SURGE: Dance Film Preview

Boston Dance Theater reaches its halfway mark of its new virtual series of events on September 30, 2020. Join this special afternoon as we present Surge, a dance film by videographer Ernesto Galan with choreography by Stinnett/BDT and scientific input by Pratt, shot on location at Jeremy Point in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. Costumes by Zane Kealey.

SURGE is an online event series that is designed to expand our dialogue with like-minded individuals whose work and interests straddle the realms of art+science and environmental sustainability. It is also our goal to raise awareness of / fundraise for the continuation of BDT’s Sea-Level Rise project. To make a tax-deductible gift please visit: https://bit.ly/31fWabO

Bios

Boston Dance Theater Dancers: https://www.bostondancetheater.com/dancers

Ernesto Galan is a highly respected film maker, producer, and editor with many years of extensive accomplishments in the motion picture industry. From conception to completion he has proven his ability to make media an awe inspiring expedition through his lens. Ernesto is most recognized for a number of music videos, documentaries and independent films that have caught the attention of film makers, media and film fans alike. He is a dynamic leader who consistently achieves outstanding results in challenging environments while building and maintaining strong, loyal relationships with both clients and colleagues.

Some of his core competencies include: Directing and Producing, Experienced with all mainstream camera technology, Video, Editing, Casting, Location Selection, Project Coordination, Lighting Design and Application, and Script Writing.

Zane Kealey is a Boston based costume designer with a MFA from Boston University. Her thesis work involved structuring a vocabulary to describe and explore costuming for contemporary dance. She has designed for Wheelock Family Theater and Joan & Edgar Booth Theater in Boston, The Theater Lab in DC, interned with Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires, and is a draper and costume designer for Boston Dance Theater.

Dr. Lawrence J. Pratt (LEAD SCIENCE COLLABORATOR) is a senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a B. S. and M. S. from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Pratt’s research interests include theory and modeling of ocean and marginal sea circulation and mixing, mesoscale and submesoscale instability and turbulence,  sea strait hydraulics, abyssal circulation in deep canyons, and the use of dynamical systems and chaos theory to understand mixing and stirring at various scales. 

He has collaborated on a number of dance and ocean science projects and public workshops in Boston and New York with choreographers Riley Watts, Courtney Peix, Jody Sperling, Mariah Steele, Alissa Cardone and Jessie Jeanne Stinnett. His extended arts and science projects have been presented at the Boston Science Museum, New Bedford Art Museum, Keck Futures Foundation (Washington, DC), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Boston Arts Academy, often with support from the National Science Foundation.

Jessie Jeanne Stinnett (PROJECT LEAD + CHOREOGRAPHER) is a dance teacher, choreographer, and co-artistic director of Boston Dance Theater with veteran Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili. She received a BFA in Dance Performance from The Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Creative Practice: Dance Professional Pathway from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, in conjunction with Independent Dance/Siobhan Davies Dance. 

Most notably Jessie has performed for the Metropolitan Opera, Tate Britain (UK), Prometheus Dance, Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (Vienna), The Boston Baroque Opera, and Bard College’s SummerScape Festival. 

Her choreographic work has been described by Hannah Chanatry of WBUR as “conceptually driven performance that unpacks the complexities of being female, and pushes the academic boundaries of choreography” and has been sustained in part by grants from The Boston Foundation with support from The Barr Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, Assets4Artists at MASS MoCA, and Fidelity Charitable. 

Some of Jessie’s recent teaching and choreography credits include: Boston Ballet School, Dean College, Keene State University, Providence College, Endicott College, Goethe Institut Boston, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and Emmanuel Music. She is the recipient of the 2020 Boston Dancemakers Residency grant award and will be the 2020 Choreographer in Residence at Boston Center for the Arts and Boston Dance Alliance.