Join us for a special event exploring the migration of Monarch butterflies through sound and movement.
Award-winning composer, sound artist, and performer Rob Mackay will discuss his interdisciplinary acoustic ecology project, called “Following the Flight of Monarchs,” which brings together artists and scientists and connects with ecosystems and communities along monarch butterflies' migration routes, which travel the 3,000-mile journey between Mexico and Canada each year.
Professional dancer and choreographer Paty Lorena Solórzano will share her research-based artistic process and how her personal journey as an immigrant from Michoacán, Mexico (where the Monarch butterflies return each year to winter) ties to her project, called “Danzas Migratorias: Choreography for the Monarch Butterfly.”
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About the Performance
Performance: Paty Lorena Solórzano (dance and choreography) y Rob Mackay (flute, eco-acoustics)
Poetry: "memoria entre alas" by Paty Lorena Solórzano, sound by Daniel Rosas
"memoria entre alas" is an eco-acoustic and eco-dance, poetic intervention. The duet invites the public to contemplate the natural and cultural phenomenon of the migration of the Monarch Butterfly. The dance and music respond to their environment by transforming body and sound space into a sacred place of embodiment. The movement language was developed from scientific observations and movement research conducted in the Monarch sanctuaries, while the music includes eco-acoustic sounds transmitted live from Cerro Pelón. This creates a dynamic and captivating interaction between dance, music, and ecology.
About Following the Flight of Monarchs
Following the Flight of the Monarchs, is an interdisciplinary acoustic ecology project bringing together artists and scientists, connecting with ecosystems and communities along the migration routes of monarch butterflies as they travel the 3,000 mile journey between Mexico and Canada each year.
Streamboxes are being installed along the monarch butterfly migration routes between Canada and Mexico. These livestream the soundscapes of these different ecosystems 24/7 via the Locus Sonus Soundmap (http://locusonus.org/soundmap/051/). The first of the boxes was successfully installed in the Cerro Pelón UNESCO monarch butterfly reserve in Mexico in 2018, and a subsequent one installed at Point Pelee National Park in Canada in 2019. The streams are being used for ecosystem monitoring as well as integrating into artworks which are raising awareness of the issues the monarchs face, whose numbers have declined by nearly 90% over the past two decades.
Artefacts produced so far include a touring installation (presented at the Eden Project, and various international conferences and festivals; a networked telematic performance; and a radio programme for BBC Radio 3 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qyhz).
About Danzas Migratorias: Choreography for the Monarch Butterfly
Danzas Migratorias: Choreography for the Monarch Butterfly, 2021-22 National Endowment for Culture and the Aarts Mexico "Young Creators," assembles ecology and social practice with the choreography in public spaces. The project includes a series of on-site dances along the Monarch's migratory route, improvisational scores, a video dance, eco-dance workshops, collaborations with artists and scientists, and an archive of migration stories.
Different versions of the project have been presented at La Universidad de las Américas Puebla, the Monarch Butterfly Biocultural Festival in Ocampo, Michoacán; Visiones Sonoras at CMMAS in Morelia; the Francisco Peláez Ethnobotanical Garden in Cholula, Puebla; Diverse Intelligences' Storytellers Salon at St. Andrews University, Scotland, and videos have been recorded at the Cerro Pelón Sanctuary with the Monarchdipity collective.
Bios
Paty Lorena Solórzano
(b. Morelia, MX)
Paty Lorena Solórzano (b. Morelia, MX), is an independent bi-national choreographer, dancer and teacher. She directs giraSOLa dance, a platform for her choreographic projects. Recipient of a National Endowment for Culture and the Arts Mexico "Young Creators" 2021-22 award, her practice as an artist is guided by improvisation, walking, memory and connection to place. Her independent projects touch on personal themes from her experience as a being ni de aquí, ni de allá, and are inspired by science and nature to create abstract worlds in motion. With a poetic imaginary, her choreographies have been presented by Primate Escénico, Performática, Dance Source Houston, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, Texas Latino/a/x Contemporary Dance Festival, Detroit Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts, Florida Dance Festival, Triskelion Arts, Dance@DMAC, AUNTS and Movement Research at Judson Church New York, among others. She has been an artist-in-residence at Keshet Makerspace, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Guapamácataro Center for Arts & Ecology, among others. In 2023, she was a Storyteller Fellow of the Diverse Intelligences Institute program at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. With more than 15 years of teaching experience, she has taught in festivals, universities and schools including the University of Michigan, Riverside Community College, Ohio University and the University of the Americas Puebla as assistant professor of dance and Artistic Director of Danza UDLAP 2019-2023. Paty is a collaborator and dancer with jill sigman | thinkdance (New York), ChavasseDance & Performance (Michigan), PDCdance (Texas), and the Monarchdipity collective. She also co-directs Confluencia Dinámica, a teaching and performance collaboration in Cholula, Puebla with Cinthia Pérez Navarro (MX). A fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Institute in San Antonio, TX (NALAC) in 2018. She received her BFA in Dance from Texas Christian University and her MFA in Choreography and Performance from the University of Michigan.
More information at girasoladances.com
Rob Mackay
Rob Mackay is an award-winning composer, sound artist and performer. Recent projects have moved towards a cross-disciplinary approach, including geology, soundscape ecology, theatre, audiovisual installation work, and human-computer interaction. His work has been performed in 18 countries (including several performances on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 1 and Radio France), and a number of his pieces have received international awards (Bourges (1997 and 2001), EAR (1999), La Muse en Circuit (2007)). He has held composer residencies at Slovak Radio (Bratislava), La Muse en Circuit (Paris), the Tyrone Guthrie Arts Centre (Ireland), Habitación del Ruido (Mexico City), and CMMAS (Morelia).
Rob is currently a Senior Lecturer in Composition at Newcastle University. Previously, he was a Reader in Music at the University of Hull where he directed HEARO (Hull Electroacoustic Resonance Orchestra). He is also the Chair of UKISC (UK and Ireland Soundscape Community), an affiliate of the WFAE (World Forum for Acoustic Ecology).
More information and pieces at: https://robmackay.net