2008 Live-I Workshops

Two Week Workshop in New York
June 23rd - July 4th, 2008

Where: 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street, NY, NY
Times: 10:00AM – 4:00PM, Monday – Friday
Fee: $1000, includes a one-year trial license for the Isadora software
Participants: 10 participants will be accepted via application.
Application Deadline: April 28th, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: May 5th, 2008
Fees due to Troika Ranch by: May 19th, 2008

Introduction
Required Equipement
Application Procedure
About Troika Ranch, Mark Coniglio & Dawn Stoppiello
Contact Information
Troika Ranch Home Page

Introduction

“Troika Ranch is an integral pinpoint on the world map of interactive performance work. Their New York based workshops draw pilgrims from the globe, who benefit from their beautifully organized teaching, which has nurtured and inspired a significant right angle turn in my work as a senior choreographer and filmmaker in New Zealand. Hail Isadora!”
- Shona McCullagh, Human Garden Productions, New Zealand

Led by Troika Ranch artistic directors Mark Coniglio and Dawn Stoppiello, and taught annually in NYC since 1999, the Live-I (Live-Interactive) Workshop is an intensive seminar designed for performance-based artists to explore the use of interactive computer technology in the creation and performance of live artworks. Using technological tools developed by Troika Ranch, the participants learn to use their movements and vocalizations to interactively control computer based media, such as sound synthesizers, video playback devices and theatrical lighting. The workshop begins with an in-depth expose of these tools, primarily focusing on Coniglio’s Isadora®, a graphic programming environment that provides interactive control over digital media, with special emphasis on the real-time manipulation of digital video. Once the tools have been demonstrated, the students are lead through a series of games, discussions and experiments related to the integration of media in live performance. Under the guidance of the instructors, the participants will have time to work on creative projects and experiments of their own.

Isadora is being used by hundreds of artists worldwide including Royal Shakespeare Company, Mort Subotnick, Rosemary Lee, Three Legged Dog, Christopher Kondek, Maya Ciarrocchi (for Bebe Miller and Merce Cunningham), VJ Solu, Lingo Dance Theater, Gretchen Schiller, Hans Tutschku and others.

We will be selecting ten participants for this workshop. The application deadline is April 28th. You will be notified of your acceptance no later than one week after the deadline.

To apply, please send or email Troika Ranch (see contact information below) one paragraph explaining why you are interested in attending the workshop and one paragraph describing the kind of work that you make. You should also briefly tell us about your level of expertise with computers. Please include your name, address, telephone number and email address. The fee is US$1000.

NOTE: It is hightly recommended that you bring your own laptop computer (Mac or PC) if possible. (See the hardware requirements below.) We have a limited number of computers for use by the workshop participants. If you cannot bring your own computer, you may be required to share a computer with one other participant. In addition, if you can bring a digital video camera, you will find it useful. If you are able to bring your own computer, please let us know the type, speed, and whether or not it has a FireWire (aka iLink) port.

If you have questions, please email us at:

Required Equipment

Computers: Students will either bring their own laptops, or computers will be provided to them. For those using one of Troika Ranch's computer, it may be necessary for two participants to share one computer. The computers must meet the following minimum requirements:

Macintosh G4/G5 or Intel based computer with a bus speed of 1.0 Ghz and 1.0 GB of RAM; Mac OS X 10.3.9 or greater; QuickTime 7.0 or greater must be installed.

Windows computer with a bus speed of 1.8 Ghz and 1.0 GB of RAM; Windows XP or NT or Windows Vista; QuickTime 7.0 or greater must be installed. For desktop machines, a second video card is highly recommended so that users may view the Isadora user interface on their monitor whilst simultaneously displaying video on a video projector.

Video Camera: A digital video camera (DV, web cam, etc.) and a compatible external interface (if needed) is highly recommended. For those whose computers do not have an integrated internal microphone, an external microphone compatible with the microphone input of your computer is also recommended.

MIDI & Other Sensory Systems: Users may also bring MIDI input devices or other sensory systems if they have prior skill in connecting and using those systems with their computer.

Application Procedure

To apply, please send an email to

Include one paragraph explaining why you are interested in attending the workshop and one paragraph describing the kind of work that you make. You should also briefly tell us about your level of expertise with computers, and whether or not you will be able to bring your own laptop and/or digital video camera Please include your name, address, telephone number and email address.

Applicants must have a basic understanding of using a computer, i.e., opening and saving files, copying and pasting information, basic navigational skills, etc.

The deadline for the workshop application is April 28, 2008. You will be notified of your acceptance one week later, May 5, 2008. Note: Early acceptance for those who would be traveling from a country outside the United States may be possible -- please contact us right away if you would like to discuss this! After being accepted, we will ask you to forward us a check in the amount of US$1000 by May 19, 2008.

IF YOUR PAYMENT IS NOT RECEIVED BY MAY 19, 2008 YOUR SPOT IN THE WORKSHOP WILL BE GIVEN TO THE NEXT PERSON ON THE WAITING LIST. NO EXCEPTIONS!

If you are sending a check from outside of the U.S., we will require that you send an International Money Order made out in U.S. dollars or a wire transfer to our bank account (contact us for details). Those submitting their funds via wire transfer will be assessed a US$20 processing fee. Payment may also be made by credit card, but requires an extra $75 processing fee.

After the payment deadline has passed, refunds will be given for medical reasons only with a letter from a physician. Refunds prior to the payment deadline will be assessed a $25.00 processing fee. Troika Ranch will not provide housing during the workshop, but will be able to suggest some reasonable accommodations at your request.

A Note About the Selection Process

Please know that, beyond your application information, an important factor in choosing those ten people is how the group fits together as a whole. When the skills of those participating vary too widely, it means that someone ends up either bored or overwhelmed. So please understand that if you are not chosen it is not a reflection on your abilities or your skills as an artist.

About Troika Ranch, Mark Coniglio & Dawn Stoppiello

Troika Ranch is the collaborative vision of artists Mark Coniglio and Dawn Stoppiello. Established in 1994, Troika Ranch produces live performances, interactive installations, and digital films, all of which combine traditional aspects of these forms with advanced technologies. The name Troika Ranch refers to Coniglio and Stoppiello's creative methodology, which involves a hybrid of three artistic disciplines, dance/theater/media (the Troika), in cooperative interaction (the Ranch). This method preceded the organization Troika Ranch, which was formed as a means to support the artists' engagement in this process. During their initial years, Coniglio, Stoppiello and their company Troika Ranch were among the pioneers in the field that came to be known as Dance and Technology. They performed in festivals and venues internationally and were greatly sought after as guest artists, teachers, and lecturers. In response to the desire in the international arts community to understand this emerging genre, Coniglio and Stoppiello began developing educational programs. Their primary public outreach activity is their Live-I Workshop. They have been teaching the Live -I Workshop annually in New York City since 1999.

Troika Ranch has performed throughout the United States and Europe, at venues including the Laban Center (London), Monaco Dance Forum (Monaco), The Forum Neues Musictheater (Germany), The Duke on 42nd Street, The Kitchen and Eyebeam Art & Technology Center (New York), among others.

They have taught the Live-I Workshop at numerous institutions in the United States and abroad. European hosts have included Contredanse (Brussels, Belgium), FACT (Liverpool, England), and Dartington College (Devon, England). In North America, the workshop has been taught at Brown University, Oberlin College, University of Maryland, the Santa Fe Art Institute, and InterAccess in Toronto.

Coniglio and Stoppiello both received their degrees from California Institute of the Arts, where Coniglio was a student of electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick. After graduating, Stoppiello danced professionally for the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company. Coniglio has taught Interactive Music Composition at CalArts and New York University and Stoppiello has taught on the dance faculties of Loyola Marymount University, Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, and Universtiy of Maryland, Baltimore County.

A list of recent and upcoming performances can be found on their web site.

Contact Information

Mark Coniglio or Dawn Stoppiello
Troika Ranch
321 Graham Ave. #4R
Brooklyn, NY 11211
phone: +1.718.218.6775
email:
web: http://www.troikaranch.org