As part of a residency through Dance New Amsterdam and Mt. Tremper Arts in May 2010, I had the opportunity to fully immerse myself into the continued development of my newest evening length work, amidst the beautiful mountainous landscape and with the ultimate liberty of time, space and fresh air.

Having developed part of this future work as an artist-in-residence at Joyce SoHo in New York City, my collaborators Phina Pipia, Jocelyn Tobias, Justin Ternullo and myself, had already established a significant practice from which we continued to cultivate, dismantle, dissect and discover new and evolving material. But we had yet to incorporate the element of music.

I knew that I wanted the sound score of this new piece to be live and that I wanted the music to have it’s own voice, narrating a unique perspective both heard and felt. And when I imagined this ‘voice’ taking the form of live percussion, it offered multiple possibilities for resonance and sensory dynamic, in addition to proposing the fascinating challenge of incorporating such a large instrument and sound into a substantially intimate piece.

Prior to our residency at Mt. Tremper Arts, there was no other opportunity in which I could have my good friend and musician colleague, Chris Powers, spend an entire week with us making a ton of noise in order to find a way to add his presence to it all. Mt. Tremper offered an ideal opportunity and environment to weave in the element of live music.

Getting to Mt. Tremper was a breeze, although follow the directions on the website not Google maps. And leaving the New York bubble was even easier. Nature has a unique way of inspiring even the most unfamiliar and we seemed high upon arrival towards the wholesome, earthy adventure just lying ahead. The potential was vast and endless.

The landscape as I mentioned before was a whole other magical realm. Whether it was watching time seep by while grilling our dinner on the BBQ, or connecting intuitively with our hosts Aynsley and Mathew about art or their exciting upcoming festival, or simply staring at the intense starry night, the phenomenon we were trying to understand and manifest in our own rehearsals was present in everything around us, unforced and un-tethered. It was a shared experience and I do recommend finding some time to hike and get a little lost in it all.

Our week at Mt. Tremper was filled with productive, thoughtful, and invaluable explorations. Mt. Tremper Arts accommodated everything that we needed and we were given complete free reign to orchestrate ourselves as we saw fit. The studio itself was a temple and for a brief moment in time, was a wonderful artistic home.

Thank you Mt. Tremper. Hope to see you again soon.

Julian Barnett
www.julianbarnett.com