Performance
ECSTATIC DRUM BEATS + Iman West + A N H
Dan Johnson closes his Arnolfini residency with a showcase of brand-new ensemble works composed in and specifically for our theatre space.
Ecstatic Drum Beats (EDB) is both a live performance collective and creative education project. Combining traditional and experimental approaches to percussion playing with performance art, EDB draws influence from the Judson Dance Theater, Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening practice, the Abramovic Method, and La Pocha Nostra along with the work of percussionists Milford Graves, Midori Takada, Twin Seven Seven, Greg Fox, and Susie Ibarra.
Inspired by his time as percussionist with Dali de Saint Paul’s ‘EP/64’ – an improvised music and visual art collective which included over forty artists performing in sixty-four unique configurations – Dan sought a collaborative context in which to further develop his skills as a composer and performer.
During his residency Dan has been exploring site-specific and performer-specific composition – compositions in the broadest sense – curation could be a more appropriate word. EDB pieces are often aleatory, sometimes choreographed, and leave lots of room for improvisation. Scores are frequently text-based or graphic, rarely using conventional staff notation, and almost always brief.
Utilising the unique creative skills of each of his collaborators and the sensitive, resonant acoustics of the Arnolfini theatre, the Ecstatic Drum Beats group will share a distinctive performance which by its nature cannot be repeated.
Inspired by his time as percussionist with Dali de Saint Paul’s ‘EP/64’ – an improvised music and visual art collective which included over forty artists performing in sixty-four unique configurations – Dan sought a collaborative context in which to further develop his skills as a composer and performer.
During his residency Dan has been exploring site-specific and performer-specific composition – compositions in the broadest sense – curation could be a more appropriate word. EDB pieces are often aleatory, sometimes choreographed, and leave lots of room for improvisation. Scores are frequently text-based or graphic, rarely using conventional staff notation, and almost always brief.
Utilising the unique creative skills of each of his collaborators and the sensitive, resonant acoustics of the Arnolfini theatre, the Ecstatic Drum Beats group will share a distinctive performance which by its nature cannot be repeated.
