Chance (2007)

Some of the best things in life seem to happen by chance.

Chance was a public art project that appeared in and around DC that considered the luck of being in the ‘right place at the right time.' It focused on the everyday coincidences that go mostly unnoticed. On four fall night in DC, eerie and beautiful dance videos appeared projected on the outside of buildings. Those passing by, walking on 14th Street near Logan Circle or on New York Avenue downtown, were stopped by larger-than-life images of dance overhead. Chance brought the startling and beautiful to everyday places.

The Chance series was presented by Transformer. It appeared in September 2007 at The Warehouse, 1515 14th Street NW, the Dance Institute of Washington, and next door to Mexicali Blues Restaurant in Arlington at the close of the annual street festival Clarendon Day. In early December, it was presented again at Glen Echo Park, one of the locations which appears in the video. And in late January 2008, the Oxford Occasional presented it informally as a part of its salon series in Philadelphia.

A residency at the School for Arts in Learning (SAIL) initiated the project.  The residency included improvisation and choreography for the camera workshops for a small group of 5th and 6th grade students over 5 weeks. In late March 2006, we shared our experiments and kicked off the Chance project in an exhibition and outdoor screening at the school.

The  project was made possible through the Creative Communities Fund of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region.

credits / collaborators

direction Jane Jerardi
performance Brian Buck, Jane Jerardi, Ginger Wagg
choreography created in collaboration with the performers
videography/direction of photography Fernando Ortega and Michael Wichita
costumes Roxann Morgan
(in silence, ambient sound at installed public locations)

press coverage

Kriston Capps reviewed the Chance projections in the Washington Post's Express: Sight Scene: Jane Jerardi's Last 'Chance'

...Jerardi, along with dancers Brian Buck and Ginger Wagg, take the commonplace as their repertoire. A casual shoulder brush, a soft collapse against the back of a park bench, a nervous fluttering of hands, a lean — these actions are more innocuous gestures than intentional movement. They suggest the sounds that people make between words, the ahs and ums that don't have any meaning in the strict sense of the word but nevertheless give crucial context to words, sentences, pauses and even body language...It's these moments that give the gestures (and by extension, our daily lives) a measure of incidental grace and connectivity...

In addition, the screening at 1515 14th St Arts was featured on ArtNet and a preview appeared in the Weekend Section of the Post. The Washington City Paper also highlighted the Chance project and the Chance @ SAIL residency early on in the project.  Read more about Chance in the Artifacts feature A Dance Encounter.

support

Chance was made possible through support in part from the Creative Communities Fund of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region. In addition, it was made possible through the support of the project's main partners -- Transformer and SAIL (the former School for Arts in Learning). Access to space was generously provided by the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, Montgomery County, and the National Park Service; as well as Washington Parks and People/The Josephine Butler Parks Center. Pesentation support generously provided by The Warehouse, Giorgio Furioso/Viridian Restaurant, Dance Institute of Washington, Clarendon Alliance, Arlington Cultural Affairs and the Ellipse Arts Center/Project Mobile Ellipse, and the Mexicali Blues Restaurant.

Chance was also made possible through the generous support of individuals: Christine Alexander, Leigh Bailey, Brian Buck, Suzanne Callahan, Paula Cleggett, Jean Cook, Maura Droettboom, Julia Eastman, Marybeth Grannis, The Evens/Amy Farina and Ian Mackaye, Jean and Tom Jerardi, Karen and Dick Jerardi, Maria Jerardi and Douglas Peterson, Carolyn Johnson, Marcus Kyd, Sharon Mansur, Jonathan Morris, Kay Murphy, Pat Nonte, Carla Perlo, Noel Petrie, Hart and Melissa Rossman, Shelli Balter Rossman, Scott Sommers, Cristin Tighe/Spiral Flight Yoga, Ginger Wagg, and Peter Young.