I.D.M.P.A or “Innovative Directions in Multimedia and Performing Arts “ implies a series of progressive workshops having as target the assimilation of composition techniques in interdisciplinary art, bringing forward the dance, the movie, the performance and the installation. The students will accumulate knowledge about the rapport between movement and video aesthetics through practical exercises and theoretical information. Each workshop will put on the table innovative tendencies of the contemporary multimedia art, each student having the possibility to create his own works in the specific format proposed by the coordinator (Simona Deaconescu) and to present them to the public.

At the end of the program, the participant will have gained abilities of choreographic and performative composition, editing and video composition, projecting of video materials, realization of “site-specific” and media installations, development of miniature live cinema and dance films. In accordance with the thematic of each workshop, Simona will invite specialists from Romania or from abroad, who will offer practical and theoretical knowledge of the field through informal presentations and creative laboratories.

I.D.M.P.A is a course integrated in GROWASP – Ground for Research an Education, a program organized by 4culture and WASP-Working Art Space and Production with the purpose of providing new perspectives for the young artists with or without specialty studies and the desire to integrate them in the international context of contemporary art development by offering training sessions in fields which are not available in the institutionalized educational system.

The organizers provide access to the devices needed for the development of the courses and the final presentation ( camera, sound recording system, lights, video projectors, computer and soft for editing) as well as access to the media library. The students can bring materials and personal devices. The coordinator of the workshop will invite specialists from the field who will facilitate the improvement of the technical and practical abilities of the students.

I.D.M.P.A WORKSHOPS:

#1 | Dance Film: choreography and cinematography
#2 | Multimedia performance: light, movie, movement
#3 | Video art: body, space, time
#4 | Multimedia installation: the choreography of elements
#5 | Site-specific installation: mechanical ballet and organic ballet

Simona Deaconescu | BIO

Simona Deaconescu studied choreography and film direction in parallel, her aesthetic approach being interdisciplinary and inspired by performers with special abilities and bold ideas.

Simona is the artistic director of the Tangaj Dance collective and has created some of the most courageous choreographic pieces in the Romanian contemporary dance scene of the past two years: “0001 | the dream factory”, “Silent Places” and “0002 | birdville”, as parts of a serial project that researches dance in relationship with technological development. In the summer of 2014, Simona received one of the most coveted European scholarships, the danceWEB scholarship offered by the Life Long Burning network in the frame of ImpulsTanz International Dance Festival Vienna and two artistic residences: one at WASP — Working Art Space and Production, offered by 4 Culture and finalized with a public presentation(“Dispatched), and one in the New York studios of Battery Dance Company, to complete the making of the Birdville choreographic interactive extravaganza, with a joint team of Romanian and American dancers, a show presented in the frame of eXplore dance festival #9.

Her desire to combine dance and film took shape in 2013, through the making of the Silent Places short, which enjoys a broad distribution at worldwide festivals of the genre. The film had its European premiere at “Loikka Dance Film Festival” (FIN), opened the “POOL – International TanzFilmPlattform” (DE), was projected as part of “The European Film Festival” (RO), “International Screendance Festival” (USA), “Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema” (USA), “Ammutinamenti Film Festival” (IT), TanzFilmPlattform (DE), San Francisco Dance Film Festival (SUA), Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (RO), Leeds International Film Festival (UK). The film received an honorable mention prize at San Francisco Dance Film Festival.
Until 2013, when her attention was directed entirely toward the development of an interdisciplinary artistic collective, Simona was a co-founder of the “Secția de Coregrafie” (The Choreography Department Association), along which she realized projects like “DNA” (the first online dance magazine dedicated to choreography arts) and “Dance District” (a curatorial program dedicated to the young generation of choreographers and performers). Simona is actively involved in the development of contemporary art and is preoccupied by dissolving the barriers between various artistic approaches, in the fall of 2014 being part of the X Platform team (a new media arts exhibition, held at WASP — Working Art Space and Production).

Simona participates in workshops with both local and international choreographers, deepening innovative dance techniques and ways to stimulate creativity alongside Anne-Marie Cunningham, Ivonne Ramos, Natașa Murariu, Konstantin Mihos, Anna Wehsarg, Mat Voorter, Yael Orni, Kira Kirsch, Gerald Kurdian, Bruno Caverna, Ko Murobushi, David Wampach, Chris Haring, Doris Uhlich, Alva Noe, Saju Hari, Laura Aris, German Juaregui.

She started choreographing at 21, realizing the university projects: “Time Quartet” (an adaptation after Requiem, by Hanoch Levin), a project realized under the high patronage of the Royal House, “Alice in Lies Land”, presented at CNDB and at the “Ludovic Spiess” Experimental Studio for Opera and Ballet of the Romanian Opera in Bucharest, for which she receives the prize for the best choreographer at the UNATC Graduating Gala, as well as her masters piece, “here_somewhere”. She realized the choreography for the “Omega Rose” feature film (directed by: Alexandru Dorobanțu), the “Maia” short (directed by: Adela Cotimanis) and the “1940” personal experiment (supported by Media Pro Pictures studios), collaborating in parallel as a screenwriter with the Media Pro and Intact Media trusts.

At the invitation of curator Igor Mocanu, she realizes a choreographic lab in 2014 – “Border Body” (presented at the Allegra Nomad Gallery), along some of the most beloved performers in Bucharest, as well as the visual artist Dilmana Yordanova. Currently, Simona focuses on developing the Tangaj Dance collective.

More information about Simona Deaconescu and her projects:
http://www.tangajdance.com
http://www.danscontemporan.net