60x60 Dance
Created by New York-based composer and new music impresario Robert Voisey, 60x60 Dance, is a masterfully coordinated multimedia collaboration that features a surprising diversity of aesthetics. The work pairs 60 unique 60-second music compositions—each by a different composer—with 60 St. Louis choreographers for a continuous one-hour concert of music and live dance. 60x60 Dance is constantly evolving: for the 2010 mix, Voisey received more than 600 one-minute musical submissions from national and international composers, which he narrowed to 60, 60-second pieces to form the one-hour recording. Because local choreographers and dancers are given artistic power to create their own expression for their 60-second piece, the production is different every time it’s produced.
60x60 Dance unites the finest dancers and choreographers in St. Louis for an opportunity to create an evening of magical abstract expression. Both experienced and budding choreographers and dancers are exposed to the sophisticated patrons of the American Arts Experience in the perfect acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall. In the past, the 60-second “musical haikus” have ranged from avant-garde sampled/re-mixed found sounds, to smooth jazz. In performance, this wide musical variety results in a mixture of dance pieces that involve individuals as well as groups in very traditional, but also futuristic, creative dance techniques.
Archives
2011
The 2011 60x60 Dance project took place on Sunday, October 2, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at the Seldon Concert Hall. The event was produced by HEARding Cats Collective in collaboration with The Sheldon and the Missouri Dance Organization. This event was part of the American Arts Experience St. Louis Festival which took place September 30 -October 17, 2011. This year's event also included a new macro-choreographer, Hettie Barnhill, a St. Louis native who currently resides and performs in New York City. Ms. Barnhill replaced Erin Bomboy who served as macro-choreographer in 2009 and 2010.
2010
The 2010 60x60 Dance project took place on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at the Seldon Concert Hall. HEC-TV recorded the 2010 60x60 Dance performance in St Louis with a full team of 4 cameras and interviewed several of the choreographers and composers afterward.