Hey everyone!
Exciting news – we’ve just launched our Indie Go Go campaign to raise funding for Challenge Mode! Visit the campaign’s main page to see the details, and make your donation now!
And thanks in advance for supporting us…you guys rock!
March 7th, 2013, posted by admin
Be on the lookout for pictures to tide you over till April. Here’s the first:
Enjoy!
February 3rd, 2013, posted by admin
Level up with the Geeksdanz gang as they careen through high-energy combat missions and button-mashing solo stages, all in pursuit of the ever-elusive “100% Completion” bonus.
Set to the music of artists from OverClocked Remix (http://ocremix.org), Challenge Mode is your favorite video games as you’ve never experienced them before!
$5 Suggested Donation. Stay tuned for show dates and times!
January 19th, 2013, posted by admin
Good news everyone! Geeksdanz is proud to welcome its newest member, Ella Mason! Check out our interview with her below!
GD: How did you get into dancing?
EM: When I was 9 I saw my older brother perform in our high school’s musical. I asked my mom for musical theater classes. The acting and voice lessons at the local studio were the same night as Hebrew school so instead I got signed up for ballet and tap. I ended up falling in love with dance and I think things turned out for the best. I still can’t speak Hebrew though. . .
GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
EM: I love that dance, whether I’m viewing it or doing it, engages my non-verbal mind. 
It completely changes how I approach the world and my relationships with the people, non-human animals, and even plants and objects around me. One of the most basic definitions of life is that living creatures move. Dancing makes me aware of my aliveness.
GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
EM: So many. . . but I’m currently crushing on Pina Bausch. Her movement is luscious but not gratuitous – it’s always in service of a larger drama or idea. Everyone should see “Pina” on the big screen!
GD: What do you do in “real life”?
EM: I am a massage therapist and I also teach dance. You can find out more about what I do on my website www.movementandmassage.com.
GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
EM: I am an obsessive knitter and I love working on a project while listening to an episode of This American Life or Radiolab. I also enjoy reading, making waffles, and making fun of my cat.
GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
EM: I’m excited about delving into geeky topics and figuring out how to make dances about some unlikely things. . . I like trying to physicalize the abstract and getting to play around in the studio with a bunch of other geeks!
Welcome aboard, Ella! You can find her full bio in the Meet Your Geeks Page!
November 27th, 2012, posted by admin
Great news, everyone!
Geeksdanz is proud to welcome its newest member, Laura Herbert! We subjected Laura to the same set of questions as everyone else, and her answers follow!
GD: How did you get into dancing?
LH: I owe my start at dance to my mom. When I was 6 she enrolled me in my very first ballet class and the rest is history. I fell in love with dance, every aspect of it.
GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
LH: What appeals to me most is that dance and movement are an outward expression of each person’s individual inner reality and perspective. The creative boundaries are non-existent and a dancer’s canvas is boundless and expansive. Anything you want to say, you can voice it through dancing. That’s what I love about it!
GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
LH: I saw my first modern dance concert at the Joyce Theater in NYC in 2006. It was an evening length performance of various Doug Varone works. His choreography made a deep impression on me; he is still my favorite choreographer. My two favorite works by him are “Boats Leaving” and “Chapter from Broken Novel”
GD: What do you do in “real life”?
LH: Well…in “real life” I teach dance at a studio in Butler; I also teach adapted dance to children and teenagers with disabilities at the Woodlands Foundation in Wexford. Aside from that I work as a Therapeutic Staff Support for children with disabilities and emotional disorders. I keep pretty busy!
GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
LH: I love yoga and pilates, enjoying the seasons, hiking, horseback riding, reading, spending time with my family and fiancé.
GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
LH: This is my first experience working with a modern company; I know I’m going to really grow as a person and as a dancer. The other dancers in the company are so talented and amazing, just really wonderful people…I’m very excited to work with everyone.
Welcome aboard, Laura!
October 29th, 2012, posted by admin
Hey All!
We officially have not one, but two photo galleries from the Maker Faire 2012 live on the site! First is a gorgeous album from Roberta Mintz, who just so happens to be Sophie’s mom. The full album’s over at SmugMug, but you can see highlights (as well as a link to the full album) here.
Second is an equally gorgeous album from our in-house photographer Benjamin Peoples, which you can see here.
Both albums also now have links from the main Photo Gallery page, as well as from the newly-created project page for Maker Faire 2012.
I will now leave you with a few of my favorite photos:
September 26th, 2012, posted by admin
Hi All!
Thank you to everyone who saw us at the Mini Maker Faire yesterday, and an extra-special thanks to our participants who jumped in and danced with us! I’ll be posting pics as I receive them (I had several people taking pics and video for us throughout the day), but here are a few from our impromptu photo shoot at the end of the day, courtesy of Gordon Kirkwood:
You can check out his whole album here.
And while you’re over there on the ol’ Facebook, head to the Geeksdanz page and ‘like’ us. You can also follow Geeksdanz on Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to get all the latest updates and news about the company.
I’m excited to see everyone’s experiences with the Faire, so if you took any good pictures or videos of us and want to share, feel free! Just send them to me at ellen@geeksdanz.org, or post them on the Facebook or Twitter pages.
We’ll have some more fun projects for you in the future, but until then, keep on geeking!
~Ellen
September 23rd, 2012, posted by admin
In today’s final installment of Meet Your Geeks, I present Lamar Williams with the same questions I gave to the others, and he promptly responds with a stream-of-consciousness paragraph of fabulousness! Enjoy!
I began dancing around age 6 where I would freestyle and choreograph with my cousin to what ever piece of music inspired us at the moment. I was mostly moved by all hip hop music with an infectious beat. Dance to me allows anything to be beautiful through movement and it can move ppl to places that only dance could take them. I enjoy all movement in its biggest and smallest form; I love choreographers such as Tyce Diorio, Mandy Moore, and Mia Michaels because contemporary modern/broadway are my favorite styles to watch because of the excitement and emotions it causes the viewers as well as fellow dancers. I love movement that provoke reactions from people that isn’t always expected and love performing movements that display many textures/weights. My favorite word is “Possibilities” because its what life is all about, we all determine our own fate. Myself being a hip hop dancer, which is mainly freestyle, technical dance literally changed my life and opened up endless possibilities. Of course, cliche as it may be, my least favorite word is “can’t” because it is so freely used without effort first being put forth. I am a super dork and love making light of any situation. I like to play in make up and try different hairstyles. I am also a huge fan of clothes and fashion. I always knew I had to do something performance or entertainment wise, I always feel the need to be present everywhere in every conversation doing everything. I one day aspire to be an actor of some fashion whether it be broadway, theatre, or small film; maybe even a fashion consultant/stylist or makeup artist to the celebrities. I could never work in any job atmosphere that consists of working around or with most insects/bugs; we just don’t work well together and I’m afraid of everything that crawls!!! I go partying on occasions where I dance until my bleed. I am also a part of an Organization which facilitates several small houses formulated by the LGBT community across the world. The house I am a part of is called “The Iconic House of Mizrahi”, where I go by the alias Honeybee Mizrahi and perform in many categories such as runway, vogue, and Walking in Pumps. It’s also known as the Underground ballroom scene and recently becoming more well known in everyday homes across the world. I solely enjoy dancing with my fellow Geeks because we come from different backgrounds of dance yet found a beautiful medium between our artistic technical abilities and created a lovely chemistry. I enjoy being around these ladies and the creative brains, they make me a better performer/ artist with every rehearsal. I look forward to future endeavors and hope you love Our Geeks! <3
The Maker Faire is TOMORROW, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh! Stop by and say hi, and learn how to make your own dances!
September 21st, 2012, posted by admin
Today’s Geek is Sophia Levine!
GD: How did you get into dancing?
SL: My mom put me in ballet classes when my grandmother expressed concerns about my knock-knees and “crossed eyes”. I actually have great vision, my eyes were just close together!
GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
SL: Improvising and learning other people’s movement is so much fun. Dancing reminds me that life is about investigation and discovery. There are infinite ways to move your body and an even bigger infinity of ways to dance with other people.
GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
SL: I keep coming back to this performance I saw at the Strayhorn by BLOOM! Dance Collective. It was just so smart! I can’t get over the clarity of the compositional structures they created for the movement and how those structures made a perfect playing field for surprising and open-ended social commentary. It was so easy to layer my view as an audience member into what they were doing. I laughed and cried.
GD: What do you do in “real life”?
SL: Oh… stuff… like teach yoga and dance and make awesome projects with an interdisciplinary performance group called Col(lab)trix.
GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
SL: I spend a lot of time walking all over the city by myself and in Frick Park with my dog and people friends. I lounge on various couches with good books and movies and eat a lot of great food. Recently, I’ve been researching my Jewish heritage. Solo project soon… Check out sophialevine.com.
GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
SL: The dancers in Geeksdanz are real people! I mean, not that they would be pretend people–though I often dance alone, sometimes with imaginary friends. They are dancers, but they also have lives outside of dance. Our backgrounds are all very different. During rehearsals I learn not just about different ways of dancing but different ways of being. So what I am really saying is: Geeksdanzers you rock! Cheers to getting to know you on and off the dance floor!
The Maker Faire is this Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm! Stay tuned to hear from our last dancer!
September 18th, 2012, posted by admin
It’s time for the second installment of Meet Your Geeks; this time, we’re sitting down with Patty Petronello.
GD: How did you get into dancing?
PP: I didn’t start dancing till I was about 13 years of age. It was 7th grade and the middle school I was attending had just opened a new PE class that was all about dancing and learning the different styles. Having never been a fan of regular PE I opted for the Dance PE class and fell in love. Halfway through the year I started to take a Jazz class outside of school and here I am ten years later still dancing and loving it.
GD: What appeals to you the most about dance and dancing?
PP: I enjoy a lot of things about dancing, most are the cheesy “I love the emotions” and “how it makes me feel” which are fantastic reasons. However there is also something about how driven dancers are. It’s a tough profession and I love the amount of hard work it takes, there is such a feeling of accomplishment after a good show or a good rehearsal. I crave that feeling everyday.
GD: What dance piece or choreographer do you love, and why?
PP: Doug Varone and Trey Mcintyre are probably two of my favorite choreographers. They have very athletic choreography and both have an interesting way of choreographing for a large group. Doug Varone choreographs to beautiful music and works really hard to incorporate the songs musicality into the choreography. Trey Mcintyre can be quirky with his choreography; it’s always fun to watch.
GD: What do you do in “real life”?
Well I work as a barista for a small town coffee place on Mt Washington (where I currently live) and I recently got a job with hallmark cards. I also do other random work such as babysitting and pretty much whatever else I can find. I enjoy having all different kinds of jobs, it keeps me on my toes and I’m always learning something new.
GD: Other than dancing, what do you do for fun?
PP: I love to drive around and explore Pittsburgh. I moved here about 5 months ago so I’m still learning the city. I love finding local favorite eating spots, places off the beaten track and basically random places to take pictures. I love to read any book I can get my hands on. I’m always in Barnes and Noble as well as any local second hand bookstore I can find. I’m also a huge movie person, my roommate and I will sit and watch movie after movie no matter if we’ve seen it multiple times. Listening to music is also something I love (go figure).
GD: What excites you most about working with Geeksdanz?
PP: What excites me the most are the different types of venues and people we will be performing for! There are so many different ways dance can be used and I really feel like Geeksdanz is going to open the eyes of a lot of people. I feel like many don’t understand dance and this company will be a nice liaison between who is considered the “Dancer” and who is considered the “Audience.”
Stay tuned for interviews with the rest of our geeks!
September 17th, 2012, posted by admin
© 2024, Geeksdanz. All Rights Reserved.
WP theme by GetTemplate.com