Anomaly

SOLD-OUT SHOW RETURNS TO FRINGE FOR MUSIC, DANCE, LIVE MIXED MEDIA IN PLANETARIUM BIODANCE, Sound ExChange, W. Michelle Harris and Ossia New Music interact with 4-story dome at the Rochester Museum & Science Center ROCHESTER, NY – BIODANCE, Sound ExChange, and W. Michelle Harris return to RMSC’s Strasenburgh Planetarium with the sold-out phenomenon from Rochester’s 2013 Fringe, Anomaly. This multi-art, experimental show that tests the boundaries between audience and performer will take place on Thursday, September 15 at 7PM, and Saturday, Sept. 17 at 2pm and 7pm at the Rochester Museum and Science Center Strasenburgh Planetarium. Eric Rezsnyak, then editor of City News, claimed that "It was so lovely to behold that I found myself dreading its inevitable conclusion." Missy Pfohl Smith, Artistic Director of BIODANCE and Director of the Program of Dance and Movement at University of Rochester, says, “I could not be more thrilled to collaborate again with Sound ExChange and W. Michelle Harris bring this special show back to life for the first time in three years, and to give it a new life of its own. In a time of climate change and broad social unrest, this piece offers a respite from the storm, inviting a peaceful center to bring back and share with the world.” Anomaly brings together the artistry BIODANCE, hailed by City Newspaper as “Visually stunning,” and Sound ExChange, a music collective described by the Rochester Business Journal as a group that “turns the classical music concert on its head.” Live cinematic mix by visual artist W. Michelle Harris (Rochester Institute of Technology) envelopes the musicians, dancers and audience in a completely immersive experience inside the 4-story dome of the Planetarium. The virtuosic musicians from the Eastman School of Music ensemble, Ossia New Music, led by Dustin Seo, will perform live music from today’s leading composers, providing a narrative thread for the 45-minute show. Original choreographic work by Missy Pfohl Smith/BIODANCE, including the premiere of a new dance to the recorded music of Eastman alumni and Sound ExChange percussionist Kurt Fedde, the dancers from BIODANCE join the musicians in a collaborative and multi-sensory arts experience transports the audience to a deeply reflective state about existence within our larger universe. “…a brilliant merging of modern dance, classical music and eye-popping visuals…’Anomaly’ is a true sensorial experience.” (City News) The show embraces the irregular nature of such an extensive collaboration and promises to be, as the traditional definition ‘anomaly’ suggests, “a deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule.” The show features Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw’s Limestone and Felt for cello and viola, with a surprising interior view of the landscape of self and of the planetarium. Arvo Part’s classic duo Spiegel im Spiegel (mirror in a mirror) concludes the show with a special feature from the planetarium’s most impressive display instruments, and one of Rochester’s best-kept secrets. We are grateful to The Max and Marian Farash Foundation for support of both Sound ExChange and BIODANCE. This project is also supported by the New York State DanceForce with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts Dance Program. The Strasenburgh Planetarium, a 4-story dome at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, is one of greater Rochester's most unique assets and has a 40-year-plus culture of unusual creativity among planetariums. Anomaly: BIODANCE, Sound ExChange, and W. Michelle Harris takes place on September 15 at 7:00 PM, and September 17 at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM at the Rochester Museum & Science Center Strasenburgh Planetarium, 657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14607. Admission is $15. Tickets can be purchased at rochesterfringe.com. (http://www.rochesterfringe.com/tickets-and-shows/anomaly) Follow and learn more about BIODANCE, Sound ExChange, W. Michelle Harris, RMSC and Ossia New Music: www.biodance.org; www.soundexchangeproject.com; http://people.rit.edu/wmhics/; www.rmsc.org; www.ossianewmusic.org For hi-res photographs or more information, contact Missy Pfohl Smith at biodance@frontiernet.net or (585) 201-1002 or Emily Wozniak at eswozniak@gmail.com or (314) 973-6479 ###