Dancing Slow with Omayra Amaya

I'm really sorry I missed the exhibition, Slow Dancing, last year at Lincoln Center and this year in June at the Venice Biennale. "Slow Dancing is a series of 43 larger-than-life, hyper-slow-motion video portraits of dancers and choreographers from around the world, displayed on multiple screens. Each subject's movement (approximately 5 seconds long) was shot on a specially constructed set using a high-speed, high-definition camera recording at 1,000 frames per second (standard film captures 30 frames per second). The result is approximately 10 minutes of extreme slow motion. The trio of portraits will be randomly selected for each cycle, allowing viewers to simultaneously compare dancers from different styles and cultures." (Excerpt taken directly from the website www.slowdancingfilms.com)

Omayra Amaya (www.omayraamaya.com) is among the 43 dancers included in the project. Since moving to New York I've been taking classes with her in which she teaches with superior knowledge of the body, posture, tension, and ease. As dancers we can learn choreographies that are lost in the motions if we don't first learn about our bodies and what it truly means to dance from the core. Omayra's reach extends far from the East Coast as many well known dancer's in Arizona and the west tribute Omayra with their dancing style and success including; Angelina Ramirez, Yumi La Rosa, and Julia Chacon. I'll be eagerly awaiting Slow Dancing's next performance if only to see Omayra's grace in slow motion.

There are photos of Slow Dancing at the Lincoln Center Festival 2007 as well as a video excerpt of one participant.