Artists Warm-Up Grace Farms

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David Chang’s artistic practice has long been a process of integrating seemingly disparate elements, resulting in a style that blends eastern and western calligraphy with contemporary art. When David was invited to create a responsive artwork on our construction site, he chose materials he had never used. In the process, he created his very first outdoor artwork

On his first visit to the Grace Farms construction site, New York-based contemporary dance artist and choreographer, Ernest Felton Baker, graced the subterranean space (that would later become our lecture hall) with a thrilling performance.

Annmaria Mazzini is a fearless performer and innovative collaborator. Formerly of Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ms. Mazzini now leads Mazzini Dance Collective. As part of our 2014 warm up, Grace Farms was fortunate to welcome this gifted artist, whose joyful performance on the construction site was unforgettable.

On a rainy summer night, Alix Pentecost-Ferran ventured from Brooklyn, NY to the site where Grace Farms was being constructed. From the mud created by the heavy rain, Alix responded with a witty and virtuosic mural that re-imagines the River as organic creatures. Her work, painted on the cement wall of the Court, remains as a hidden layer behind the newly built space.

For their first performance at Grace Farms, Jake Goldbas and his Journey Trio set up outdoors on the construction site, inside one of the River’s few opaque volumes. The group launched into global rhythms and jazz phrases brightened by Jake’s scintillating snare. Contemporary dancer, Raymond Pinto, animated the music on gravel and PVC piping.

Perhaps a tap dancer and a dulcimer player would not seem an intuitive pairing. When Andrew and Max come together to discover a new work, “inspired” is often the most fitting word to describe what emerges. What Andrew Nemr and Max ZT find in common contributes to a distinct coherence which, like a pot of gumbo, serves to instruct and expand our notions of similitude and indeed of difference.

Echoes in the Grass, is part dance and part meditation. This new piece was developed by choreographer Miro Magloire of New Chamber Ballet in response to conversations about nature, scale, body and proximity. Echoes presents dancers moving slowly at a great distance from the audience, and one another, across a verdant field near the North Pines.

Artists from Paul Taylor Dance Company, including Parisa Khobdeh, visited Grace Farms as part of our site warm up in the summer 2014. The North Pines were enlivened with a captivating solo performed by Ms. Kobdeh. In the evening, as fireflies descended among the Willows, our team was inspired by a sunset pas de deux from PTDC’s Eventide.