Rodin Reanimated through Music, Dance, and Images at Bronxville Library Friday, November 22

Oct. 30, 2013: A performance of a new multimedia work, Bronze in the Digital Age: Rodin Reanimated through Music, Dance and Image, will take place at 7:00 pm on Friday, November 22, 2013, in the Yeager Room at the Bronxville Public Library.
Composer and musician Jordan McLean describes the site-specific work as an "immersive reflection on the hundred years since Rodin succeeded in endowing sculpture with the human spirit."
McLean was commissioned to create an original musical composition with modern dance performance to mark Rodin in Bronxville, a community-wide celebration organized by the Bronxville Chamber of Commerce and inspired by Rodin's portrait sculptures on view at the OSilas Gallery through November 27. McLean’s addition of projected images as part of the performance recognizes master photographer Edward Steichen's admiration for the sculptor.
One can imagine that Rodin would have appreciated several aspects of McLean's upcoming work as they incorporate some of his signature groundbreaking artistic practices. Rodin departed from established styles of sculpture by creating the illusion of movement, recycling his own works, and recombining them to create new meaning.
Each of these ideas will be reflected in Bronze in the Digital Age, in which the movement of dance is accompanied by music and projected images. McLean hopes his work will contribute to the redefinition of sculpture for today's audience.
McLean has been active as a bandleader and trumpeter for more than 15 years, having collaborated with musicians, ensembles, and performance organizations worldwide. He was associate musical director for the Tony Award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones on the production of the Broadway musical FELA! and has served as an associate conductor for the Grammy Award-winning Orchestra of Our Time.
The program has received the support of the Friends of the Bronxville Public Library, which, according to Director Gabriella Radujko, "signals the community's appreciation for the arts and the library's commitment to working collaboratively with local cultural organizations like the OSilas Gallery at Concordia College."
The Rodin exhibition has generated a great deal of excitement about the sculptor through the many events organized throughout Bronxville. "Villagers have had many opportunities to learn about the significance of Rodin's artistic genius," said Radujko.
Photo courtesy OSilas Gallery







