GROUND SERIES: WINTER

Hello incredible CounterPULSE community from former CounterPULSE interns Sarah Ashkin and Brittany Delany, and curators of Oakland based arts program GROUND SERIES.  GROUND SERIES is a meeting place for artists to experiment with interdisciplinary investigation in a grassroots community arts model.

This winter GROUND SERIES can be found at its usual home of the Temescal Arts Center on 2nd THURSDAYS of December, January, and February.

We’ve found inspiration for our winter programming from our recent experiences in art making, presenting, and teaching and of course our experiences with CounterPULSE.

• GROUND SERIES was invited  to speak at CounterPULSE and Dancer’s Group’s co-program Dance Discourse Project 14: SMALL in the Bay Area led by Mary Armentrout.  As HUGE fans of DDP, it was a total honor to be asked to participate in a panel with such innovators as  Joe Landini, Laura Arrington, and Ernesto Sopprani.   We shared our experience as new curators of programs like SHOW & SHOW, which work to transform audience/performer interaction in a practice of true community art-making.   If you are interested in more discussion about the topic of small spaces in the Bay check out KUNST-STOFF and the OFF CENTER for details.

• GROUND SERIES was blown away by the multiplicties of self presented in  Instrument, by Monique Jenkinson and her co-producers CounterPULSE, Dancer’s Group, and the de Young Museum.  The work was like master mosaic of  ballet in the performer’s body, in the international body, and the resistant body. Sarah was lucky enough to be chosen to speak about her audience reaction to the work in this CounterPULSE video.

• During September and October, Brittany created the site-specific dance piece “Dissolve” as a culmination of her artist residency at the Foundry in Berkeley.  We are excited for the Foundry’s recent growth in their new artist studio space called Foundry Commons.  Brittany was so impressed with the Foundry’s production skills and creative support.  The piece increased Brittany’s performative understanding of scale and perspective, and sharpened her attention to architectural details.

• This fall Sarah had a teaching residency at New Mexico School for the Arts Charter High School in Santa Fe. She co-choreographed the site-specific work “All At Once” with 30 high school students at a public memorial called the Cross of the Martyrs.  Engaging the students in practices of collaborative dance making, the students created phrases and text from the question: “How is my identity informed by New Mexico History?” Sarah is grateful to have learned some of the ins and outs of partnering with City organizations to create public artworks, and forever in debt to her brave students who swung from ropes, sprinted across the desert, and spoke to an audience of 400 of the struggles of their families.

Sarah is back from Santa Fe and excited to share more about her experience as a Teaching Artist at our Dec. 13th event TEACHING ARTIST RESOURCE SHARE.
In the spirit of  the abundant  new year,  Britt and Sarah host a creative marathon : 3 hour art making festival at our Jan. 10th event MELD.
Why spend money on chocolates and flowers? For February, GROUND SERIES invites you and your honey to get cozy at Feb. 14th DANCE FILM DATE NIGHT.

Looking forward to seeing you this winter! Let us know if you want to be involved,