Architecture and Dance Faculty and Students Collaborate on Reinterpretation of 1917 Ballet, Parade.

'PARADE' was a project commissioned by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra as part of their "Technology & Art" 17/18 concert series which premiered this past Friday, March 16th at the Heymann Performing Arts Center. The piece reinterprets the 1917 ballet in Paris (also named Parade) which was considered as one of the very first avant-guard collaborations between Satie, Cocteau, Massine, and Picasso for the Ballets Russes where the piece questioned what constituted 'performance' as it related to the high art of ballet. Just over 100 years later, the 21st century reinterpretation includes collaborators (Adjunct Professor of Dance) Clare Cook of Basin Dance Collective for the choreography, Jon Rabalais of Focus Productions for the projection graphics and mapping, Brian Schneider of Footcandle Lighting, and (Assistant Professor of Architecture) Ashlie Latiolais and (Master of Architecture Student) Jacob Odom of ARCH&also for the architectural set design. Questions of how society has become nearly dependent upon technology and the digital world with the lack of physicality were in the forefront of the designers minds. When developing the installation piece, considerations of adaptability and the dancer's relationship to the set was vital. The designs flexibility suggested the dancers to interact with the installation and the fabric stretched between the frames allowed for the piece to be mapped through graphically designed projections. The structure was an assemblage of four 5'-0" x 8'-0" steel tube panels on casters, with one anchored panel topped with a triangle alluding to the original set as designed by Picasso. The fabrication was completed by Metal Head Inc. of Lafayette. The integration of live symphonic music, timed choreography and projections, with custom tuned lighting created a one-time opportunity to execute the piece with zero mistakes - it was well received by many throughout the community and the project will continue building on a body work in several more capacities.

Dance students De’Ondre Goodley and Riley McCallum, and a recent graduate, Nicole Curtis, performed in this production.