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DanceNow 2009 keeps NYC healthy
By Quinn Batson

The DanceNow show on September 11 was a heartening reminder that 8 years later, we move on and thrive through dance and creation. As before, the following is chronological and loosely punctuated.

In Riptide, by Banana Peel Dance, raccoon-eyed space creatures full of energy and tension dance this piece into significance with looseness and snap and elements of pulsing, pausing, stalking, undulating and even puppeteering. Surprisingly fresh choreography and sound editing from Aaron Draper.  

DAILY NEWS/Brooklyn

Dance group Flexicurve films Portable Dance Festival show at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

By Joyce Shelby
Daily News Staff Writer
March 10, 2009

Aaron Draper and Kim Almquist

Coming soon to an iPod, an iPhone, Zune, PSP player or a computer near you – a free, month-long dance festival.

That’s right, the Portable Art Festival – 30 days of dance from locations around the world and around New York City – will be available through iTunes, starting March 23.

Why bring a dance festival to teensy video screens?

“My perception is that dance hasn’t been as well attended as other forms of art,” said Pascal Rekoert, producer of the festival and artistic director of the Manhattan-based dance group Flexicurve.

So in this fast-changing world of technology, if the audience won’t come to the dance festival, why not download the festival for individual audience members instead?

“Whenever you have time to view a video, you can do it,” said Rekoert. “You can watch at home, on the train, the bus – anywhere. There’s no limitation, which really is good because everybody has an iPod, an iPhone, an MP4 player or a computer. All they have to do now is plug in.”

The festival features professional 48 dancers – 14 of them from Brooklyn – who all donated their time to the project.

“We’ve shot in as many public spaces as I could find or think of,” said Rekoert. “We worked on the waterfront in DUMBO, which was extremely pretty with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. We shot in Prospect Park, around the JFK airport, on the streets, at the beach, on a golf course, and in China, Mexico and the Netherlands.”

Meghann Snow puts an "arm camera" on Kim Almquist.

Last week, Rekoert and videographer Meghann Snow of Flatbush were at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the final shoot.

In the Desert Pavilion of the Steinhardt Conservatory at the garden, the videographers used Sony Handycams as Aaron Draper and Kim Almquist combined street dance movements – poppin’ and lockin’ – with softer, post-modern dance release techniques.

Because the dancers will be viewed on extremely small screens, their movements were restricted.

“We were practically dancing in place,” said Draper, who lives in Park Slope. “It was a fun challenge.”

To sign up for the upcoming Portable Dance Festival, go to www.flexicurve.com. Click “Podcasts” and then “Subscribe.”

jshelby@nydailynews.com

Photos by Gary He