Convergence: A Dance Performance Gallery

Thurs., Fri., Sat. Feb. 2, 3, 4 @ 7:30pm (doors open at 7), Totman Performance Space, $15 (Five College students free)
One ticket provides access to all three evenings.

Convergence: A Dance Performance Gallery

An artistic presentation of methods and findings from an active clinical trial about the health benefits of dance among adults.
Aston K. McCullough, artistic director
With Five College dance faculty collaborators Chris Aiken, Barbie Diewald, Jenna M. Riegel & other dancers
Live Convergence schedule =>  (See full description below)

Music by Salvatore Macchia; performed by Ayano Kataoka, percussion & Jazer Giles, audio engineer.

Watch the YouTube video about the Convergence project.
Visit this page to learn more and donate to the project.

Tickets: $15 general admission; free for 5-college students with ID
Call 413-545-2511 or buy tickets online
A single admission price provides access to one, two, or all three evenings.

Description:

The Totman Performance Lab will open at 7 p.m. each evening, with the formal presentation starting at 7:30 p.m. The $15 admission price provides visitors with entry for any of the three performances. Attendees will be provided with the full event schedule, so that they may enter/exit the performance gallery on the days that are of interest to them; those attending February 3 and 4 will have access to video and data captured at previous performances through the interactive visualization stations.

Each evening will feature a separate artistic presentation of methods and findings from an active clinical trial underway at LAB:SYNC, the nation’s first National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab to focus on the relationship between dance and health in adults. LAB:SYNC director Aston K. McCullough and his team are seeking to develop and validate sensor-based methods for quantifying dance exposures in adults and to test relationships between multiple health outcomes and self-reported lifetime dance exposures. Currently, McCullough and co-investigators are conducting the METRIC study, a measurement of professional dance training exposures and health correlates in 18- to 85-year-old adults, which will conclude in August 2023.

As an alternative to a traditional scientific presentation, Convergence brings the audience into a blended world of dance performance and scientific research communication. McCullough has teamed with Five College collaborators Chris Aiken, Barbie Diewald, and Jenna Riegel to stage the METRIC study research design and preliminary results conceptually and theatrically. The performances also feature contributions from UMass music faculty, including Salvatore Macchia, who composed the interactive live score, and percussionist Ayano Kataoka, who will perform Macchia’s work alongside audio engineer Jazer Giles. 

Each outfitted with sensors, dancers Aiken, Diewald, McCullough, and Riegel will generate and respond to their own live-streamed data presented through visualization stations positioned around the space, allowing them to respond to unpredictable real-time changes in sonic stimuli caused by their own movement choices. The quartet will be joined by fellow dancers Frankie Barron, Brette Cronin, Sophie Leveille, Nicole Lombardi, Jillian Murray, Alec Galavotti, and Julia Susi, all working together to open an impressionistic window into the scientific rationale and design for the METRIC study.