Dance for the YouTube generation
Clytemnestra from Martha Graham on Vimeo.
Martha Graham is considered a pioneer of dance. Now a 50-year-old dance of the late choreographer's is looking for new life in a new medium -- new media.
The Martha Graham Dance Company has announced the Clytemnestra ReMash Challenge, an online video contest. The idea is for cyber-savvy dance fans to take a solo dance from "Clytemnestra," Graham's full-length masterwork, and mix it up into a new short video that will reinvent the dance and make it relevant to our times. That's not asking much.
What's required? Just pick one character of the Greek tragedy, perhaps the murderous queen Clytemnestra (shown in the video above), or Helen of Troy, Electra, Cassandra or the Messenger of Death. Download a scene and rework it into a four-minute video that relates the dance character to someone making headlines today. The competition is open Feb. 1 to March 31.
The winner will receive $500 and have his or her video shown at a Graham performance in New York. And of course, there's online glory. Second- and third-place videos will receive $250.
Stay tuned to Culture Monster for the winning entries in May.
--Sherry Stern
Very cool. Just visited the Martha Graham Dance Company Web site and I'm impressed with the diversity and depth of its social media initiatives. The video campaign is no surprise after you take a closer look at MGDC's presence on MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr.
Will definitely check out a performance the next time I'm in NY. I have no affiliation with MGDC, but definitely appreciate companies with creative and forward-thinking campaigns. Good luck to all involved!
Posted by: Nick Mendoza | January 27, 2009 at 06:02 PM