(Un)settling Place

Presented in conjunction with Serenades for Settling (Tending Ostreidae) by Stephanie Rothenberg and Suzanne Thorpe.

(Un)settling Place is a kinesthetic response to the disruptions that human generated sounds have on the oyster life cycle, specifically hatching, floating, and planting themselves to create an oyster reef. Using multi-sensorial “listening,” dancers respond in real-time to the visual environment and soundscape of the Serenades for Settling installation, taking the audience on a journey into the oyster experience.

Anne Burnidge (MFA, CLMA, RSME) is a dancer, dance-maker, and mind-body coach and an Associate Professor and Director of Dance at SUNY Buffalo. She has presented over 20 dances nationally and internationally from NYC and Chicago to Mexico and Taiwan. Her choreography often explores the intersections of dance and science, including her newest project "(Un)Settling Place," investigating the impacts of noise pollution on the oyster lifecycle. As a performer, she has danced in works by luminaries Bebe Miller, Meredith Monk, Jacques D’Amboise and Maguy Marin among others. Burnidge’s pedagogical research combines somatics and dance science to explore healthy, holistic dance training methodologies that focus on cultivating the whole person/artist. She specializes in teaching contemporary dance, ballet technique, dance making, kinesiology and movement analysis. Burnidge was the inaugural recipient of the NDEO Top Paper Citation for "Somatics in the Dance Studio: Embodying Feminist/Democratic Pedagogy.” She has been a member of the Dance Science and Somatics Educators organizing board since 2009, and regularly presents her research at IADMS, DSSE, ISMETA, DSA, and NDEO.