Miami Dade College’s (MDC) MDC Live Arts is set to present the third edition of the Live Arts Lab, a professional development laboratory for local working artists. The 2015 Lab will feature acclaimed composer, cornet player and bandleader Taylor Ho Bynum and his partner/collaborator dance educator Rachel Bernsen in a month-long workshop incorporating interdisciplinary collaboration, improvisation, and alternate models of compositional structure. The sessions will cultivate a space of shared risk and creative discovery through exploration of the moment, balancing the pre-determined and the spontaneous.
Taylor Ho Bynum will lead the Lab August 4 – 29 at New World School of the Arts (NWSA) at MDC’s Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami, marking his return to South Florida. In April, Bynum was at MDC Live Arts for a week-long, in-depth community residency on wheels at various locations throughout Miami during which he performed solo concerts and played with his ensemble, as well as ensembles of local musicians.
Following a competitive application process, the Lab’s 11 juried participants include artists of all disciplines who will work together in a performative context and hone the practice of collaboration across disciplines.
Funded by the Knight Foundation, the Live Arts Lab seeks to foster and nurture the local performing arts community through intensive summer study alongside master level practitioners in the areas of music, dance and theater. The Live Arts Lab is geared toward emerging and mid-career artists. The residency aims to expose participants to the visiting artists’ creative process, best practice and intensive learning curricula, with an emphasis on creating new works.
“Professional development opportunities for working artists are integral to our core values as an arts presenter within an academic institution,” says Kathryn Garcia, Executive Director of MDC Live Arts. “Constant exploration is part of any professional creative practice; performers engage in ongoing training and maintenance to keep their skills sharp and to discover the possibilities for their work. This kind of intensive not only serves that need, but it also builds community among artists locally and nationally through relationship-building with the visiting artist. It places Miami and Miami-based artists solidly into a national professional dialogue.”
MDC Live Arts has offered an educational component in its programming since its inception, and regularly arranges master classes with visiting artists. With the addition of Live Arts Lab, local artists can engage with a master artist in their fields for an extended period, allowing for a deep creative experience. “We’ll try to look at the creation of new and interdisciplinary work from creative, technical, somatic, and logistic angles,” says Taylor Ho Bynum. “Rachel and I plan to bring some of our experiences to the table that will be useful to others, but I’m most excited to explore and be introduced to the work of these Miami artists – this is the kind of collaborative environment that stimulates all of our artistic practices
The Lab features a culminating performance on Thursday, August 27 at Teatro Prometeo, 300 NE 4th St, Miami, FL 33132 with an informal showing by participants, Taylor Ho Bynum and Rachel Bernsen.