August 23, 2014
'Dancing Sondheim' :: New App for iPhone
EDGE READ TIME: 3 MIN.
"Dancing Sondheim" - a free App compiling 7 short dance movies by Richard Daniels using the music of Stephen Sondheim - will be released September 1, 2014, it has been announced by Richard Daniels, "Dances for an iPhone" creator and the app's principal choreographer. Dances for an iPhone comes in versions for the iPhone, and iPad and is available through iTunes. The free app will also soon be available for Android devices.
"Dancing Sondheim" is the 4th installment from "Dances for an iPhone," which uses technology as a medium to transmit modern dance to the general public. To date, the free apps have been downloaded 15,000 times in over 100 countries.
Selections from Mr. Sondheim's celebrated Broadway musicals "Sunday in the Park with George," "A Little Night Music," "Into the Woods," "Sweeney Todd" and "Pacific Overtures" set to various recordings - by such musical artists including Cleo Laine, Maria Friedman, Macy Robinson, Patrick Mason and David Starobin - are included in "Dancing Sondheim."
The roster of dancers who perform in "Dancing Sondheim" include Janis Brenner, Carmen de Lavallade, Deborah Jowitt, Robert La Fosse, Brian McGinnis, Rebecca Rigert, Risa Steinberg, Jodie Toogood, Melissa Toogood and Megan Williams. Two more movies are scheduled to be added later in 2014 and will include a new movie duet for Carmen de Lavallade and Martine van Hamel, and a solo movie with Miki Orihara.
The 7 selections in "Dancing Sondheim" follow:
-"Children and Art" from "Sunday in the Park with George" is performed by dancer Carmen de Lavallade; to a recording by singer Maria Friedman with Stephen Sondheim on piano. Choreographed by Richard Daniels. This is a re-release of a movie first in Volume 1, and has been reedited. It serves as the nascent inspiration for this volume with music by Sondheim.
-"Children Will Listen" from "Into the Woods" is performed by dancers Risa Steinberg, Megan Williams and then 5-year old Ziva Etta Salan; to a recording by singer Macy Robinson. Choreographed by Richard Daniels.
-"Everyday a Little Death" will be performed and spoken by dancer Deborah Jowitt. Choreographed by Richard Daniels.
-"Finishing the Hat" from "Sunday in the Park with George" is danced by Robert La Fosse, to a recording by guitarist David Starobin and singer Patrick Mason. Choreographed by Richard Daniels.
-"Moon in my Window" is danced by Rebecca Rigert and Brian McGinnis; the piece is performed to an instrumental variation of "Joanna" from "Sweeney Todd." Choreographed by Richard Daniels.
-"No One Is Alone" from "Into the Woods" is danced by Janis Brenner to a recording by Cleo Laine. Choreographed by Richard Daniels with Janis Brenner.
-"Pacific Passages" is danced by sisters Jodie Toogood and Melissa Toogood; performed to an instrumental selection from "Pacific Overtures." Choreographed by Christopher Caines, the first choreographer invited to collaborate with Mr. Daniels on a movie for "Dances for an iPhone."
In its feature coverage of "Dances for an iPhone" on the occasion of its debut in 2011, The New York Times wrote, "It is like holding a dance in the palm of your hand." The Washington Post wrote in 2013 called the app "a respite in the palm of your hand."
Richard Daniels' "Dances for an iPhone" Volume 1 debuted in 2010, with 6 dance movies created and choreographed by Richard Daniels. Created as an artist-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2009, these movies used an eclectic selection of music by Stephen Sondheim, Gerald Busby, Erwin Schulhoff, Amy Beach, Bill Conti, and text by Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas.
Volume 2 (released in 2011, with 6 dance movies created and choreographed by Richard Daniels) uses an eclectic mix of music (Busby, Handel, Arvo Part Henry Purcell, and Alexander Scriabin, with text by Richard Daniels).
A Scriabin Suite - Volume 3 (2012) from Dances for an iPhone - uses music by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin as the score for 7 short dance movies.
A formally-trained dancer, Richard Daniels worked as an arts manager, consultant and producer in the 1980's with dance and theater companies across the U.S. The experience of living with HIV led to a rebirth and propelled him to reconnect with dance as an instrument of healing.
After 15 years offstage, he resumed dance studies and since his debut in the 1995 Day Without Art Remember Project, he has since performed in numerous venues in the U.S. and Canada.
