Web Page: maidadance.com/works/data-to-dance-dance-of-the-auroras/

(2000) Data to Dance: (Film) Dance of the Auroras – Fire in the Sky – a poetic space odyssey based on science, art, and technology.  The DOCUMENTARY FILM (30:00) was commissioned by Research Channel, Seattle, Washington – premiere broadcast on Research Channel, Seattle, Washington, DC, January 30, 2009. Research Channel was carried on channel 9400 of the Dish Network as well as cable television channels in select American markets. It also aired over-the-air on several terrestrial television stations: KAMU-TV (College Station, Texas), KWSU-TV (Pullman, Washington), KYES-TV (Anchorage, Alaska), KUJH-LP (Lawrence, Kansas), and WPSU-TV (State College, Pennsylvania).

Data to Dance is a Documentary Film based on “How Dance of Aurora  was created.” Maida Withers, Artistic Director of The Dance Construction Company presents this documentary film of dance, music, and cyber art that features on location site research – science and mythology – visits with people and institutions in Finland, Norway, and Alaska/USA. Documentary ends with Dance of the Auroras documentary performance on stage at Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC.

Film Festival Showing:

Selected for showing:
Research Channel, Seattle, Washington (ongoing)
III Sao Carlos Video Dance Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Also shown in the lobby during each Dance of the Auroras live performance.

Producer, Writer, Director, Narrator: Maida Withers
Editor: Nikodimos Fikru
Camera, Studio Interviews: Nikodimus Fikru
Camera, Documentary FootagE: Maida Withers, Linda Lewett
Interviews: Nicola Fox, Tania Fraga, Joseph Mills
Choreographer: Maida Withers, USA
Composer: Oystein Sevag, Norway
Virtual Artist: Tania Fraga, Brazil

Dance Construction Company and International Guest Artists;
Sasha Kukin, Russia, Iwona Olszowska, Poland; Maida Withers, Joseph Mills, Adrienne Clancy, Lyndsey Karr, Lauren Sharp, Maida Withers

The Global House Band, Norway;
Rene Arnesen – Drums and Percussion
Ole Marius Melhaus – Bass Guitar
Zotora Nygard – Didgeridoo
Elin Odegard – Keyboard and Vocals
Maria Sevag – Violin and Viola
Oystein Sevag – Grand Piano and Keyboard

GW and Community Dancers, Part II:
Crystal Faison, Candice Gessin, Jane Jerardi, Kerry Joyce, Lyndsey Karr, Deidre Macdiarmid, Alexis Major, Alexis Mastromichalis, Andrea Stitler, Kristy Shimabukaro

Recorded Sound and Music:
Ikon Ghost, Guy Yarden; Minne, Sanna Kurki-Sonio, Northern Nights, NorthSide Records. Auroral Audio: NASA, Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa, and Stephen McGreevy

Animation, Photographs and Images:
NASA/Goddard Space flight Center, Scientific Visualization Studio, Images Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center: ESA, LMSAL, ISAS, and NOAA, Jan Curtis, Dick Hutchinson, Scott Anderson, Esa Turinen, Sodankyla Observatory, Trond Trondson, University of Calgary, Canada – Prtable Auroral Imager, Poul Jensen and Dirk Lummerzheim, University of Alaska, R.H. Eather.

Costume Design – Claudette Lopez
Lighting Design – Michael Stepowany

Documentary Footage:
Nordlys Festivalen, Tromso, Norway
Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC
Dukabristov Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia
Dance Place, Washington, DC

Original Production, Dance of Auroras, Produced by Maida Withers and the Dance Construction Company

Science Advisors for Dance of Auroras Stage Production: Paal Brekke, Tom Moore, Nicola Fox, David Palmer (NASA); Dirk Lummerzheim, University of Alaska; Vladmir Bulatov and Holger Grahnn, computer scientists, and others.

Film funded by research Channel, The George Washington University, Maida Withers Dance Construction Company. Produced in the facilities of The George Washington University.

Copyright 2009, Maida Withers
All rights reserved
Dance of the Auroras – Fire in the Sky, live performance toured to Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg, Russia in 2003.
Web Page: maidadance.com/works/data-to-dance-dance-of-the-auroras/

A fascinating documentary on the creation of Dance of the Auroras – Fire in the Sky – a poetic odyssey through space from the Sun to Earth. Showcasing an evening-length performance of dance, music and virtual art, this international project reclaims the connections between science and art, technology and the natural world, drawing the audience into a ritual both ancient and new. Dance of the Auroras traces the research and development of the project through interviews, rehearsals, and performances in Finland, Norway, Russia, and the USA. Movies and images of the Sun and the Earth’s auroras from orbiting spacecraft and special ground-based cameras are featured along with original music performed live by the Global House Band, Norway. Dancers from Russia, Poland, USA, using the wireless mouse alter and manipulate, in real time, large-scale projected cyber worlds created by Tania Fraga, Brazil. Dance of the Auroras – Fire in the Sky premiered on Research Channel January 30, 2009.

Selected for showing: Research Channel, Seattle, Washington; III Sao Carlos Video Dance Festival, Sao Carlos, Brazil. Also shown in the lobby during each performance.

Documentary Footage
Nordly’s Festivalen – Tromso, Norway, January 2001
Lisner Auditorium – Washington, DC, USA, February 2001
Dukabristov Theatre – St. Petersburg & Arkhangelsk, Russia, May 2000
Dance Place – Washington, DC, USA, September 2000
On Location in Finland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska, USA, 2000