Downtown Replay
Choreographer Lauren Thompson, of Kacico Dance, and Sound Designer/Composer Jonathan Robertson created the sound and movement experience Downtown Replay. Art imitates life, life imitates art – this is the feedback loop that Downtown Replay explores through movement and sound. Microphones and dancers capture naturally occurring sound and movement in real time, and fold back that sensory experience for the public to reinterpret; creating an interactive and generative feedback loop that is site specific.
The choreography utilized the forms and shapes already present at the KCATA Transit center depicted in Uplifted Arms. These images take the ordinary and everyday out of context. When isolated and taken out of context, the mundane and ordinary are left to be redefined by the observer. Dancers also integrated the movement and postures of the individuals present at the KCATA Transit Center, thereby giving each pedestrian’s everyday movements a new platform and forum for expression.
With microphones placed strategically in areas of heavy traffic, the sound designer recorded and reused the naturally occurring noise to create an atmosphere that took these ordinary sounds out of context. As people passed the microphones, they unwittingly helped to compose a new sound atmosphere.
Date and Location
This fluid experience of sound, dance, and environment took place in KCATA Transit Center on Tuesday September 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
A second performance took place in Oppenstein Park, 12th & Walnut on Thursday, September 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Bios
Lauren Thompson holds a BFA in dance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has performed with several groups in the Kansas City area and currently works with Kacico Dance.
Sound designer and composer Jonathan Robertson has worked on several productions in Kansas City area, including work with the UMKC and the Unicorn Theater. Jonathan holds a Master of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.