© Malcolm Betts
Through confessional story-telling and a raw and sensual mash-up of music, dance and film, Mersiha Mesihovic's BOSNIANBORN examines diasporic experience, identity, and the struggle for self-determination as a refugee and immigrant within the context of western society and culture. How do you legitimize your existence in the world? How do you share personal stories when they intersect with topics like genocide and fear? Mesihovic’s performance and the structure of her studio practice imagine and articulate the justice and liberation she seeks. Created in collaboration with filmmaker Aitor Mendilibar and composer Visnja Krzic.
During her residence Mesihovic will offer FREE morning dance classes in her own movement methodology: EMBODIMENT.
ARTIST'S BIOS
Mersiha Mesihovic, is a Bosnian/Swedish dance artist & the founder/artistic director of CIRCUITDEBRIS, a space for interdisciplinarity, radical dance, and community engagement. Mesihovic received her training at Balettakademien in Stockholm, Sweden, Sarajevo National Ballet School in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iwanson International School for Contemporary Dance in Munich, Germany and holds a BFA in Dance & Choreography from California Institute of the Arts. She has danced in works by contemporary icons as Ohad Naharin, Colin Connor, Trisha Brown, Rami Beer, and has collaborated closely with Karen Bernard, Reggie Wilson, Jaamil Kosoko and saxophonist/composer James Brandon Lewis. Her work has been presented internationally and received support from New Dance Alliance and New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2015 she was a dramaturg for Kosoko’s critically praised #negrophobia. Currently, Mesihovic resides in New York where she is actively developing her unique movement method EMBODIMENT and teaches at a wide range of institutions and cultural organizations in US and abroad, including Gibney Dance Center and Peridance Capezio Ceneter in New York. She is a frequent guest lecturer at the Wits University in Johannesburg and the TUT University in Pretoria South Africa.
Aitor Mendilibar is a New York-based filmmaker and cinematographer. He is originally from Basque Country, where he received degrees in computer science, telecommunications and audio/visual production. While in Basque Country he worked in production and post-production on music videos, short films and commercials. In 2012, he moved to New York City to study documentary filmmaking at New York Film Academy. Since graduating he has worked as a cinematographer and editor for documentaries, narrative films, TV shows, music videos, live performances, among other projects. He also creates his own content and collaborates with artists across genres. Mendilibar is currently collaborating with choreographers Reggie Wilson and Raja Feather Kelly.
Visnja Krzic hails from Belgrade, Serbia, where she began her music education at an early age, first as a piano player and later as a composer. While in Serbia, she also worked as an assistant of famous Balkan composer Goran Bregovic. She holds a Ph.D in Music Composition from UCLA, where she studied with composers Paul Chihara and Ian Krouse, and musicologists Robert Fink and Susan McClary. She was has particpated in numerous master classes and music festivals, such as Atelier Acanthes in Metz (France), Young Composers Meeting in Apeldoorn (Netherlands), Bartok Festival in Szombathely (Hungary), Young Artists Festival in Bayreuth (Germany), and Summer Academy at Mozarteum in Salzburg (Austria). She currently resides in New York City.
BRIClab is a commissioning and residency program that offers local artists time and space to explore and expand the possibilities of their work in music, dance, theater and multi-disciplinary performance. Work-in-progress showings, presented with moderated artist-audience dialogues, open artists’ process and creativity to BRIC’s diverse public. This fall, BRIClab features artists and projects mining ideas of migration, immigration and home.
Venue Information:
The intimate, flexible studio space within BRIC House is dedicated to emerging and mid-career artists, with an audience capacity of 50-75 for rehearsals and performances in a workshop setting.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org