Another Language, Telematic Performance

InterPlay - Dancing on the Banks of Packet Creek (2006) Telematic, Access Grid Performance

Jimmy Miklavcic - is the Founding Executive Director of Another Language Performing Arts Company and the director of the InterPlay series, a telematic collaborative performance form. A mixture of computer science, visual arts, music composition, acting, and multimedia experience textures Jimmy's artistic background. In 1972, he began his visual arts studies at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Focused mainly on painting, he also became involved in other artists' projects in theater, performance art, and music. In 1978 he continued his studies in Performing Arts, including acting, technical theatre and electronic music at Cabrillo Community College, Aptos, CA. Shortly after arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah, Jimmy returned to study computer science at the University of Utah. He graduated in 1987 with a BS in Computer Science. Jimmy is currently the Multimedia Specialist for the Center for High Performance Computing at the University of Utah. He is the founder of ArtGrid, an informal consortium of artists and technologists that utilize the Access Grid technology for artistic pursuits. He has been awarded the Salt Lake City Mayor's Artists Award for the Performing Arts.

Elizabeth Ann Miklavcic - is the Founding Artistic Director of Another Language Performing Arts Company established 1985. She is a choreographer, actress, filmmaker and performance artist. Beth serves as the assistant director of the InterPlay performance series. She has over thirty years of professional performance experience and is dedicated to the positive influence that artistic expression brings to the world in which we live.

In 2003, Another Language's success with the pilot project Interplay: Intransitive Senses has encouraged continued groundbreaking explorations in this world wide forum as a new venue for works created by Another Language. For Intransitive Senses (2003), Beth created and performed Tea Party, additional InterPlay works include The Surface of Things for InterPlay: Hallucinations (2004) and Dressers for InterPlay: Loose Minds in a Box (2005). All works have received International attention. In addition, Beth is a multi-media specialist at the University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing. She uses programs such as the Adobe Suite, Macromedia Suite, Maya, Digital Video and DVD Authoring tools, Motion Capture, Access Grid and any other programs she can get her hands on to incorporate them with her artistic creations. Her digital video works have been shown at a variety of film festivals and are available at the University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections Division.

Beth is the recipient of the Utah Arts Festival Mayor's Artist Award for Performing Arts, and has been the recipient of numerous grant awards. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, where she received two Orchesis Honorary Society Dance Awards. Her choreography has been presented nationally and internationally. Beth believes that creativity is a medium for a meaningful life. She holds to the pursuit of artistic expression as an important form of communication and as a barometer for the consciousness of society.

Adam Bateman - was raised in Ephraim, Utah, a place with more turkeys than people and more blue sky than anywhere. He speaks fluent Spanish, Portuguese, and English and thinks that the fundamentals of language hold the secrets of the universe, life, and everything. He stacks things, arranges things, writes things, and attaches things. He likes big buildings as much as he likes the desert panoramas of Utah. He has shown art in three countries, seven states, and eleven cities. His first kiss was on a beach in France-an East Berliner (in 1990) named Katerina. Until now, (he's going through a conversion), he thought Fluxus was strange. Okay, he still does, but he's happy to push himself a little. Adam is currently working as a professional artist, directing the Central Utah Art Center, and Birch Creek Service Ranch, an artist residency progrfam.

Kate Bradford - is performing with Beth Miklavcic in Mind Waves , she is 8 years old (9 in April) and attends third grade at Grace Lutheran School in Sandy, Utah. She loves to draw, write stories, read, knit and play with her Tamagotchi. She also enjoys soccer and skiing. Kate attends Up With Kids and will be playing the part of Mama Bear in their spring performance of Shrek 2 3/4.

Joni Urry Wilson - began to dance with Virginia Tanner at the University of Utah and has continued her dance through life, receiving an Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the U of U and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Mills College in Oakland, California. She has taught and performed throughout the United States and internationally at the Dance and the Child Conferences. Currently, Ms. Wilson is Studio Director for the Tanner Dance Program at the University of Utah, on the Utah Arts Council Artist Bank and a resident artist for Access Dance/Very Special Arts Utah. Her dance teaching includes teaching for advanced dance students, in-school outreach classes, hearing impaired classes and classes for dancers with disabilities. Her dance through life is now a duet with her beautiful daughter Alyssa.

Alyssa Wilson - began dancing at 2 years of age at the Tanner Dance Program at the University of Utah and is now a member of the Children's Dance Theatre. Alyssa has received awards for her own performances and choreography and also enjoys an active career in voice over and film. Mostly, she loves creating, playing with dolls and sparring with her family.

Sam Liston - has been motivated creatively, as of late, in three quite different directions: first photography. His love for capturing abstract images has been moving him more and more toward stop motion photography; no longer working with just an abstract instance in time, but segments. Second, he has developed a passion for creating small art deco wood boxes. Third, with the help of applications like Sotfimage XSI and Maya, 3D animation has become an interesting outlet for creativity.

Shawn Lyons - started pursuing art at an early age, and having lived in several different countries, had a diverse range of inspiration. This inspiration struck him most through a viewfinder when college rolled around, and he acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies at the University of Utah. With little inspiration left, and his right brain tapped out, he then completed a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems at the U of U, and is now a Network Engineer at the Center for High Performance Computing. As he hones his skills to become the perfect computer nerd; remembering his roots, he still finds time to enjoy a dabble, or light smattering of art.

Student Participants

Natalie Murdock - is a Uinta Ute/Northern Paiute from Ft. Duchesne, Utah on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. (www.utetribe.com) Her first experience with multi-media streaming and broadcasting came while working for the student operated radio station, K-UTE 1620AM. (www.kute.org) She held various positions including DJ, Webmaster, Sound Editor & finally Programming Director. Currently, she is a Senior in the Film Studies Division, College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, and is a weekend on-air host for KUER FM90 (www.kuer.org).

Liza Newren - was born in Bountiful, Utah and was raised in Utah. She currently attends the University of Utah and is a senior studying biomedical engineering and minoring in German. She works at the Center for High Performance Computing where she met Jimmy and Beth Miklavcic who introduced her to InterPlay. She has enjoyed helping them in many of their productions and is very excited to help film Dancing on the Banks Of Packet Creek.

Nancy Newren - is currently studying Mathematics at the University of Utah. She hopes to receive her BS December 2006, or die! Her only true obsession is soccer, but she hasn't figured out how she can turn that into a career. Thus, she's dabbling in math research, bioinformatics, and Mary Kay. One day, she hopes to have her car paid off. Nancy enjoys painting, reading, writing, and arithmetic, bubble baths, skipping class, and sleeping in. Recently Nancy's Lappy took ill. She misses her Lappy and prays she'll get better soon. The room just feels empty without Lappy.

University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, Fairbanks, Alaska

Miho Aoki - was born in Tokyo, Japan. She studied at the Advanced Computing Center or Arts and Design and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Ohio State University in 1998. She is currently teaching digital art at University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a joint faculty of Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. Her art works were exhibited at Well Street Art Gallery (Fairbanks, AK), Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (Japan), University of Alaska Museum of the North and Aichi Prefecture Ceramics Museum (Japan). She also participated in multimedia performances and created computer generated graphics for collaborative projects. Recently, she has been involved in long-distance collaborative performances, InterPlay produced by Another Language Performing Arts Company. Her computer generated animation is shown on TV broadcasts on PBS Alaska One and also in PBS NOVA (WGBH Boston) show.

Scott Deal - is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where he is also a Research Affiliate at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. An active performer of new music, he has been a soloist at Sub Tropics New Music Festival, May in Miami, SEAMUS International Electronic Music Conference, He has also performed as a soloist or chamber musician at venues in London, Boston, Washington, DC, Moscow, Russia, as well as throughout the United States. Dr. Deal is president of the Percussive Arts Society Times'>, Alaska Chapter and is a frequent contributor of articles and service to PAS and MENC. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Miami, a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cameron University.

Paul E. Mercer, Jr. - returned to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 2001 to work on a second Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. While studying for his degree, he worked at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center where his research project was the Access Grid. This launched a new career for him at ARSC where he soon became the Access Grid Project Leader. Paul also recruits student employees and guides them through their research projects.

Student Participants:

Chao Peng - was born in Qinhuangdao, China. He got his Bachelor's Degree in Architecture. He is attending the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and he is focus on 3D-animation and computer generated art. He is a graduate research assistant in Arctic Region Supercomputing Center (ARSC), and he has created 3D models and fictitious buildings of Fairbanks around 1910 for a project in ARSC.

Siyuan Wang - was born in China. She got her Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from the Hebei University of Engineering in China. She is attending the University of Alaska Fairbanks for her Master's Degree since September 2005. Her major is Computer Art and, she is a graduate research assistant in Arctic Region Supercomputing Center now.

Dixon Burkett - is a lifelong Alaskan, and a senior in the Arts and Sciences program at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He is a multi-instrumentalist, with a solid background in guitar, bass, drums, keys, and various forms of percussion. Dixon has worked extensively in the field of Internet collaborative recording on various independent projects. In addition, Dixon maintains various side jobs as an audio engineer in the Fairbanks area, and runs the mixing boards during the Telematic Ensemble performances.

Quinton Harris - is a senior at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, finishing up his BS degree in Computer Science. He likes electronic music, Syntax Highlighting, Reser's brand salsa and wool clothing.

Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

Junko Fujiwara Simons - holds a Master of Music from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and a Bachelor of Music from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. She studied with Judy Stone of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra and has also studied with Chicago Symphony Orchestra members Richard Hirschl, John Pegis, Robert Swan, and a master class with principal cellist John Sharp.

Ms. Simons currently is a member of the Kalliope Piano Trio, New England Skyscraper conducted by improvisational jazz artist Butch Morris, the Latitude Jazz Ensemble, Transcendental Snake Charmer Improvisation Ensemble, Black Dust (a new music ensemble), and she holds adjunct faculty positions at Boston College and Phillips Academy in Andover.

Prior to moving to Boston Ms. Simons performed around Wisconsin in such organizations as the Green Bay Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Racine Symphony, Festival City Symphony, and Waukesha Symphony Orchestras.

Robert Putnam - is Senior Systems/Applications Engineer in the Scientific Computing and Visualization Group at Boston University, where he develops audio software and content for teleconferencing and virtual environments.

University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

Nadja Masura - was born and raised in Sonoma County, California, and as such has always had a deep appreciation of nature. Many of her performances revolve around the concept of place. While working with the Art Grid community, in addition to coordinating locally and performing in two Interplays (Hallucinations and Loose Minds in a Box), she authored and coordinated Outside In, a multi-site performance which utilized the poetry and metaphor of Emily Dickinson to parallel to the individual's ability reach outside of one's self through poetic imagination with the Access Grid's ability to connect physically disparate outdoor environments. Recently she has also coordinated Elements, an interdisciplinary digital media performance for which she tended to the creation of Compass Points, an original script created and performed collaboratively online. Nadja came to the University of Maryland (with an MA in Theatre from University of Michigan and Associates degrees in Multimedia) as a Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities fellow in Theatre and Digital Technology. She has received training in media both on campus and at workshops such as Arizona State University's SDAT and with Troika Ranch. She is currently working on her dissertation which investigates the evolving field of Digital Theatre and the ways in which using digital media in live performance can expand our perceptions of the body, place, and community.

Moira Jackson - has been an educator in the fields of dance, drama, and folk arts for the past 30 years. She is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, and received her BFA in Dance from the University of Utah in 1974. Between 1974 - 1978 Moira founded and directed the New Dance Theatre of South Dakota, danced with the F-M Dance Company, co-founded The Plain People, a folk based children's theatre troupe, and was on of the initial instructors at Trollwood Performing Arts Program in Fargo, North Dakota.

Moira received her MA in dance from Ohio State University in 1980. Since then, Moira and her family have lived in the Metropolitan D.C. area. She directs the Fairytale Factory, a children oriented performance vehicle. Moira has performed with Ancient Masks Theatre, Nilema Devi's Indian Dance, The Erika Thimey Dance and Theatre Company, Young Audiences "Moon Singers: Tales of PauPau New Guinea" and has taught dance and drama in a wide variety of area schools and recreation centers. Moira currently dances and choreographs with FUMC's liturgical dance group, and is pursuing a PHD in theatre performance studies, and UMD, College Park. She is the mother of 3 beautiful daughters.

Paul D. Jackson - has been the Technical Director/Lighting Designer for the Department of Dance at the University of Maryland since 1980. He has also been Production Stage Manager/Lighting Designer for Maryland Dance Theater, IMPROVISATIONS UNLIMITED, thompson & trammel, Virginia Repertory Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Theater, North Carolina State University Dance Company, Jan Taylor Dance Theater, Meriam Rosen Dance Theatre Works, Karen and Alvin, Kinetics Dance Theater, Tony Powell/Music & Movement, Lacey & Shade, Mill/Wiltz/Works, The Arts Division of M-NCPPC, Prince George's County, and the Kennedy Center's Washington Dance! Front and Center programs. Emerging as a festival specialist, Paul has been the Production Manager for the National American College Dance Festival gala concerts at the Terrace Theatre and at Tawes Theatre since 1994, and has been Technical Director and Production Manager for three regional ACDFA festivals. Paul received a BFA in dance performance from the University of Utah, and an MA in dance production at the Ohio State University. Paul spent five years pioneering modern dance in the Dakotas with his wife Moira. He remained active as a dancer through the mid '90's, performing in works by Meriam Rosen, Alvin Mayes, Anne Warren, Larry Warren, and Robert Ellis Dunn.

Peter Rogers - hails from the Pacific Northwest and was born and raised a third generation Seattlite, but calls the beautiful Sonoma County, California home. Odd then, that he should be currently living in Maryland. Still, he finds time to pursue his love of writing, and occasionally acting, and has been privileged to perform in Interplay: Loose Minds in a Box. Peter holds a Masters in Theatre Arts, but don't hold that against him. Peter is the Technical Director of the Ugly Duckling Theatre, and Chief Executive Director of the critically acclaimed Rubber Chicken Productions.

Purdue University and the Envision Center for Data Perceptualization, West Lafayette, Indianapolis

Laura Arns - is the Associate Director and a Research Scientist for the Envision Center at Purdue University. She also holds a courtesy Assistant Professor appointment with the Purdue Department of Computer Graphics Technology, where she teaches a graduate course on virtual environments and an undergraduate course on computer graphics programming. Dr. Arns received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Iowa State University in 2002, and also holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Iowa State University and a B.A. in Computer Science and Mathematics from Wartburg College. Prior to joining Purdue, Dr. Arns was a postdoctoral researcher with the Virtual Reality Applications Center at Iowa State University. Her research interests are in the areas of applied virtual environments, human factors in virtual reality, and virtual reality usability. Current research projects include: the use of portable, inexpensive VR technology for teaching and understanding convection flow in the Earth's mantle; and AGJuggler, a toolkit for shared virtual environments via the Access Grid.

Carol Cunningham - is a Professor at Purdue University, serves as Dance Division Chair and teaches courses in technique, choreography, and performance for the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts. In 2001 her choreography was selected for performance at the International Almada Dance Festival in Portugal and in 1996 her work Glass Corridors received Gala honor at the National American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center, Washington D. C. Her current dance works explore the application of real-time performance capture technology in choreography. Carol holds an M.A. and B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Illinois.

Nicolleta Adamo-Villani - is Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University. Prior to joining Purdue, Nicoletta has taught courses in the fields of 3D Modeling, 2D and 3D Animation, Multimedia and Web Design at various institutions in Europe and United States. She has produced award-winning graphics and animations (aired on national television) for companies such as Marvel Comics and Genesis Designs, and she has received public recognition for the design of several web sites. Her special area of expertise is in Character Animation and Character Design. Her current research interest is in the application of 3D Animation to teaching communicative gestures, e.g., American Sign Language, and HCC (Human-Computer Communication).

Student Participants:

Jack Moreland - is a Graduate Student in Purdue University's Computer Graphics Technology program. He has been a percussionist since childhood and continues his musical endeavors in Purdue's band program. His graduate work involves merging music and virtual reality to create a band simulator, capable of playing back music as he user conducts with their hands. Future work will continue in the pursuit of merging music and computer graphics.

Timothy J. Rogers - is primarily focused on the design and creation of innovative learning spaces of the future. By leveraging the power and flexibility of emerging computer graphics techniques and network computing, a day is envisioned where traditional constraints between time/space and viewer/viewed dissolve within the boundaries of persistent, distributed, real-time, presentational spaces. Important areas of research and investigation include: mixed-reality boundaries, presence, co-presence, social-presence, tele-presence, real-time motion capture, and industrial engineering aspects of homuncular flexibility for virtual work.

Jason Knox - is a first year graduate student in theatrical sound design at Purdue University. He has produced award winning music compositions and sound designs for plays such as Amadeus, Metamorphoses, Tongue of a Bird, and Marisol.

Leigh Schanfein - received a BS in animal physiology and neuroscience with a minor in dance from the University of California San Diego in June 2005. She is currently a master's student in biomechanics with the Purdue University department of health and kinesiology. She also studies, performs, choreographs, and teaches ballet and modern dance.