THE CREATORS COLLECTIVE

i Collective is an organic collaborative platform of artists, curators and scientists working in the intersection of arts, urban interventions and socially engaged projects. At Open Source Gallery this October, they will present a version of their Hypnotic Tour project that invites participants into a fictional city based on solidarity, knowledge exchange, sustainability and use value instead of price.

The City is our Playground will be an evening of works presented by THE CREATORS COLLECTIVE that fit the themes in this exhibition and that will be performed immersed in the exhibition itself. 

Artists:

Ainesh Madan / Dance
Alexis Robbins / Dance
Caylee Shimizu / Dance
Ilaria Bocchochio / Performance
Javi Padilla / Dance
Jenny Efremova / Dance
Mook Dance Company
Nia & Ness / Dance + Poetry

Learn more about i Collective here 
Learn more about Open Source Gallery here.

AINESH MADAN is a New York based artist, native of India. He began dancing at the age of 14 at the Shiamak Davar’s Institute for the Performing Arts, where he performed in multiple shows. At the age 18, Ainesh moved to Singapore to study Theatre. Ainesh moved to the United States to study dance at Bard College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Economics.

Ainesh has performed in works created by renowned members of the dance community, including Bill T. Jones, Trisha Brown, David Dorfman, Anne Zuerner, KT Niehoff (Seattle), Zvi Goetheiner and Wally Cardona, amongst others.

He has performed at various venues globally, including the ACT Theatre in Seattle, the Park Avenue Armory, New York Live Arts, the 92 street Y, the Richard B. Fisher Center for Performing Arts, Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, the Evergreens Cemetery, the City Center Studios.

Ainesh’s work has previously been presented by venues in New York such as Dixon Place, The Judson Memorial Church, and Triskelion Arts. His work has also been shared at the Leopold Museum in Vienna (Austria) and Alliance De Francaise in Bangalore (India).

ALEXIS ROBBINS, a native of Wakefield, RI, is a graduate of Hofstra University with a B.A. in Dance and B.S. in Exercise Science.  Her choreography credits include: “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, a self-choreographed tap solo that was chosen for the Gala Concert at the American College Dance Festival Association Northeast regional conference in 2013, “A Separate Connection”, which was chosen as the first alternate to represent the Northeast region at the National College Dance Festival in 2014, “But It Did Shine”, which was filmed for and shown in the 12th Annual Max Kolb Telethon at Hofstra University, and kamrDANCE, a seamless, hour long concert of seven different works that premiered in The Student Rep: A Festival of Student Works at Hofstra University.  Her emerging tap and modern dance company, kamrDANCE, has performed at Near and Far Collaborative Art Project in Cape Cod , ASBC’s 4th and 5th Choreographer Showcase in NYC, the 4th Biomorphic Dance Festival in NYC, Marie-Christine Giordano Dance’s November 2015 salon in Brooklyn, Sans Limites Dance Winter Season 2015 and Spring Season 2016 in NYC, Peridance’sWinter and Summer Student and Faculty Showcase 2016 in NYC, the 3rd Annual Astoria Dance Festival in Queens and two performances curated by the Creator’s Collective in Brooklyn. Robbins has performed in works by Rachel List, Anita Feldman, David Parker, Sean Curran, Heather Waldon, Amy Marshall, Sean Fielder, Hillary-Marie Michael, Kristen Collins and has performed on Good Day New York with Aaron Tolson.  Robbins was awarded the Sosonoff Outstanding Junior Dance Major scholarship in 2014, the Citation of Merit Award in 2015, and was the president and co-founder of the tap club RHYTHMiX at Hofstra University.  Robbins is a rising choreographer who enjoys fusing tap and modern dance with humor and intricacy to create unique voices and investigate the necessity of supportive relationships, laughter, and absurdity.  Alongside choreographing, Robbins is a Certified Personal Trainer through ACSM and teaches tap at several studios on Long Island.

CAYLEE SHIMIZU
she mee zoo is a one-woman show trying to make it in the big apple. That woman, Caylee Shimizu, is a San Diego native and a recent resident of Brooklyn; she danced and photographed her way to a BFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. She began this solo study after moving to New York with the intention to create whimsical works that incorporate highly physical and expressive movement. She focuses on designing the space and creating compositions that charm the eye, ear, and mind. she mee zoo has performed with B.U.M.P CPR-Center for Performance Research, TRANSLATE (voices of dance) Dixon Place, and THE CREATORS COLLECTIVE's Ready Freddy’s?! @ Freddy's Bar & SHHHHH! @ Rough Trade NYC. 

ILARIA BOCHICCHIO, a graduate of the European Institute of Design, is an artist, illustrator, graphic designer and writer. She has worked with Hestetika and Aware magazines and was selected for the Young Artists Biennale, Mediterranea 17 at Milan’s Fabbrica del Vapore, where she partnered with American artist Jay C Lohmann to produce the traveling exhibit, “No.Body.” As a visual artist, she focuses on the body, particularly the idea of being stimulating by senses: from visual to mental triggers with the goal of taking visitors on a multi-sensory journey where they react and confront the work.

JAVIER PADILLA is a choreographer based in New Brunswick, NJ (for now!). His choreographic endeavor, The Movement Playground, has had the opportunity to perform at venues such as Triskelion Arts, The Secret Theater, Dixon Place and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Javier's choreography will also be showcased at Jacob's Pillow in the fall. He is pursuing his dance studies at Mason Gross School for the Arts at Rutgers University.

JENNY EFREMOVA is from Russia, she has lived in Europe, Africa, Caribbean and North America for the past twenty years. Jenny has a Diploma in Dance Theatre and Production from Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts, Kingston, Jamaica, completing her studies at University of Ghana. She has studied and researched the various traditional dances in Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Jenny has presented her own work on stages around the globe. In New York Jenny was a featured soloist with BalaSole Dance Company, presenting her work at Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre. Expressions Dance Company is an emerging company which has been selected to perform at Bronx River Sounds Festival, Silk City Summer Arts Festival, Broadway Dance Center, Dance New Amsterdam, 60×60, PMT, Annual Suite Summer Arts Festival, Movement Research at Judson Church, DanceBarn Festival in Battle Lake, Minnesota and Awakenings&Beginnings Dance Festival 2014 in L.A.

Jenny is currently performing and teaching workshops with Movement of the People Dance Company both nationally and internationally as well as with Kotchegna Dance Company. Jenny is also a teaching artist with Urban Arts Partnership. 

NIA AND NESS
Nia Shand and Ness White are a dancer/poet performance art duo based in the NYC Metropolitan area. They met in Philadelphia three years ago while attending Temple University and immediately began a collaborative art process, as well an intimate relationship. Along with the couple's work together, Nia is a proud BFA dance graduate from Temple. Immediately after graduation she began dancing in Germany and France with DAGADA dance company as part of her developing dance career; and Ness, a Journalism graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh, freelances as a writer and editor for the Việt Tide as well as several other news outlets. 

The couple’s work is informed by the complexities of their relationship, and aims at a deeper understanding of their co-reality through intense investigation of their individual identities.

WINNIE BERGER / MOOD DANCE COMPANY
Tucson, Arizona native, Winnie Berger, began her dance training at Ballet Arts under the direction of Mary Beth Cabana. In 2008, Winnie was a trainee for Ballet Tucson, and went on to completing a dual degree in Dance and Theology in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program cum laude in 2014. Winnie has performed works by Kirven Boyd, Sonia Dawkins, Marie Lorene-Fichaux, Karen Arceneaux, Francesca Harper, and Carolyn Dorfman. She is currently dancing with Exit 12 Dance Company, is a freelance dancer in New York City, and is the Artistic Director of Mook Dance Company.  Mook has performed at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, Dixon Place, Green Space, the Actors Fund Arts Center, in the DUMBO Dance Festival, and more. Ms. Berger was the 2015 recipient of the Eryc Taylor New Choreographer Grant and one of her works was purchased by Fusionworks Dance Company in Lincoln, RI. She has also set a piece on Exit 12 Dance Company which was performed at Summer Streets and at the 5X5 Dance Festival.

This evening of performances is part of the fifth phase of our Collective Storytelling Program: a series of performances based in storytelling and identity.