“A landscape is a series of figures dancing through space and time.” Marlene Rye

"Motion" is a an exciting collaborative piece conceptualized by painter Marlene Rye that will include a public dance performance at the Oxbow Gallery in Northampton, as well as the creation of a body of paintings inspired by, and created in conjunction with, a series of dance performances.

Over the next four months they will be exploring space and motion as interpreted through two seemingly opposite mediums dance and painting, while exploring the interaction between those two forms of art.

The Process

Through video and live dance, Rye will use movement to inform her paintings.  The landscape as seen through Rye’s eyes, is comprised of a series of figures moving in space and she will be looking to live dancers to explore this idea further.

Pre Project example of Rye's work:  Gathering Whimsy, oil on canvas, 34" x 72", 2012

As quoted in the Look Book a publication of One Artist Road in Santa Fe, “Rye paints nature through the eyes of a child, capturing the magical and revealing that secret space where trees are dancers, circus performers, magicians, and all things fantastical.”  There is a natural, evident, and exciting connection between what Rye sees in the landscape, and the movements of dancers.

Upon first seeing the dance "Unstable Memory" choreographed by Rye’s sister Beth Rye Znosko of Clark Dance Theatre, Rye was inspired to make paintings using physical body movement to invigorate her brushwork. Through visits to Rye’s studio, Znosko will work with local dancer Margaret Bowrys to create a duet.  While a duet in terms of dance, the piece will actually be more of trio, as Rye will compose a painting while the dancers move. 

The 2D source material serving as the foundational information for the collaboration is a result of several photo excursions taken in the fall by Rye and Bowrys.  Having extensively experienced the space with Rye, Bowrys adds a deep element of connection with the space that will inform her dance. 

Rye will combine the visual information from the photographs, the experience of being in the space, and gestural movements of the dancers into paintings.  The dancers will also have their movement informed by the paintings in the studio, as well as from the act of Rye painting while they move.  This exciting way of working, will connect the dancers with a specific place as well as create a cross pollination of creativity between the mediums of dancing and painting.  This collaboration will result in what is foreseen to be, groundbreaking paintings and dance.

This project will culminate in a performance at the Oxbow Gallery in Northampton this July, where Rye will be showing the paintings inspired by the place and the dancers.  The Clark Dance Theatre, which is under the direction of Judie Clark, will perform Znokso’s piece “Unstable Memory”, as well as an improvisational dance related to Rye’s work.  In addition, the duet by Znosko and Bowrys will also be performed.  During the performance, Rye will begin a landscape painting inspired by the dancers and the source material that was gathered with Bowrys in the fall.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Rye is currently represented in Boston, New York and Philadelphia and conceptualized this series as a way to expand and inform her painting process and stretch her outside her comfort zone. Money raised for this project will go towards transportation of the dancers as well as promotion, performance and presentation costs.

About Marlene Rye

Marlene Rye, a resident of Florence MA, has an A.B. from Smith College and an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She has studied under Andrew Forge, Barbara Grossman, John Moore, and Martha Armstrong. Her work has been shown nationally and has been accepted into juried shows with distinguished curators from the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim. Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, Franklin 54 Gallery in New York City, and Jacqui Becker in Boston currently represent her.  Rye has lived in the Valley for 12 years, and for all that time has worked out of her studio in the Paragon Arts and Industry building in Easthampton, MA.

About Beth Rye Znosko

Beth Rye Znosko is the current rehearsal director of Clark Dance Theatre. Znosko has performed throughout Connecticut, New York City, Boston and Rhode Island.   The schools at which she has trained at include Christian Academy of Dance, New Haven Ballet, Dance New Amsterdam, Caldwell Dance Center, and The Martha Graham School.  She continues to study dance under Caroline Lucy Smith and Shari Caldwell.  Znosko holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in studio art from Southern Connecticut State University. She is currently on faculty at Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County teaching modern, ballet, improvisation, and composition. 

In Beth Rye Znosko’s piece “Unstable Memory” she is exploring memory and it’s unstable nature. For example what happens when someone is told something one-way enough times?  Studies have shown that memory can actually be altered.  It has also been shown that vivid dreams can influence memory.  Memory helps shape our reality, but to how great of an extent? As a dancer, Znosko is interested in exploring how much memory influences our reality and its effect on the body/mind connection.  In addition, she has found that sometimes your muscles remember movement better than your mind.  Dancers also have a tendency to alter movements to better fit their own bodies.  In this project, Znosko is encouraging dancers to stretch the idea of altering the same step in small and subtle ways to show the differences in one dancer’s memory to another dancer’s memory.

About Judie Clark

Judie Clark has performed in Japan, Summer Stock Theater, The Tri-Cities Opera, with Sonia Dawkins and several independent choreographers. She has trained with Garth Fagan, Milton Myers, Timothy Draper (founder, Rochester City Ballet), Philadanco, Limon Institute, Bill Evans and Interplay. She launched her own performance group, Clark Dance Theatre in 2006. Clark Dance Theatre has been the proud host of the Rebound Dance Festival (2007-2011) and has performed at The New Haven Arts & Ideas Festival, American College Dance Festival, Built On Stilts Festival (Martha’s Vineyard, MA) The Outlet Dance Project (NJ), Dance New Amsterdam, Green Space (NY), Charter Oak Cultural Center (Hartford, CT) Dance Complex, Boston and WAXworks/ Brooklyn. She is currently pursuing a MS in Exercise Science at Southern CT State University.  Ms. Clark regularly attends workshops at NYU’s Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, is a member of The International Association of Dance Medicine, and The American College of Sports Medicine. Ms. Clark teaching dance at Albertus Magnus College and at The Caldwell Dance Center in New Haven, CT.

Social advocacy has always been important to me and I am committed to creating and participating in sustainable arts projects.  Learning to move through life creatively and purposefully has been a progression. I founded Clark Dance Theatre in 2006, in New Haven, CT to provide a vehicle of expression for my performers and to provide a creative ecosystem to explore ideas. I frequently investigate human behavior as a theme in my work; the choreography often has psychosocial undercurrents. I strive to cross boundaries through movement, sound, and space. It gives me great joy and inspiration to work with a diverse group of performers, as my approach choreography is highly collaborative. I aspire for authenticity. – Judie Clark

About Clark Dance Theatre

Clark Dance Theatre was founded in 2006, has self produced three evening length concerts in 2006- 2008. Clark Dance Theatre has performed at:  the International Arts and Ideas Festival, The Outlet Dance Project (NJ), Built On Stilts (Martha’s Vineyard), Dance New Amsterdam, Julia Richman Educational Center and Green Space (NYC), 5×5 Dance Festivals, CT Meets NY, The Schubert Theater, New Haven.  Judie Clark was the proud host and founder of Rebound, An Independent Dance Festival (2006-2011) for emerging choreographers and filmmakers. Other performing credits include, Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford CT, Dance Complex in Boston, WAXworks, and Triskelion Arts Theater in Brooklyn, NY.

About Margaret Bowrys

Margaret Bowrys is a teacher of dance with a special fondness for Children's Expressive Movement and Creative Yoga. She is a Hampshire College alumna where she studied within the Five College Consortium concentrating in both western and non-western dance forms with a special interest in Ceremonial and Ritual Dance. She dove into Authentic Movement, an expressive, improvisational form of moving meditation, participating in groups for more than a decade. She was influenced by her intensive studies in Authentic Movement to train further in Temple Dance, Liturgical and Praise Dance, Martial Art/Dance, Participative Dance Improvisation, and Somatic studies.

Bowrys returned to academic investigation to interview Hampshire College alumnae and Pioneer Valley professionals who use movement in their healing work with children. She began her dancing as a very young child with classical and modern dance styles and knew she had found a sacred relationship with her body through dance, one she would keep all her life. She considers herself a life student of the dancing art of body/mind/spirit connection and has retained a deep respect for the wisdom of the body. Bowrys joins her experience with Authentic Movement as spiritual practice with her trainings in Mindfulness meditation to inform her passions that include mindful yoga, therapeutic arts, writing poetry and as always, listening to the body as guide. Bowrys is a cancer survivor returning to the dance. She is inspired to bridge her affinity for religious or sacred expression in dance and her love for nature worship in dance. She is excited to bring her Contemporary Dance background to this creative and collaborative process of making and performing "Motion".

More Info

Explore Rye's work at: www.MarleneRye.com

Explore Clark Dance Theatre at: www.clarkdancetheatre.org/