Q & A: Whitney Hunter

This months cover by K.K.W,
with layout by Aleksandar Ares

Whitney V Hunter: What's going on? by K.K.W

Whitney V Hunter is a visual/performance artist, choreographer and curator. He recently came back to NYC from a trip to Tuscany, the details of which we had to know.

Whitney V Hunter. Image courtesy of the artist

SP: Given that you are an established creative individual here in NYC, what spurred  your trip abroad?  

WH: I am enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Philosophy, Art Theory and Aesthetics at the Institute for the Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) and the first seminar of the semester occurs abroad, in the Tuscan Region of Italy to be specific.

SP: What did your trip to Italy comprise and how did you make arrangements ?  

WH: The trip comprised of an intense two-week topological seminar in Tenuta di Spannochia (an agrarian farm village in Tuscany).  From there wevtook day trips to Siena, Florence, and finally a week-long visit to Venice for the Biennale.  From there, to recuperate from this intense academic venture, I took a vacation in Rome, as I had never been there before.  

Arrangements were made by the school and then I planned my own Roman holiday.

SP: How do you find contemporary dance in the sector of Italy you were in? Does it compare to NYC on the same level? 

WH: Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see any dance while I was there.  However, my friend and host Jacqueline Bulnes is doing some great work in Rome with her groups Panini 2 Life and I Twistinkers.  She is pushing the boundaries on dance and physical theatre and creating some great accompanying video works.  I think contemporary dance is about fusion.  It is about taking those pre-existing forms and re-using them, inverting them, and really turning them inside-out and upside- down to find new wholistic ways to communicate with the body.  My interest is just that.  In fact, it isn't new, it's simply returning it [the body] back to the point where the performer is allowed to involve their complete body.  So, in my performance workshops, of which I had a chance to teach in Rome, I push the participants to think of themselves in a non-exclusive way, not a dancer, not an actor, not a singer, but all.  It's a process of seamlessly moving in and out of these physical experiences.

SP: Clearly there must have been time for fun while you were there, and memorable moments of going wild & native ?

WH: Well, we had great meals in Tuscany, I went to the beach a couple of times in Venice, and I zoomed around Rome on a scooter with one of the participants from my workshop who had a scooter.  That for me was quite exhilarating.

SP: Now that your back in NYC, what's next?

WH: I am preparing to present a durational performance work with my friend and collaborator Andre M. Zachery for the Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival; we will be included in the July 14th exhibition of works at Gowanus Ballroom.  Also, a show that I have curated will open on July 7th and is being produced by Topaz Arts in Queens.  It is the first solo show of a friend and artistic partner, UK-based portrait photographer, Sylvain Guenot.  The exhibition is a series of photography portraits of NYC-based dancers and choreographers.  The exhibition is entitled InAction:  The Virtuosity of Presence, and will be on view from July 7th - 27 with a opening reception on the 7th.

"The Colosseum", Rome Italy.
Photo by Whitney V Hunter.

AD photo for InAction: The virtuosity of presence.
Image courtesy of Whitney V Hunter.
Photos by Sylvain Guenot.

If you would like to know more, go to:www.topazarts.org, or:www.whitneyhunter.com. "Art is the reason, art is the way" If you would like to leave an opinion: click comment, then anonymous & add what you want with your name. Cheers! Pour La Victoire Easton Pump (Google Affiliate Ad)Dockers Castaway Boat Shoes - Men (Google Affiliate Ad)Rock And Republic Platform High Heels - Women (Google Affiliate Ad)