshenko Kolcio, artistic director/choreographer and assistant professor of dance at Wesleyan University, will be premiered November 30 and December 1 at Wesleyan's Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio, 247 Pine St., at 8 p.m. The sound score and composition for the work are by Julian Kytasty. Using a reactive projected environment, "Flutter" investigates the ways individuals are conceptualized through digital technology and media.

In "Flutter," Ms. Kolcio uses Isadora interactive software, developed by Troika Ranch to create a fluctuating environment. The performers negotiate this environment through movement and vocal improvisations and are accompanied by a live soundscore played on a bandura, the ancient Ukrainian stringed instrument that was used to accompany blind epic story tellers in past centuries.

The performers name, mimic, repeat and simulate movement and sounds that emerge, as if weaving stories about their own shifting environment. Featured performers are Wesleyan students Jess Eipper, Dennis Fung, Ellen Gerdes, Buu Gichohi and Emily Pechet.

As a first-generation American dance artist of Ukrainian and German parentage, Ms. Kolcio's experiences form the foundation for her ongoing interest in cultural displacement and embodied knowledge. Her research is in social somatic theory investigating the embodied, creative nature of reality and the cultural implications of this work, through praxis.

Ms. Kolcio received her Ph.D. in somatics/cultural studies (Ohio State University), and M.A. degrees in dance (Ohio State University) and in political science (University of Georgia), and has studied and staged modern and folk dance forms in the United States, Ukraine and Germany. In addition to her current position as assistant professor at Wesleyan University, Ms. Kolcio continues to direct and create work under the title "Kolo Project." She has also taught as a visiting artist/faculty member at Antioch College and Hunter College, and was on the faculty at the Bridge for Dance in New York City.

Ms. Kolcio was also resident choreographer for the New York-based Ukrainian Stage Ensemble, directed by Lidia Krushelnytsky.

Mr. Kytasty is artistic director of the New York Bandura Ensemble with a career as a solo artist and bandura teacher that has taken him all over the globe. In 1989-1990 he was one of the first Ukrainian American artists to be invited to tour in Ukraine, where he performed over 100 concerts as a soloist and with a bandura trio. Mr. Kytasty's arrangements and original compositions have entered the repertoire of bandurists around the world.

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General admission to the performance is $5; $4 for Wesleyan students; advance reservations are strongly recommended. Tickets for "Flutter" may be purchased via phone at (860) 685-3355 or in person at the University Box Office, located on the first floor of the Davenport Campus Center at 222 Church St. Additional information is available by visiting www.wesleyan.edu/CFA.

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