Dancing On My Own: Burr Johnson & Roarke Menzies in Conversation
Roarke & Burr at Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning 2021
In February and March 2021 Burr Johnson and Roarke Menzies were artists-in-residence at Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) a part of the first installment of Redtail Artist Residencies.
As part of the Redtail Artist Residencies, Burr and Roarke share a podcast they created Dancing On My Own: Burr Johnson & Roarke Menzies in Conversation. They discuss how they met each other, creating after COVID shutdowns, the residency at JCAL, and their inspirations and influences.
About the Artists
Burr Johnson is a NYC-based choreographer whose work has been presented through Movement Research, Dixon Place, Abrons Art Center, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, Danspace Project, New York Live Arts, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, The American Dance Festival, GIBNEY, and Works and Process at the Guggenheim with Reid and Harriet Design. He has danced for John Jasperse Projects, Helen Simoneau Danse, Kimberly Bartosik/daela, and Shen Wei Dance Arts. He has also worked for Marina Abramović/Givenchy, Walter Dundervill, Ryan McNamara, Yozmit, Boris Charmatz, Isabel Lewis, Nick Mauss, Peter Sellars, Christopher Williams, Bill Young, and Jack Ferver. In Winter/Spring 2018 he participated in Nick Mauss' exhibition "Transmissions" at the Whitney Museum. In April 2019 he performed four solos choreographed by Merce Cunningham for Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event in Los Angeles. He holds a BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. He also works as a gardener with CF Gardens.
Roarke Menzies is a New York City-based musician and composer who incorporates his voice, mouth and body with audio tools and toys to craft deeply human electronic music (or deeply electronic human music). His work has been described by The New Yorker as “a layered electronic throb, coming and going, always enhancing but never overpowering.” In addition to solo performances and sound installations, Menzies creates scores for contemporary dance, games, television, and film, with work appearing in the New Museum, SF MoMA, the Tribeca Film Festival, IFC Films, the ICA Boston, VICE Media, the Kitchen, the American Dance Institute, New York Live Arts, Danspace Project, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, and many others. With four albums to date, Menzies’s music has been featured on the BBC Radio 3 series, “New Year New Music: exploring iconic masterpieces, avant-garde experiments and the next generation of talent.”