Bridgman|Packer Dance|Great Performance Series

Choreography and Performance: Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer
Video: Peter Bobrow
Lighting Design: Frank DenDanto III
Music and Sound Score: Ansel Bobrow
Costumes: Anna-Alisa Belous
Set: Peter Bobrow, Ken Rothchild, Anna-Alisa Belous
Live Camera Technology Design: Stivo Arnoczy and Scott Fetterman
Technical Director: Tim Cryan
Production Manager: Kristen Paige
Technology Engineer: Joshua Weidenbaum
Johnson City Community Liaison: Corinna Johnson
Additional Technology Support: Rob Henderson, John Erickson, Niko Stycos

Ghost Factory is inspired by the residents and vast deserted factories of Johnson City, an upstate New York town. Thriving in the first half of the 20th century, over 20,000 people, mostly Eastern European immigrants, worked for the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company. At its peak, it produced 52 million pairs of shoes a year.

The creation of Ghost Factory was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a National Dance Project Finalist Grant Award, and commissioning support from the American Dance Asylum. Bridgman|Packer Dance is a 2020 NDP Finalist Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W Mellon Foundation to address sustainability needs during COVID-19 and in support of Ghost Factory.

The video projections in Ghost Factory are sourced from both live camera and pre-recorded footage recorded on site in Johnson City in the former factories and buildings of the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company and the Lestershire Spool & Mfg. Co.

The sound score includes additional music by H. Carmichael and the voices of current and former residents of Johnson City, New York: Julie Dyno, Carol Cass, Jerry Kane, Jack Lane, Bernadette Quaglia, Diane Marusich, Ken Summers, Bob Egan, and Emalie Tipton.

In the process of creating Ghost Factory, Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer interviewed over thirty current and former residents of Johnson City, New York, of differing ages and backgrounds. The voices in this installation are from people ages 19 to 98; they speak of places in town that hold their stories of community, family, work, growing up, cultural identity, immigration experiences, and changes in the town. Places with Hidden Stories reveals the stories of Julie Dyno and Carol Cass, Jerry Kane, Diane Marusich, Clyde Van Dyke, Mike Micha, Mike Morrissey, Bernadette Quaglia, Corinna Johnson, Viengsy Malaythong, Imam Anas Shaikh, and Emalie Tipton.

Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Co-Artistic Directors of Bridgman|Packer Dance, have collaborated in choreography and performance since 1978. Decades later, they continue to be a vital and present voice in the dance ecosystem. In 2001, they expanded their choreographic vision, stretching the boundaries of dance by merging it with video technology. They continue to receive international critical praise for seamlessly melding these two art forms. In 2017, they received a New York Dance and Performance Award for Outstanding Production (The Bessies) for their work Voyeur.

In New York City they have been presented by Lincoln Center, City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival, 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop (now New York Live Arts), Dance New Amsterdam, Central Park Summerstage, The Sheen Center, and the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Bridgman|Packer Dance has toured throughout the United States performing at festivals and art centers, including Spoleto Festival USA, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Florida Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Dance St. Louis, and Philadelphia’s Annenberg Center. They have appeared abroad in Europe, Asia, The Middle East, and Central America in festivals including Munich International Dance Festival, Festival Internacional de Artes Escenicas (Panama), Kintetsu Theater (Osaka, Japan), Festival Internacional Chihuahua (Mexico), The Beirut Spring Festival (Lebanon), High Fest International Arts Festival (Armenia), and Tancforum (Budapest).

The 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to Bridgman and Packer was the first in the history of the Guggenheim Foundation to be given to two individuals for their collaborative work. They are also recipients of twelve National Endowment for the Arts Grants (2007-2021), a 2013 National Dance Project Touring Award, a 2020 NDP Finalist Grant Award, NEFA Expeditions Grants (2008, 2012, 2015), three Choreography Fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts (including 2022), ), two New York State Council for the Arts Grant (including 2024), and four National Performance Network’s Creation Fund Awards. They have received five “First Light” Commissions from Dance Theater Workshop (now New York Live Arts), a Danspace Project Commissioning Initiative, as well as commissions from Dance New Amsterdam, the 92nd Street Y New Works in Dance, and Portland Ovations. Their international touring has been supported by USArtists International, American Dance Abroad, Performing Americas Project, National Performance Network, and La Red de Promotores CentroAmericana y El Caribe.

Bridgman|Packer Dance's New York City Season at The Sheen Center was chosen as "Best of 2016" in both The Village Voice and Huffington Post, and their performance at Dallas City Performance Hall was chosen as "Best of 2017" by theatrejones.com. Their stand-alone dance film Look Out (2018) in collaboration with drone camera cinematographer Gavin Preuss was selected for Screendance Miami and received Best Cinematography at the Los Angeles Experimental Dance & Music Film Festival and Best Drone Film at the Beyond Earth Festival. Their film Embrace in the Time of COVID-19 (2020) received Best Choreography Award at the Global Shorts Film Festival and Best Dance Film at the Los Angeles Experimental Dance & Music Film Festival. For more information, visit: bridgmanpacker.org, @bridgmanPacker on facebook, and @BridgmanPackerDance on Instagram and twitter.

Peter Bobrow (Video Design) is a filmmaker who has spent over 20 years producing, shooting and editing documentary and scripted projects of all types. He's been collaborating with Bridgman|Packer Dance since 2003. Some of Peter's recent projects include producing profiles of individuals on the frontlines of the Pandemic, following immigrants on the verge of deportation by ICE; looking behind the scenes at a Chanel Couture show in Paris; searching the jungles of Colombia for buried narco treasure with associates of Pablo Escobar; filming the NASA / JPL crew during the final moments of the Cassini Saturn Mission and chasing dogsledders under the shadow of Denali in minus 40°. Peter has worked on projects featuring Robert De Niro, Mark Ruffalo, Liam Neeson, Spike Lee, Idina Menzel, Edward James Olmos, Mahershala Ali, Nick Nolte, Ice-T, Mira Sorvino, Tina Fey, and many others. His documentary and unscripted work include projects for Netflix, Amazon, Discovery, History, NatGeo and A&E.

Frank DenDanto III (Lighting Designer) received his MFA in Design from NYU’s Tisch School. His design credits include Full Circle’s Solar Powered at the New Victory Theater, HBO’s Reel Sex 24 and Off-Broadway productions of Blind Alley at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Only You at the Jewish American Theater, and Shadow Box at the Hudson Guild Theater. He has designed for Spalding Gray, Eric Bogosian, Karen Finley, Tim Miller, Deb Margolin, Ann Magnuson, John Kelly, Holly Hughes, Sarah Michelson, Lava Love, Stacy Dawson, David Neumann and the White Oak Dance Project. Awards for his light installation/sculptures include First Runner Up in Light Forums 98, and a Jerome commission in 2002. His work and designs have been displayed at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, The Museum of Art and Architecture and The New Museum of Contemporary Art in NYC. He has worked with Bridgman|Packer Dance since 1997.

Ansel Bobrow is a composer and classical guitarist and a graduate of Yale in music and computer science. He studied classical guitar with Ben Verdery at Yale, Tali Roth at Juilliard Pre-College, and Jonathan Trotta at the Rockland Conservatory of Music. As a member of the New York Youth Symphony, he performed at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, and the National Arts Club in a flute and guitar duet, participated in workshops with Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Du Yun, and other prominent composers, and had original compositions premiered at Symphony Space and the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Ansel was also selected as a YoungArts winner in classical music, where—aside from enjoying a week of exhibits and masterclasses by peers and professionals—he took part in an interdisciplinary performance involving experimental animation, dance, and classical music. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Anna-Alisa Belous (Costume Designer) holds an MFA in Textile and Interior Design from the Art and Design Academy St. Petersburg, Russia and an MFA in Costume Design from Brandeis University, Boston. Anna-Alisa designs costumes for dance and theatre companies, such as Dusan Tynek Dance Theatre, Philadanco (PA), Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Co., Ailey School, Marymount Manhattan College Dance Department, Actor’s Shakespeare Project (MA), Portland Stage Company (ME), Manhattan School of Music Opera Department. With Blessed Unrest Company and Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre she works both as costume designer, set designer and scenic painter. She worked in scenic shops, as a prop maker and scenic artist, also has experience working with theatrical wig making and as a hair stylist and make-up artist. Anna-Alisa has been an Artist in Residence for Dance Department at Williams College, MA 2011-2017 and works for Martha Graham Company as a dress maker and on costume restorations. www.aabelous.com

Tim Cryan (Technical Director), with a focus on dance and theatre has enjoyed collaborations with a variety of artists including Bryn Cohn, BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance, Fiasco Theatre Co., Sara Katzoff / Bazaar Productions, Nature Theatre of Oklahoma, Delirious Dances/ Edisa Weeks, Reggie Wilson Fist & Heel Performance Group. MFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts. http://timcryan.net

Kristen Paige (Production Manager) is a Production Coordinator at the Center For Performance Research and lighting designer for dance and performance based in NYC. Her work hopes to explore an obsession with light, texture, transportation, and moving bodies. Kristen is a graduate of NYU Tisch with an M.F.A. in Design for Stage and Film and Muhlenberg College with a B.A. in Theater. The best kinds of stories envelop you in a world of their own.

Stivo Arnoczy (Live Camera Technology Design) is a video designer and programmer from Queens & New Berlin, NY. Tisch ‘08. Recent work includes: A Dozen Dreams (as programmer), untitled danceshowpartything (Virgin Voyages), I Am Sending You the Sacred Face (Theater in Quarantine), Blood Meal (TiQ), Modelland (As Assoc.) B’way: The Rose Tattoo, (as Asst.), Be More Chill, (as Asst.), The Band’s Visit (Intn’l Tour, as Assoc.); http://stivo.video

Josh Weidenbaum is an audio engineer and video technician based in NYC. He recently mixed Medea Re-versed at the Sheen Center, Dog Man the Musical at New World Stages, and The Beautiful Lady at La Mama.

Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer would like to extend heartfelt thanks to their collaborators as well as the following people who were integral to the making of this work and to these performances: Naima Kradjian (CEO, Goodwill Theatre Inc, Johnson City, NY), Melissa Mishke and Don Demauro (Spool Contemporary Art Space, Johnson City, NY), Gerry Smith (former Broome County Historian), Janet Ottman (Johnson City Historian), Lois Welk (American Dance Asylum), Sarah Marincel and Matthew Paulus (Paulus Development), Renae Barber and the Binghamton University Center for Civic Engagement, David Mixter (Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies Program, Binghamton University), Students in Mixter’s course “Ruins: Abandoned, Remembered”, Joshua Reno (Professor/Graduate Director, BU Anthropology Dept), Tomonari Nishikawa (Chair, BU Cinema Department), Corinna Johnson, Naaz Hosseini, Sandy Garcia, Heather Cornell, Derek Emerson and Benjamin Oegema and the staff and crew of the Knickerbocker Theatre.

PENTACLE
Sandy Garcia
sandyg@pentacle.org
www.pentacle.org

Bridgman|Packer Dance appears under the auspices of the Foundation for Independent Artists, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt organization administered by Pentacle/DanceWorks, Inc.

Derek Emerson, Director of Events, Conferences, and the Haworth Hotel
Maggie Kuzak, Artist Advance Operations
Benjamin Oegema, Technical Director for Events and Conferences
Joshua Johnson, Assistant Technical Director for Events and Conferences

Hope College Ticket Office Staff
Events and Conferences Student Technical Staff
Hope College Department of Dance

Bridgman|Packer Dance

Artistic Directors: Myrna Packer and Art Bridgman