Battleground | 2024
BATTLEGROUND
Premiering October 2024 at American Dance Festival
Welcome to the "Battleground Pit." In this dirt, movers will abstractly examine the concept, energies, and consequences of the perpetual armed conflicts the United States has been involved in since World War II. A provocative, physical, and innovative piece grounded in science, ballistic movement, and consideration of the ethical and physical consequences of violence, Battleground aims to encourage and provoke meaningful conversations about violence in its many forms as an accepted and often celebrated component of our society.
Premiering in October 2024 at a specially designed location built on a farm on the outskirts of Durham, North Carolina, Battleground has been commissioned by American Dance Festival and supported by a 2022 MAP Fund grant, with additional funding from the University of Minnesota Imagine Fund and Grant-in-Aid programs.
Rehearsals are being held at a research site outside the Northrup Auditorium on the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus select days and times May 31-June 15, August 10-24, and September 23-October 4. All rehearsals are open to the public. Observers are encouraged to observe and ask questions when the company is present and working.
Canary, Crimson then Emerald | 2022
ABOUT THE WORK
An evening length experience built off of our repertory work ‘Canary’ and two brand new creations ‘Crimson’ & ‘Emerald’. We’re crafting an energetic sense of past, present and future in orbit with our company’s personal experiences with lockdowns and navigating what it means to come back together physically.
An exhilarating new creation in collaboration with the Black Label Movers since May 2021. This vibrant technicolor piece explores the energies swirling before (Canary) and during the COVID (Crimson) then offers a vision of glorious reconnection (Emerald). Using physical embrace as an essential bridge to imagining and manifesting a renewed and recharged community on the other side of the pandemic.
Length: approx. 70 minutes
Premiered at The Cowles Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Riding The Maelstrom | 2021
ABOUT THE WORK
A non-linear work that visualizes the dynamic energies released from the poisons of chemotherapy during Flink’s mother’s fight with cancer.
This work, created on St. Louis’ MADCO had a 2020 postponement/2021 premiere of its own.
Length: approx. 15 minutes
MADCO Premiere at Edison Theater, St. Louis Missouri (2021)
Black Label Premiere at The Cowles Center, Minneapolis Minnesota (2022)
A Dream of Touch When Touch Is Gone | 2020 Short Film
ABOUT THE FILM
In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic - this film takes a brief and abstracted glimpse at the emotional grief and aspirations of a group of humans as a result of a new world where touch seems gone.
Synopsis
Not so long ago, touch was easy and safe—then everything changed. We come from the most intimate possible space, the womb, into a caregiver’s arms. A human embrace is possibly the most symbolic image of love, care, and hope for the future. The COVID-19 winter has brought death and another casualty—the loss of touch. When we lose this form of connection, do we lose compassion and even our own humanity? Touch is essential. We need it to be human. Let's dream of touching again.
Our company went through a rigorous process to make this project happen safely. We implemented COVID protocols from the guidance of MD Jon Hallberg with critical testing support from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School so that we could, with a reasonably high level of certainty, decide to utilize physical contact and remove our masks for the shoot. Following the shoot, all movers reported no symptoms well past the incubation period!
Original Release
Length: 6.5 minutes
Premiered at
TEDxMinneapolis’ ADAPTION, 2020
Director’s Cut
Length: 8 minutes
Submitted to numerous film festivals
*AWARD WINNER at L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival
Credits
Choreographer & Director
Carl Flink
Executive Producer
Crystal Edwards
Director of Photography
Ryan Stoepera
Editors
Ryan Stoepera
JT Weaver
Composer
Greg Brosofske
Movers
Hannah Albers, Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Patrick Jeffrey, Ryan-Olivia Lundy, Sarah McCullough, Rachel Miller, Ashley Pyle, Paula Vasquez Alzate, Elli Vesely, Joey Weaver, Cheng Xiong
COVID Advisor
Dr. Jon Hallberg
(University of Minnesota Medical School)
Narrative Consultant
Ariane Laxo
Concept
Carl Flink
On-Set Photographer
Ben Ragsdale
Set
The Holden Room (Lauren Peterson)
Swede Hollow Ghost Sonata | 2019
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
An outdoor, immersive performance experience using theater, dance, movement, and original music to explore the continuing histories of immigration to St. Paul’s Swede Hollow neighborhood.
Black Label Movement and Sod House Theater joined ranks for their latest imaginative collaboration. Audiences set off on an outdoor, guided, theatrical promenade through the park, stopping along the way to experience moving vignettes within a recreated world that evoke the early history of Swedish immigration to the area in the 1850s. Using Swedish Playwright August Strindberg’s play The Ghost Sonata as a starting point of inspiration, this stellar cast of local, multidisciplinary performers brought to life the community that once lived in the park, sharing tales that resonate with the ongoing, current day stories and experiences within St. Paul’s East Side. Working closely with local businesses and organizations, this project also included additional community events designed to spark conversations about the rich history of this incredible neighborhood.
Visit
SOD HOUSE THEATER
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
This activity is made possible in part by the Knight Foundation, the David and Leni Moore Family Foundation, the City of Saint Paul Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization, and by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Morituri te Salutant | 2019
ABOUT THE WORK
The Latin phrase Avē Imperātor, moritūrī tē salūtant (English: Hail Emperor, those about to die salute you) was reported to be said by the gladiators before an event in 54 A.D. before the Emperor Claudius. Morituri (a dance for eight) explores the inherent aggressive energy that fuels a culture that finds itself in perpetual war as the United States has arguably been in since the first Gulf War. This work manifests the driving, athleticism and conceptual depth Flink and BLM are known for while containing some unexpected surprises. Light animation artist Paul Herwig designs and executes memorable TagTool live animations during each performance.
This work has layering commentary about how violence functions in our world. What’s glorified by the masses? What’s not? The imagery in this work pulls from many eras & violences: The title (ancient Rome), the dog masks (twentieth century USA “dogs of war”), stripped workout attire (1936 Olympics in German), the projection across the back wall (literal guns & knives), choreographic fight scenes, etc.
Paul Herwig’s live animation development was made possible by a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant.
Length: approx. 25 minutes
Premiered at The Ritz Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Walking By Flashlight | 2018
ABOUT THE WORK
The University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts commissioned Carl and BLM to create a dance to UMN alumni and Grammy award winning composer Maria Schnieder’s Walking by Flashlight set to a poem of the same title by US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser for its Century celebration. The quartet premiered in front of the University of Minnesota’s Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Schnieder herself. It is a simple, elegant movement work inspired by the wandering sense of the Schneider’s soundscape and Kooser’s spare poetry.
Original Soundscape: Maria Schnieder
Length: approx. 8 minutes
Premiered at Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
I Am A Rope Bringing This Down | 2018
ABOUT THE WORK
Inspired and driven by the delightful textile art of Anne Swan (deceased), this wry quintet touches a more playful side of BLM and Carl’s dancemaking. Carl was particularly fascinated by the series of puppet people Swan made and devised the work around the concept of animating these wonderfully odd figures to life. The piece also incorporates some of Swan’s actual artworks generously made available by her son George Swan, who fully commissioned the work in tribute to his mother’s life and art.
Length: approx. 15 minutes
Premiered at Fine Arts Hall @ Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida
Animal Velocity | 2018
ABOUT THE WORK
Originally developed for the James Sewell Ballet's 2017 Balletworks choreographic incubator, Animal Velocity, a dance for 8, explores the idea of "team" in connection with the intense, often frenetic drive of the mainstream culture in the United States to always be “number one” or “great.”
Includes original sound by B.A. Musser
Length: approx. 18 minutes
Premiered at The Ritz Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Merge | 2016
ABOUT THE WORK
In 2015, the Cowles Center for the Arts invited BLM and Contempo Physical Dance (a Twin Cities based Afro-Brazillian Contemporary dance company led by Marciano Silva Dos Santos) to share a season in 2016. Instead of just sharing a season, Marciano and Carl decided they would co-create a work together. Merge, a dance for 10, is the result. Instead of building from a concept, the two artistic directors took turns making physical proposals in the studio often inspired by their company members or elements of each other’s choreographic style, kind of like trying on each other’s clothes to see how they felt. From this process, the two in collaboration with their combined companies created a wildly athletic tour de force that pulses with the combined energies of the two companies and makers. Nominated for a 2016 Sage Award. Original Soundscape: Greg Brosofske.
Nominated for a 2016 Sage Award.
Length: approx. 25 minutes
Premiered at The Cowles Center’s Goodale Theater
Minneapolis, Minnesota
I Spy A Folk Song | 2016
ABOUT THE WORK
This piece was commission as part of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert series (“The Color of Sound”) in which young students around the state field tripped to Orchestra Hall to gain exposure to the arts in a new way, and to possibly spark an unknown fire within a young person’s soul'.
The Music: Inspired by Johannes Brahms and his Hungarian Dances, Antonin Dvorak decided to write a series of 16 dances called Slavonic Dances. Originally written for piano, Dvorak later orchestrated the dances for the full symphony orchestra. Unlike Brahms who used actual folk melodies in his music, Dvorak used dance rhythms found in traditional Slavic music and then composed his own original melodies.
During the concert, you’ll hear Slavonic Dance, Op.46, No. 8 in G Minor. This dance is called a “furiant.” A furiant is just like it sounds—fast and furious—and often has accents (strong, emphasized sounds) in unexpected places. It will definitely keep you on your toes!
Premiered at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mambo | 2015
ABOUT THE WORK
BLM was commission as part of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert series (“The Color of Sound”) in which young students around the state field tripped to Orchestra Hall to gain exposure to the arts in a new way, and to possibly spark an unknown fire within a young person’s soul'
Length: approx. 3.5 minutes
Premiered at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, Minnesota
An Unkindness of Ravens | 2014
ABOUT THE WORK
A dance for eleven, Ravens builds on two seemingly disconnected ideas. One, a group of people emerging from the rubble of a dance hall that has just been bombed. Two, the at times stunning Machiavellian culture found inside academic institutions. The result is an explosive dance that surges and drives through an austere space towards a moment of inevitable stillness. Ravens was commissioned by the 2014 American Dance Festival Footprints Series.
Co-choreographed by Carl Flink & Eddie Bruno Oroyan
Original Sound by Greg Brosofske
Length: approx. 25 minutes
Premiered at Reynolds Theater, Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
Alleged Dances | 2014
ABOUT THE WORK
A dance for 8, The Bakken Trio commissioned Carl and BLM to choreograph pioneering minimalist composer John Adams string quartet John’s Book of Alleged Dances. Carl responded to the quirky, playfulness of Adams' alleged dances, which can be played in any order, by creating distinct choreography to each piece, relying on Adams’ music to provide the throughline. The music was played live by a quartet formed by the Bakken Trio on a dramatic 10’ x 10’ x 10’ platform at center, center stage with the BLM movers moving around, through and on the platform.
Length: approx. 38 minutes
Premiered at Gorecki Family Theater @ College of St. Benedict
St. Joseph, Minnesota
Hive | 2014
ABOUT THE WORK
A Dance for 10, the concept for HIVE emerged from the harrowing moment when one of Carl’s daughters stepped on a wasp ground nest and a cloud of its inhabitants emerged to sting her, her sister and him multiple times, one experiencing over 30 stings. From this root the work evolved to explore the furtive and intense energy of gatherings of people in dark places in the depths of the night. This piece was originally built from a commission for the University of Utah Modern Dance Department entitled NEST created in 2013.
Original Soundscape by Greg Brosofske
“I am fascinated with the way insects in a nest or hive appear to move without any regard to other individuals space. What can that idea bring to a human community?"
Length: approx. 25 minutes
Premiered at The Cowles Center’s Goodale Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Whack-a-Mole | 2013
ABOUT THE WORK
The name of a pre-video and remarkably aggressive arcade game, the term whack-a-mole is often used in the military to refer to inferior opposing troops who keep re-appearing being cleared from a conflict zone. A work for 16 movers, WAM delves into the cycle of conflict, aftermath and recovery in a perpetual combat zone. A theme that Carl threads through a number of his works as he struggles to understand and grapple with the United States consistent war footing since the Vietnam War.
This driving and powerful half evening length work by Carl Flink, starts "embedded" in the audience, implicating them in the event that they are about to experience. Flink considers this work a hallmark of his style of ballistic and aggressive approach to movement centered work.
Original Soundscape by Greg Brosofske
Length: approx. 45 minutes
Premiered at The Cowles Center’s Goodale Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
If truth is beauty, can art be science? | 2013
ABOUT THE WORK
How did an unlikely collaboration become so fruitful? Biomed engineer David Odde asked Black Label Movement dancers to help him interpret science, gaining insights into his own research in the process.
Length: approx. 17 minutes
Premiered at The Kennedy Center, Washington DC
Lets Talk About Sex | 2012
ABOUT THE WORK
In March 2012, BLM and John Bohannon presented a new TED talk at the TED-Ed: Full Spectrum Conference in Long Beach, CA entitled ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’. The presentation considers how clear scientific information can be useful in helping young people wrestle with the awakening of their sexuality.
“What would you tell your younger self about sex if you could? (Starting with the big question: Why does it exist in the first place?) Mixing talk and dance, John Bohannon and Black Label Movement explore why sex exists — and implore adults to talk honestly to the kids in their lives about the confusion and joy of human sexuality.” -TED-Ed
Length: approx. 10 minutes
Premiered at Long Beach PAC’s Terrace Theater
Long Beach, California
AWARDED one of the Best TED Images of 2012
Canary | 2012
ABOUT THE WORK
‘Canary’, a dance for nine, is an examination of the superficial formalities that attempt to contain more primal urges in the landscape of a surrealistic ballroom/prom night. Original soundscape by Greg Brosofske. Canary was underwritten the American Composers Forum’s Live Music for Dance Minnesota program in partnership with New Music USA.