remote interruptions - Art in Odd Places Orlando: NOISE

Emma Cotter/RETTOCAMME Inc returns to Art in Odd Places Orlando for the second consecutive year with "remote interruptions"

"In the interactive performance Remote Interruptions, the choreographer gives the the dancers intermittent directions for site-specific improvisations via walkie talkies. While the choreographer watches from a distance, the piece is shaped by observations of other occurrences in the scene, including the nature of the environment  itself and mild interactions with pedestrians. The choreographer’s verbal direction is a vague stream of consciousness in direct response to the choices the dancers make, providing them with alternating comments of judgement and/or encouragement. Occasionally,  the dancers incorporate phrase work learned in advance, which provides moments of unexpected clarity and unison."

The performances will feature Orlando-based dancers:
Crystal Edwards
Rebekah Lane
Katrina Soricelli

Location: Orange Avenue btwn Wall Street and South Street. 

This is a roving, site-specific performance.

Approximate performance times:

Friday Nov 10 3-6 pm
Saturday Nov 11 3-6 pm
Sunday Nov 12 12:30-3:30

please follow @RETTOCAMME on Instagram and Twitter for live updates

Images from RETTOCAMME performances at the 2016 Art in Odd Places Orlando here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rettocamme/albums/72157688984339894

Spring Performances - 2016

On Sunday, May 22nd, 2016, RETTOCAMME returns to the GARNER Arts Festival at the invitation of curator Jonathan Shorr, presenting "changing sides" : a new roving performance installation created by Emma Cotter and featuring dancers: Courtney Brodie, Marcia Brooks, Theresa Hall, and Allison Waggener.

A photo posted by Emma Cotter (@rettocamme) on May 9, 2016 at 11:57am PDT

In "changing sides" four dancers manipulate a set of large, light weight photo cubes whose many sides feature images* from performances at various venues. The objects are rolled like giant dice and the resulting random combination of photos trigger visceral emotional and muscle memories from the performers who physicalize their reactions within a combination of structured improvisation and set phrase work. In this traveling installation, the dancers operate as if in a different dimension while reconstituting choreography from these fragmented images. They gently invite the audience to enter into this surreal world through non-verbal communication and with a secondary smaller set of photo cubes.

The photo cube concept was first incorporated into a RETTOCAMME site-specific installation in 2012 at United Photo Industries in DUMBO, Brooklyn. It was expanded upon the following year in a performance at Shapeshifter Lab in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

* The images on the cubes are from highly collaborative RETTOCAMME performances taken by various photographers between 2003 to present. All have been cropped to a square format by Emma Cotter, but are otherwise unedited. Photographers include: Carla Coria, Emma Cotter, Robert Fournier, John Frame, Robert Gorski, Elisa LaBelle, Michael Reck, and Ryan Roth. Additional collaborators, whose influence is evident in many of the images, include Amanda Miller (wigs/hair/make-up), Polina Roytman (costumes), and Andy Dickerson (lighting design). Dancers featured in the photographs in this particular set of cubes include: Emily Berry, Marcia Brooks, Elizabeth Douglas, Meghan Frank, Elisa LaBelle, Kimberly Braton Lantz, Aaron Singer, and Rebecca Whitehurst.

GARNER Arts Center is located in Rockland County, NY

http://garnerartscenter.org/connect/directions/

Other upcoming performances:

Wednesday, June 8th, 2016

chashama Spring Gala honoring Dustin Yellin 
4 Times Square, NYC

RETTOCAMME will present Emma Cotter's "a green flash fades" : a site-specific performance for three dancers and a bottle cap tapestry. Performers include: Elizabeth Douglas and Sara Roer.

Tickets: https://501auctions.com/2016chashamagala

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

MiXt co showing at Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, CT

RETTOCAMME will present a version of "changing sides" adapted for a intimate black-box setting.

Free - details TBA: http://www.marciabrooksvariousworks.com/mixt-co/

And happening this summer:

Going into their fourth season, South Brooklyn Shakespeare presents four FREE outdoor performances of "Twelfth Night, Or What You Will" - creative team includes resident choreographer and associate producer Emma Cotter.

July 23, 2016

on 5th Avenue between 17th and 18th Street in South Slope Brooklyn

August 4th, 5th, and 6th, 2016

at The Old Stone House, 5th Avenue at 3rd Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn

More information available at www.southbrooklynshakespeare.org

an impressionist landscape

A photo posted by Emma Cotter (@rettocamme) on Mar 11, 2016 at 7:21am PST

Just finished this challenging impressionist landscape bottle cap tapestry. Commissioned by a couple to commemorate their 25 years of marriage and the five States they have lived in together, I was asked to use primarily bottle caps from MI, CT, NY, NC, and PA. The landscape itself was inspired by views of North Carolina's Mountain-to-Sea Trail - I used photos that had been posted to their website's interactive map for reference.

I ended up using well over 50 varieties of bottle caps - probably about 75% from the States that had been requested. I have not altered the existing colors in any manner.

for more of my bottle cap tapestry work-in-progress and installation pics, please visit this Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rettocamme/albums/72157627238328853

most of my available works are listed on Etsy: www.rettocamme.etsy.com

for commission inquires, please email: rettocamme@gmail.com

Moving Drawings

In the summer of 2015, while taking a break from creating bottle cap tapestries to focus on some dance and theater projects, I returned to a once daily habit of drawing, producing dozens of small artworks on paper filled with colorful abstract figures.

A photo posted by Emma Cotter (@rettocamme) on Jun 21, 2015 at 8:45pm PDT

After filling an entire sketchbook, I began experimenting with cutting similar drawings out and creating small hanging paper sculptures. I found these pieces could be drastically altered by lighting and therefore difficult to truly capture. Here is one of my first such creations, back lit by natural light on the left and front lit by artificial light on the right:

Next I began to explore motion possibilities in order to fully take advantage of changing light and shadow angles. I used combinations of wire, thread, and fishing line to suspend elements, balancing them with various found objects such as bottle caps and small tree branches. Being very light weight, they are gently put into motion by cross breezes or persons moving nearby, and can be more steadily controlled by a strategically placed fan. To date, I have completed about one dozen structurally diverse mobiles and find them as difficult to document as dance pieces. This short video montage is an attempt to convey how I personally experience them. Musical accompaniment courtesy of my collaborators at Loopstock (aka composers John Bollinger and Jordan McLean).

mixed media mobiles from RETTOCAMME on Vimeo.

Click Here for additional stills and video clips on Flickr

RETTOCAMME at Williamsburg Walks

Williamsburg Walks scheduling change: RETTOCAMME is now performing Sunday, June 14th (all Saturday performance and action art cancelled due to inclement weather forecast). RETTOCAMME is now scheduled to be on the Triskelion Arts sod stage at North 10th from 2:35 - 3 pm. and doing intermittent roaming performances along Bedford from 1-4 pm.

http://www.northsidefestival.com/art-news/2015/6/2/williamsburg-walks-set-to-make-big-strides-in-just-under-a-week

"a green flash fades" concept, bottle cap tapestry, photo by Emma Cotter

a green flash fades (working title)

Last weekend, RETTOCAMME returned to the GARNER Arts Festival for the third time (previous appearances in 2010 and 2011) at the invitation of curator Jonathan Shorr.

On both days of the festival RETTOCAMME presented "a green flash fades" for the first time. This piece, choreographed for three dancers and a bottle cap tapestry, is designed to adapt to a variety of indoor and outdoor locations. Structured improvisations allow for immediate reactions to changes of scenery or audience reactions/involvement that contrast with moments of simple, repetitive, dance phrase work performed in a series of revolving solos and duets. 

The GARNER Arts Center is part of an historic 19th century textile mill and many of the exhibitions and installations at the festival this year specifically involved the use of textiles in both traditional and non-traditional forms. In their performances at various locations around the site, the RETTOCAMME performers focused on imagery of women working in factories both past and present, i.e. pride in one's work, sisterly bonds in the workplace, desires/fantasies of an another life. 

"a green flash fades" (working title)

concept, bottle cap tapestry, and photo by Emma Cotter

choreography in collaboration with dancers:

Marcia Brooks, Courtney Brodie, Annie Heinemann

click here for more pictures 

Upcoming performances of "a green flash fades" include:

Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

MiXt Co. Spring Performance

Greenwich Academy's Black Box Theater

Greenwich, CT 

click here for more info

Saturday, June 14, 2015 

intermittent roaming perfromances 1-4 p.m.

sod stage at North 10th 2:35 - 3 p.m.

Northside Festival/Williamsburg Walks

Brooklyn, NY

Curated by Triskelion Arts

-various locations-

click here for more info

2015 GARNER Arts Festival

On May 30 and 31, RETTOCAMME will present a new site-specific, roving dance performance incorporating bottle cap constructions (working title "a green flash fades") at the 2015 GARNER Arts Festival in Rockland County, NY.

concept and bottle cap constructions by: Emma Cotter

choreography in collaboration with dancers: 
Courtney Brodie
Marcia Brooks
Annie Heinemann
Rebecca Moore

The festival is 11-6 on Sat. May 30 and Sun. May 31
 RETTOCAMME performances will occur during 1-3 p.m.
 both days at various indoor and outdoor locations.
Location updates will be made live via Twitter: @RETTOCAMME

Here are a few pics from RETTOCAMME's previous appearances at GARNER Arts Center:

(all photos by Michael Reck)

ABOUT GARNER Arts Center

A Non-Profit Center for Visual & Performing Art Experiences

GARNER Arts Center is located 35 miles from Manhattan in the lower Hudson Valley within the Garnerville Arts & Industrial Center, an historic 19th century textile mill.  GARNER provides unique and vibrant performance, gallery and creative space and presents artistic programs of exceptional merit for the benefit of a multi-cultural population.  It is our mission to preserve the sanctity of the original textile mill buildings and creekside landscape, while offering an inspired setting which honors individual expression.

GETTING THERE
Below please find links to the train schedule from Secaucus Junction to the Spring Valley Transit Center and a link for the Transport of Rockland bus route 94 from the Spring Valley Transit Center. The stop is at the Helen Hayes Rehabilitation Hospital, a short walk to the GARNER Arts Center.

http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainSchedulesFrom  

http://rocklandgov.com/files/4914/0932/5757/tor_94.schedule.pdf    

Below is a link to Coach USA, which would be a straight shot from the Port Authority Bus terminal.  The name of the stop is Walnut Hill, which is a 5-10 minute walk to the GARNER Arts Center. However, if you ask the driver, they will often let you off at Railroad Avenue, and it is then a short walk up to the Arts Center.

http://www.coachusa.com/coachSS/index.asp?action=Lookup&c1=New+York&s1=NY&c2=West+Haverstraw&s2=NY&resultId=15025&order=&dayFilter=Sa&scheduleChoice=&sitePageName=/rockland/ss.details.asp&cbid=402142756142

Invitations for South Brooklyn Shakespeare's first Fundraising Gala and Silent Auction

this coming Monday:

South Brooklyn Shakespeare 

will be having its first fundraising gala 

at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, Brooklyn!

RETTOCAMME Inc contributed a limited edition of 

fancy invitations which have already been distributed, 

but tix can still be purchased on the web via Fractured Atlas!

I have had the pleasure of working as a choreographer 

with South Brooklyn Shakespeare the last couple summers 

and am looking forward to returning to the creative team for 

the Season 3 production of "Much Ado About Nothing" 

Please save the dates!

Saturday, July 25th (5th Ave btwn 17th & 18th St) 

Saturday, August 1st (The Old Stone House)

Saturday, August 15th (5th Ave & Dean St)

a bottle cap tapestry for Spirited

In 2014, Baketender Kimberly Wetherell commissioned

Emma Cotter of RETTOCAMME Inc to create a

 custom bottle cap tapestry for the event room at Spirited:

a "dessert speakeasy" coming soon to Brooklyn!

 digital mockup and test layout with Spirited's logo

 sorting bottle caps by color

 sewing the caps together with steel wire

 tapestry in progress hanging off work table 

 verso of the completed tapestry

installation in Spirited's event room - August 2014

PREVIEW PRESS ON SPIRITED:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/08/20-best-nightlife-picks-fall-preview.html

http://www.urbandaddy.com/nyc/nightlife/31882/Spirited_Everything_Here_Has_Alcohol_New_York_City_NYC_Bar

South Brooklyn Shakespeare - Season Two

http://www.southbrooklynshakespeare.com

PRESS:

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140716/park-slope/drink-outdoors-as-shakespeare-performances-take-over-park-slope-streets

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/37/29/24-shakespeare-parking-lot-2014-07-18-bk_37_29.html

http://www.bkmag.com/2014/07/23/get-your-shakespeare-fix-this-summer/

Reviews for "HCI (high claim item)"

presented in Out of Frame: Dance + Comics
curated by Patrice Miller
part of the 2014 Comic Book Theater Festival
at The Brick

HCI (high claim item) *
A quick caper set in an art gallery
Concept/Choreography: Emma Cotter
Music made by Loopstock
Projected Animation: William Torres
Hair & Make-up concepts: Amanda Miller
Performers: Emily Berry, Emma Cotter, Elizabeth Douglas

*work in progress - intended to be a chapter in a much large scale dance/theater piece.

Reviews:

"The artistry within well-constructed action is another silent partner in entertainments meant to be experienced rather than reflected on. Choreographer Emma Cotter’s HCI (High Claim Item) gave the common spy-adventure spectacle of the high-tech burglary a context all its own, with an original interpretation of a fine art museum heist complete with dancing ninja-thieves and a living painting, in a work which walks away with the treasure of creativity."
http://therumpus.net/2014/06/crossovers-3-reporting-live-from-the-cultural-borderlines-at-the-comic-book-theater-festival/

"Even better was Emma Cotter’s “HCI: High Claim Item”, which was like Ocean’s Twelve with former Cirque du Soleil members."
http://stagebuddy.com/reviews/review-frame-dance-comics/

HCI (high claim item) - work in progress

The Brick's Comic Book Theater Festival Issue #2 presents:

Out of Frame: Dance + Comics curated by Patrice Miller

"Out of Frame" is a night of collaboration between choreographers and sequential artists, exploring the use of the body to animate comic art. Seven choreographers, including Emma Cotter/RETTOCAMME, tackle this unique challenge in a diverse program of dance.

Brooklyn-based choreographer and visual artist Emma Cotter takes inspiration from her 20+ year career in picture framing presenting HCI (high claim item), a quick caper set in an art gallery. This original dance/theater piece will feature music made by Loopstock, projected animation by William Torres, and hair/make-up concepts by Amanda Miller. Performers include veteran RETTOCAMME Inc dancers Emily Berry and Elizabeth Douglas. 

Shows:

Tuesday 6/24/14 @ 9 p.m.

Saturday 6/28/14 @ 9 p.m.

Sunday 6/29/14 @ 3 p.m.

at The Brick: 

579 Metropolitan

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

tickets available online here: 

https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/934837

creative excursions and observations

The sixth annual RETTOCAMME February Project became twenty-eight days of creative excursions and observations. Results/experiences are still being examined and interpreted, but meanwhile, please enjoy this photo documentation via Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rettocamme/sets/72157640373010893/

Viewpoint - #FebProj2014

In 2009, my collaborators and I launched The February Project. These have all been dance-based events incorporating live music and visual elements. Limitations of time and money have been used as creative tools. For all parties involved this has meant letting go of many formalities and expectations associated with similar public presentations.

After a recent meeting with Jordan Mclean, RETTOCAMME musical director and annual February Project collaborator, we came to the conclusion that perhaps the project had run its course and it was time to take everything we had learned from the past five years (good and bad) and return to a more formal way of working.

This we plan to do imminently, but I am still not quite ready to let go of The February Project.

Every year there has been a shift in dynamics as the project has transitioned from three years in a traditional black box theater: Triskelion Arts, into a gallery setting: United Photo Industries, and finally into a music venue: ShapeShifter Lab. This variation in performance spaces has brought us new artistic contributors annually, which in turn has helped shape an equally entertaining audience. This network of individuals on and off the stage, is by far the most valuable product of this five year experiment. To more deeply explore this abundant resource,  I have decided to take a conceptual twist this February by considering:

the creative contribution of an active, social viewer

I plan to document this in a personal manner, writing down reflections, and keeping fragments of ephemera as they materialize. In addition to inviting old friends to join me at events, I intend to make an extra effort to interact with my fellow audience members, and be more participatory in feedback sessions or other mingling opportunities. As photography has been a key element in every February Project so far, I will primarily use Flickr to capture the visual aspects of these excursions and encounters. The final set of images can then easily be turned into a slideshow to be shared publicly. In the tradition of the previous five projects I have created a postcard - this one specifically designed as a tool for viewers to send a note to an artist or recommend a show to a friend.

 

click to view on Flickr:

POSTCARD FRONT

POSTCARD BACK

A few of these printed postcards are already in circulation thanks to longtime friend, former classmate, and fellow choreographer Emily Berry whose company B3W was presented at Flicfest in Fort Greene, Brooklyn on Jan. 30th, 2014. I have always admired Emily for being extremely engaged in her community - dance and otherwise - so she seemed like the perfect person to physically share the concept with first!

ongoing photo documentation:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rettocamme/sets/72157640373010893/

Please feel free to email suggestions for any art events involving live performance located in the NYC area occurring in the month of February, 2014 to RETTOCAMME@gmail.com

Emma Cotter

RETTOCAMME Inc - dance/art/design

www.RETTOCAMME.com

#FebProj2014

photo taken by audience member John Frame during the 2013 RETTOCAMME February Project. Musicians: Luke Damrosch and Ronald Stockwell with a three-dimensional score by Jordan McLean. Dancers: Elisa LaBelle and Emma Cotter.

happy holidays 2013!

RETTOCAMME holiday cards 2013 by Emma Cotter.
pop-up lantern with battery powered candle.

Winter Charity Art Auctions

New Amsterdam School Annual Holiday Auction via Bidding for Good.

many great items, including an original bottle cap tapestry by Emma Cotter (very similar to one purchased recently by a Warner Bros set decorator for an upcoming NBC sitcom!)

http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=205373079

  ----and-----

Art in a Box

2013 Benefit Holiday Art Exhibition

for Children at Risk at 

Cheryl Pelavin Gallery

Online Art Sale Will Go Live 

Friday, December 6, 2013

at 12:01 AM, EST.

Choose from an outstanding selection of small paintings, 
wall-mountable sculpture, drawings, prints and photographs
by more than 180 established and emerging artists! 
(including Emma Cotter) 

All proceeds benefit Art in a Box art and education programs 
for children at risk around the world. For more information 
about Art in a Box visit www.artinabox.org

MORE INFO HERE:

http://www.artinabox.org/benefitartexhibition.htm

RETTOCAMME retrospective 2003-2013

The first ten years of RETTOCAMME dance projects compressed to approximately 5 1/2 minutes, featuring music from Jordan McLean and Amir Ziv...



RETTOCAMME is a dance/art/design company founded by Emma Cotter in 2003 (formally incorporated in 2010). The first documented performance was a "Fielday" at the Brooklyn Lyceum in October of 2003. Dance-based works by RETTOCAMME are self-produced by income from art and design projects such as postcard design, event invitations, custom holiday cards, commissioned artworks (including bottle cap tapestries), and various items available via Etsy.

Endless thanks to the dozens of dancers, musicians, photographers, designer/collaborators, artistic/production advisers, and an equally creative and entertaining audience, who have contributed to the first ten years of RETTOCAMME.

St Gambrinus Beer Shoppe

a green flash fades to black

bottle cap tapestry by Emma Cotter. 2013.

currently installed at St. Gambrinus Beer Shoppe.
533 Atlantic Avenue (btwn 3rd + 4th Avenues)
Brooklyn, NY

http://stgambrinusbeer.com/

South Brooklyn Shakespeare

I am having a great time working on the creative team (as choreographer) for the inaugural production from South Brooklyn Shakespeare! 

Please come see A Midsummer Night's Dream on August 8th at 8pm at the parking lot at the corner of 5th ave & 17th street in South Park Slope. Bring a blanket or lawn chair- a cooler - and your friends...p.s. this is a free event!!

website: http://www.southbrooklynshakespeare.com/

NY Daily News preview article: CLICK HERE!

critical angle

I had a lot of fun making this, my latest bottle cap tapestry, for some incredible clients (and friends) for their beautiful home in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. So grateful for their bold choice to commission an original artwork and to contribute to the creative process of the design! I also would not have been able to find the wide array of colors I needed for the project without the help of my worldwide network of family and friends. 1,877 beverages were consumed in the process - I hope they were all enjoyed in moments of refreshment, celebration or great conversation.

"critical angle" by Emma Cotter. 2013. Bottle cap tapestry comprised of 1,877 used and unaltered bottle caps sewn together with steel wire. Private Collection, Brooklyn, NY.