Embassy of the United States

Riga, August 29, 2006. – Next week American choreographer Allyson Green, her husband visual artist Peter Terezakis and British composer Alan Stones will stage a “Heart Beats Lights” show in Jurmala and Cesis. It will be performed by 10 Latvian Academy of Culture’s Modern Dance Choreography program 4th year students. The project is supported by the United States embassy in Latvia.

This is an ongoing exchange project to create site-specific dance performances with unique light installations; it also includes intensive workshop in contemporary dance technique as well as the creation of the new original dance performance where art, technology and dance merge. The performance is shown at full moon time which has a symbolic meaning – life and death, the full circle which ends and starts (lights switching on and off).

For the performances in Latvia, the composer Alan Stones will incorporate sounds and music from Romania and Greece as well as real 100 years old grandmother’s voice recordings will be expressed into the dance – telling to the child the meaning of the life. Also Latvian students are asked to come with their inputs and bring stories from their grandparents whose stories will be shown in dance and some words into music.

Allyson Green is in Latvia on behalf of the invitation by choreographer and the leader of Latvian Academy of Culture’s Modern Dance Choreography program Olga Zitluhina. During her stay in Latvia, the U.S. choreographer teaches classes in Riga in contemporary dance technique and improvisation for local students, also leads a workshop in pedagogy and contemporary critical theory for teachers at the Modern Dance Department at Latvian Academy of Culture. One of the main aims of the project is to maintain collaboration and exchange through artistic and educational projects involving artists from United States and Latvia.

Previous “Heart Beats Light” projects have taken place in such locations as the ocean cliff sides of Thesassia, Greece, along the Danube River of Bratislava, Slovakia, in castle ruins in Bucharest, Romania, on the shores of the Black Sea in Constanta, Romania and with dancers from Estonia, Croatia, Romania and America at the Torrey Pines beach of California.

NOTE TO THE EDITOR:

The “Heart Beats Light” performances will take place on:

• 7th of September, Jurmala Dzintari beach at 20:30;
• 9th of September, Cesis Castle Park at 20:30.

Admission to the shows is free of charge.

U.S. Embassy, Riga, Public Affairs Section
Smilsu iela 7
Riga, LV 1050
Phone: 371 750-9022
Internet: www.usembassy.lv
Media specialist's e-mail: ruklisk@state.gov