BodyCartography Project is a dance performance duo composed of Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad. Their work is influenced by their studies at the Body-Mind Center, where dance is taught based on a
somatic movement approach. The pair have created over 150 dance works, including site-specific creations, stage productions, film, and installations. BodyCartography Project makes dances that engage with the vital materiality of the body,
embodiment, and interaction of body and space.
History
Olive Bieringa, originally from
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, studied dance at European Dance Development Center in the
Netherlands
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. She went to the US to study with
Lisa Nelson Lisa Nelson is an American dance-maker, improviser, videographer, and collaborative artist. She was born in New York City in 1949 and currently lives in Northern Vermont.
Dancing life
Lisa Nelson began her training in traditional modern dance and ...
and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Otto Ramstad grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and began studying with Suzanne River, when he was seven years old. Bieringa and Ramstad started to work together in 1998 and have been based in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
since 2001.
In 2001 and again in 2002 and 2003, Body Cartography Project participated in the
New Zealand Fringe Festival
The New Zealand Fringe Festival is an open access arts festival in Wellington, New Zealand held over several weeks in February and March each year. The 2020 programme marked the festival's 30th anniversary.
Background
The festival was establish ...
, winning the Outdoor Award each year and the Pelorous Trust Creativity Award in 2003. The pair were well received at the
Kerry Film Festival
The Kerry Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland, during October / November. The Kerry Film Festival is funded by Kerry County Council, Fáilte Irelandthe Arts Councilas well as having corpor ...
in Ireland in 2004.
In 2005, BodyCartography Project won the Dance for Camera prize at the
American Dance Festival
The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also hos ...
. In 2006 and 2008 they won the Minnesota Sage Award for Outstanding Performance.
They were presented with a Brooklyn Arts Exchange Passing It On Award in 2006, and became Public Art St. Paul Sustainable Arts Fellows in 2007.
City Pages
''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...
named them Artists of the Year in 2007, and they won a
McKnight Fellowship for Choreographers in 2010.
In 2012, they presented ''Super Nature'' at the Walker Art Center, with music by
Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...
.
Super Nature was performed at American Realness Festival in 2013, receiving a positive review from the ''New York Times''.
["Maybe Naked, Curvy or Clumsy, and Probably Socially Unorthodox: BodyCartography Project at American Realness Festival"]
''New York Times''. By Alastair Macaulayjan. 17, 2013 They also performed at the newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival in 2015. They were named the area's best dance company of the year by ''City Pages''.
In 2015, they received a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Art. They presented "closer" in various venues in the Twin Cities, beginning as a series of one-on-one dances and winding up with a full-length production at the
Red Eye Theater. They also sold these one-on-one performances at the Walker Art Center Shop as part of the Intangibles Collection.
"This museum gift shop sells art you can’t hang on the wall"
''PBS Newshour'', May 27, 2015
References
{{Reflist
External links
BodyCartography Project
Body-Mind Centering
Dance in Minnesota