26.10.2011

J. A. Somma is a director, photographer, and choreographer living in New York. His interactive holographic video installations explore new ways of impacting viewers with 3D video. He has worked as a choreographer in Saddler´s Wells in London, Théâtre de Chaillot in Paris, and other major institutions. He has made guest appearances at many universities, lecturing on the theme ‘Art and Science / Performance and New Technologies’. He applies his experience to searching for ways in which to transport dance from its transitory state on the stage onto the walls of the gallery. His dance films have been screened, for instance, on the Sundance Channel, the Independent Film Channel, PBS, at the New York Dance Festival, and more. He became a consultant for the Department of Neuroscience at Glasgow University on research aimed at examining how the perception of motion is reflected in brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation. He is the first American to win an award from the Rolex Arts Initiative for Dance and for the past four years he has worked under the direction of Jiří Kylián. He worked with him on the dance performance Anonymous commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Nederlands Dans Theater, and it is part of the programme of gala performances at the celebration.

Lecture at FAMU - as an reflection on the transition from the industrial revolution to the information revolution.
Are interactive and constantly evolving technologies changing our everyday life and the world of art as we know them? With the aid of visual and audio examples the lecture demonstrates how the boundaries between science, medicine, and art are being blurred.

The lecture is organised by the ATI in cooperation with 420PEOPLE, FAMU, the New Stage of the National Theatre and the Embassy of the United States in Prague.