JODI MELNICK/JON KINZEL
AT NIGHT
A meditation on nature. A duet made in darkness. Dumb luck. Flood insurance. Two solo artists, Jodi Melnick and Jon Kinzel, with decades devoted to defining their own practices, come together to perform At Night in the light of the day. The volatility of the beach will fortify – and disrupt – this collaboration.
Conceived of and performed by Jodi Melnick and Jon Kinzel
Music: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber and Jon Kinzel
Decor: Jon Kinzel
Costumes: Jodi Melnick and Jon Kinzel
Photography by Alex John Beck for Beach Sessions Dance Series
About the Artists:
Jodi Melnick is a New York-born choreographer and dancer, based in New York, NY. Her work stems from the continual act of creating through a movement based practice. Her performances include Ravel (solo wth musician Kate Davis) Vail International Dance Festival, Vail, CO; Grace Notes, Miller Theater, Columbia University, New York, NY (2015); Fits and Starts (in collaboration with Rashaun Mitchell, Sara Mearns and Sterling Hyltin); Danspace Platforms, New York, NY (2015); Moment Marigold (trio), Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Brooklyn, NY (2014); Solo, Deluxe Version (quartet), New York Live Arts (NYLA), New York, NY, New York City Center, New York, NY, and The Joyce Theater, New York, NY (2012); and One of Sixty-Five Thousand Gestures (solo – choreography in collaboration with Trisha Brown), New York Live Arts (NYLA), New York, NY (2012).
Melnick’s residencies and awards include Guggenheim Works in Progress, Guggenheim Museum (2016), Doris Duke Impact Award (2014), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2012), a Jerome Robbins New Essential Works Grant (2010-2011), and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award (2011). She has been honored with two New York Dance and Performance (Bessies) Awards for sustained achievement in dance (2008, 2001). Melnick received a B.F.A. in Dance from S.U.N.Y Purchase.
Jon Kinzel is a choreographer, multimedia artist, and improviser. He has presented his work, including numerous commissions and solo shows, at a variety of national and international venues: receiving critical praise for his large scale gallery installation Atlantic Terminus (2016) at The Invisible Dog, Responsible Ballet and What We Need Is a Bench to Put Books On (2010) at The Kitchen, Someone Once Called Me A Sound Man (2013) at The Chocolate Factory - Best of 2013 ARTFORUM, COWHAND CON MAN (2015) at Gibney Dance: The Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, and Provision Provision (2015) at La MaMa. He has received support from foundations, fellowships, and residency programs, opportunities to mentor and curate, worked with many influential choreographers, composers, designers, and artists, and been featured in publications such as SCHIZM and the MR Performance Journal. He has taught at Barnard, Yale, GWU, LIU, Tsekh Moscow, Dance House Ireland, Gibney Dance, and the Merce Cunningham Trust. Currently, he is a faculty member at LCE, NYU, and Movement Research.
This photo series was commissioned through Beach Sessions' Dance x Air program, which is a collaborative project between presenting artists and photographers of distinction using untapped resources in Rockaway to create original visual content.