At MANCC, Luciana worked on her newest chapter, The Sublime is Us, by exploring the ideas of transparency, honesty, humility and vulnerability.  She and the four dancers began shaping entrypoints to garner research about how an audience can witness something and also actively be part of the performers’ experience.

artist outcomes   |   community outcomes   |   biography   |   collaborators   |   photos

ARTIST OUTCOMES

Luciana further investigated her questions regarding “infiltration of a viewers’ world with sensation and tactile reflection upon witnessing the choreography” .  She developed movement for The Sublime is Us by experimenting with reflection, primarily in a mirrored dance studio.  After garnering feedback from her own observations, her dancers and our audiences, Luciana left MANCC with a framework for the piece and a solid decision to initially perform The Sublime is Us in dance studios.

COMMUNITY OUTCOMES

Our community tiers were the first audiences to be part of Luciana’s research and experimentation for The Sublime is Us.  They were also the first group to provide feedback and consequently see a progression of her movement and idea development for the work.

BIOGRAPHY

Luciana Achugar is a Brooklyn based Uruguayan choreographer. After moving to New York upon graduation from Cal Arts in 1995, Achugar danced with several choreographers, including Chameckilerner and John Jasperse Company.  From 1999 to 2003, she worked in a close collaborative relationship with choreographer Levi Gonzalez. Their work was presented in New York by Dixon Place, Movement Research at Judson Church, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Dance-in-Progress at The Kitchen, and at Dance Theater.  Achugar has also worked collaboratively with visual artists Marcos Rosales and Michael Mahalchick.

Since 2002 Achugar has created five independent works: SUPERella (2002), New Flesh Order (2003), A Super Natural Return to Love (2004), Exhausting Love at Danspace Project (2006), and Franny and Zooey (2007).  Her work has been presented in New York at Movement Research’s MELT Summer Dance Festival (July 2002); Food for Thought at Danspace Project (October 2002); the Ensemble Studio Theatre (December 2002); The Latino American Dance: Not Festival Project as part of Danspace Project's Out of Space series (April 2003); Canada Art Gallery (January 2004); and Dance Theatre Workshop (December 2004); Danspace Project (2006) and Dance Theatre Workshop for The Nothing Festival (2007); and in Montevideo, Uruguay at the Festival Iberoamericano de Danza (July 2000).

Achugar was a 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence, a program funded by the Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of the New York Community Trust. She was an Artist-in-Residency at Bennington College and the LEX-Dance Summer Residency in 2002 and 2006.  Her work has received support from the Meet the Composer Fund; the Puffin Foundation; The Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund; and with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Barnard College for the Sugar Salon Program.
 

COLLABORATORS

Hilary Clark, dancer
Jennifer Kjos, dancer
Melanie Maar, dancer
JM Leary, dancer