SOTA is an annual intensive program in contemporary dance and performance, which this year is organized as part of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art public program.
SOTA was initiated last year by choreographer Dina Khuseyn in the frame of the Theater Institute, and is focused on a different topic every year. This year’s SOTA program is titled Mass vs. Multitude: Alternative Spaces and includes training, discussions, independent work, workshops with leading professionals from Russia and abroad, public events, and a contemporary dance and performance festival.
Over the course of the SOTA program, students will work in collaboration with experienced choreographers to create a performance. They will focus on the phenomena of mass social, theatrical, political, and performative practices, as well as modes and means of engagement with alternative spaces. The main area of interest will be directed toward the research of change in the perception of collectiveness and compatibility, as well as on today’s attitude toward mass actions—how does today’s idea of "together" differ from our perception of it several years ago? Using their bodies as instruments, unifying and separating at the same time, students will try to understand whether collective experience means the loss of individuality (and the rise of the "mass") or a new way of being together while still preserving singularity (the "multitude"). The question of how the space influences our collective experience will be another aspect of this work.
SOTA@GARAGE will be followed by a festival—presented to professionals and the broader public—of works created by the students during the laboratory, as well as other participatory performances dealing with this year's topic.
Open call
Students with experience in contemporary dance and performance and/or knowledge of contemporary art, music, and video art are welcome to apply. Participation is free, but limited to 15 students. To apply, candidates should please fill out the questionnaire and send their résumés to opencall@garagemca.org by February 18, 2016 at noon.
We received around 100 applications. During the auditions that took place in Garage Atrium on February 21 and 22 a group of 16 students was formed.
Organized by Dina Khuseyn, Founder of the SOTA educational program, and Anastasia Mityushina, Garage Curator of Public Programs.
