LOS ANGELES―As the nearly full moon rose over the Opera House last Saturday night, 'Uptown Underground', a KCRW sponsored event, was well underway, filling the downtown Music Center Plaza with a diverse cross-section of L.A., enjoying the unique atmosphere of images and music.
Four huge suspended 'moving portraits' seemingly hovered over the jutting water fountain below as crowds of people gathered around to watch these sublime images unfold. At a table, resembling an electronic palette of sound, Jason Bentley, KCRW's DJ, with his laid back charm and an impish grin, spun offerings of ambient hypnotic beats to endeared fans.
Slow Dancing, the West Coast premiere of David Michalek's outdoor video installation, consists of four 16 foot screens featuring over 40 distinguished choreographers and dancers from around the globe. These 'moving portraits,' were created with a very unique process.
A specially designed set with a high speed high definition camera was used to record 1000 frames per second as compared to the average process of 30 frames per second. "Essentially", explains Liz MacDonald, director of events and music promotion at KCRW, "Michalek invited dancers from all over the world for less than 12 seconds of dancing." And they came.
The result- captured moments of dance, from Turkish dancers to Taiwanese, Butoh to ballet, extended out, in hyper slow motion, over 10 minutes of pristine clarity. "I feel like I am hanging out with the dancers up and personal," says Donald Rizzo, an actor in Venice, "like front row seats". Kevin, a creative executive from L.A., noted this unique opportunity to witness the "mechanics" of dance, and a chance to really observe the muscle structure. The success of the event was in part due to the flexibility and openness of this community, according to MacDonald. She acknowledges the "enormous talent at the station and in this city" and a willingness to step up, as in the case, she says, of Bentley.
Bentley, a DJ at the station for over 15 years, sees radio as "theater of the imagination" and as such, is used to working in an empty room. He admitted that he didn't know what to expect of the event, "It was remarkable" he said, "remarkable to meet so many kinds of people."
The diverse nature of the people seems to reflect the wide appeal of his long standing radio show, "Metropolis," and KCRW as a whole. When asked about the loyalty of his fans, Bentley said, that he "puts music first" and "my show is from the heart; people respond to it intuitively."
In our fast paced society, which continues to only hasten exponentially, this was a unique performance that could be described as meditation of movement.
Michalek's work invites, or perhaps insists that we slow down, really slow down. Only then will we truly appreciate and fully experience the refinement and grace of a poised wrist, an arched foot, the swing of the neck–all beautiful reflections of dance and the human form.
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