Ryan Heffington

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<channel>
	<title>Ryan Heffington</title>
	<link>http://cargocollective.com</link>
	<description>Ryan Heffington</description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:13:54 +0000</pubDate>
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	<item>
		<title>KTCHN </title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/KTCHN</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/KTCHN</comments>

		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:13:54 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Premiering May 2013]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">5058023</guid>

		<description>Please visit our Indiegogo campaign page and support the making of KTCHN! Just copy the link below and paste it into your browser.

http://igg.me/p/321328/x/2211962

For KTCHN, Heffington will once again be generating a new kind of art experience for Los Angeles audiences. The show is inspired by the paintings of New York based contemporary artist Nolan Hendrickson. As the NY Times noted, "In Mr. Hendrickson’s electric celebration of the active body, everything, including sexuality and the surface of the canvas, is in perpetual motion." It is precisely this aspect of his work that makes Heffington so excited to create dance from his "strenuously athletic" characters. Bridging the gap between a a Broadway musical, a fine art exhibit, a docu-drama and a killer dance party,  this show will define all that is strange, beautiful and “must-see” in Los Angeles. 

KTCHN
May 3-5, 7-9, 14-16, 2013
@ Mack Sennett Studios
Silverlake, CA

&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/TEAM.jpg" width="574" height="464" width_o="574" height_o="464" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/TEAM_o.jpg" data-mid="28465909"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;

Collaborators:
Nolan Hendrickson: Set Designer
Adrian Gilliland: Art Director
Mindy LeBrock: Wardrobe
Producer: Allison Karman
Nathan Kim: Videographer / Archival
Daniel Trese: Photographer
Darin Klein: Zine Creator
Music: Twin Shadow, Autre Ne Veut, Daniel Lanois, Shackelton, Active Child, Dirty Beaches, Low Roar, Alex Krispen, Robbie Williamson, Kadet and more...

Inspiration collages:
&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/COLLAGE1web.jpg" width="468" height="360" width_o="468" height_o="360" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/COLLAGE1web_o.jpg" data-mid="28462058"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/collage2web.jpg" width="527" height="360" width_o="527" height_o="360" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/collage2web_o.jpg" data-mid="28462064"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/collage5web.jpg" width="295" height="360" width_o="295" height_o="360" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/collage5web_o.jpg" data-mid="28462054"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/COLLAGE4web.jpg" width="291" height="360" width_o="291" height_o="360" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/COLLAGE4web_o.jpg" data-mid="28462061"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/collage3web.jpg" width="289" height="360" width_o="289" height_o="360" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/collage3web_o.jpg" data-mid="28462056"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;

The performance will take place at Mack Sennett Studios in the heart of Silverlake, CA. MSS a historic silent sound stage was built in 1916 which has be graced by Barbara Streisand (Funny Girl), Laurel and Hardy, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Dr Dre, Jerry Lee Lewis and hundreds of others. We're thrilled to be creating new history within the studios with KTCHN.

&#60;img src="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/macksennett.jpg" width="670" height="172" width_o="900" height_o="232" src_o="http://payload137.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/5058023/macksennett_o.jpg" data-mid="28461788"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;</description>
		
		<excerpt>Please visit our Indiegogo campaign page and support the making of KTCHN! Just copy the link below and paste it into your browser.  http://igg.me/p/321328/x/2211962...</excerpt>

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	<item>
		<title>COMMERCIAL PROJECTS</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/COMMERCIAL-PROJECTS</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/COMMERCIAL-PROJECTS</comments>

		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:33:19 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Reel + Resume]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3807906</guid>

		<description>Commercial Reel


Commercials:
Evian (Dir: Legs) 
LG Electronics (Dir: YK)
Pizza Hut (Dir: James Frost)
Lunchables (Dir: Clay Weiner)
American Airlines “Flash Mob” (Dir: David Parker) 
Pitch Perfect / MTV VMA promo (Dir: Mark “TMAN” Teitelman)
Oliver Peoples feat. Elijah Wood and Shirley Manson (Dir: Autumn De Wilde)

Music Videos:
Sigur Ros "Fjogur Piano" featuring Shia Labeauf (Dir: Alma H'arel)
Sigur Ros "Brennisteinn" (Dir: Andrew Huang)
No Doubt “Looking Good” (Dir: Melina Matsoukas) 
Ke$ha “Take it off” (Dir: Paul Hunter + Dori Oskowitz / RCA)
The Gossip “Heavy Cross” (Dir: Price James / Columbia)
Charlie Winston “Hello, Hello” (Dir: Andrew Gura)
Jack Penate “Tonight’s Today” (Dir: Alma Harel / XXL)
Her Madjesty + The Wolves “Goodbye, Goodnight” (Dir: Asher Brown / Chime)
Shiny Toy Guns “Ricochet” (Dir: Israel Anthem / Universal)
Nikka Costa “Stuck to You” (Co-choreographer) (Dir: Alma Harel / Go Funk Yourself)
Tiga “You Gonna Want Me” (Dir: Olivier Gondry / Turbo)
Infected Mushroom “Smashing the Opponent” (Dir: Petro Papahadjopoulos / Perfecto Records)
Zee Ami “The Book of Morris Johnson” (Dir: Aran Mann / Bushfire Records)
Saint Motel “Puzzle Pieces” (Dir: AJ Jackson)

Television:
The Grammys / Muse “Uprising” (CBS)
“Rollin with Zack Anner” (OWN Network)
Rupauls Drag Race (3 seasons) - (logo)
“L word” (Showtime)
“My Wife and Kids” (ABC)

Live Performance: 
Target Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular @ Standard Hotel NYC (Mother / Legs)
TED Active - Dance Class / Performance
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Residency - “Heffington Moves Moca” / Engagement Party
Hammer Museum “Trans”
LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) - Let them Eat LACMA / Breaking the Mode
Margaret Cho’s Sensuos Woman - Off Broadway
Science Center “Crime Scene - Las Vegas Revue” 
Colette PARIS / Paper Magazine party “Thriller” dance class
Ke$sha “Animal” World Tour / Today Show
Peaches w/ John Waters @ UCLA
Fischerspooner - LA Standard Hotel
Sony PS3 Party (LA/NYC) 
USC / NEA Journalism Conference - Dance Class (Terence McFarland / Sasha Anawalt)
Fashion Night Out / Opening Ceremony 
Santa Monica Festival - Dance Attack Instruction
</description>
		
		<excerpt>Commercial Reel   Commercials: Evian (Dir: Legs)  LG Electronics (Dir: YK) Pizza Hut (Dir: James Frost) Lunchables (Dir: Clay Weiner) American Airlines “Flash...</excerpt>

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	<item>
		<title>CHOREOGRAPHY REEL</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/CHOREOGRAPHY-REEL</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/CHOREOGRAPHY-REEL</comments>

		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:47:44 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Heffington in brief]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3970309</guid>

		<description>Concert Reel
  from   Vimeo.
Ryan Heffington is a Los Angeles based performance artist, choreographer, designer and self-described dance guru who makes highly theatrical works exploring dance's aesthetic and socio-cultural possibilities. Driven by the impetus to encourage audience involvement, his work is conceived to allow the viewer to engage with the performers and therefore take part in the art making process. Heffington forges collaborations in order to create performances in non-traditional spaces that mix choreography, video, music, dance and costume design. Heffington's expansive approach to dance-as-life-as-art constructs avenues for participation, provides space for the play of identities and roles, and explores the physical presence and impact of diverse bodies, gestures and movements. His highly developed and unique aesthetic promises spectacle of major proportions backed by a movement vocabulary all his own. His work has been presented at MOCA,The Hammer Museum, LACMA, The Getty, Disney Hall’s REDCAT, Charlottenburg Palace, The Armory Show NYC and on major fashion show runways, professional dance stages, numerous TV shows, city streets, parks, roof tops and at some of the grittiest night clubs around the world. </description>
		
		<excerpt>Concert Reel   from   Vimeo. Ryan Heffington is a Los Angeles based performance artist, choreographer, designer and self-described dance guru who makes highly...</excerpt>

		<!--<wfw:commentRss></wfw:commentRss>-->

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	</item>
		
		
	<item>
		<title>CONTACT</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/CONTACT</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/CONTACT</comments>

		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:58:11 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3936800</guid>

		<description>INFO@SIRHEFFINGTON.COM
</description>
		
		<excerpt>INFO@SIRHEFFINGTON.COM </excerpt>

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	<item>
		<title>PRESS</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/PRESS</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/PRESS</comments>

		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:18:53 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3909145</guid>

		<description>Huffington Post - National Dance Day
Interview

LA Record
Interview

WORK Magazine
Interview

NY Times
Article

LA Times
Article

LA Weekly 
Article

LA Times:
Article</description>
		
		<excerpt>Huffington Post - National Dance Day Interview  LA Record Interview  WORK Magazine Interview  NY Times Article  LA Times Article  LA Weekly  Article  LA Times:...</excerpt>

		<!--<wfw:commentRss></wfw:commentRss>-->

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	</item>
		
		
	<item>
		<title>COLLABORATORS</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/COLLABORATORS</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/COLLABORATORS</comments>

		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:42:11 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Fashion / Music / Film / Art]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3809587</guid>

		<description>MoonSpoon Saloon - Danish Couture House
Website Link
Collaborations: Heavy Metal Parking Lot - The Musical/ HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA, Armory Show @ Ace Hotel NYC, Charlottenburg Museum Copenhagen

Alma Ha'rel - Director
Website Link
Collaborations: Sigur Rós - "Fjögur píanó" Short Film, Jack Penate "Tonight's Today" Video, Bajofondo Tango Club "Pa' Bailar" Video, We Are The World "Clay Stones" Video

Kitty McNamee + Hysterica Dance Co. 
Website Link
Co- Artistic Director, In house Costume Designer

Mindy LeBrock + Diana Contreras - Stylists
Website Link
Collaborations: MOCA, Grammys, Sex on A String, Ke$ha, We Are The World, MoonSpoon Saloon 

Haas Brothers - Sculptors
WEBSITE LINK
Collaboration: Heavy Metal Parking Lot / HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA

Eliot Lee Hazel - Photographer
Website Link
Collaborations: MOCA, Sex on A String, Flaunt Magazine, We Are The World, MoonSpoon Saloon

Ishi Glinsky - Sculptor
Website Link
Collaborations: MOCA (Costumes), Sex on A String, Thvm Magazine

Andrew Tonkery - Video Artist
Website Link
Collaborations: MOCA, "WET_OPPORTUNITY"

Jessica Hundley - Writer / Director
Website Link
Collaborations: MOCA, Kachina Short, VOYX Video, Jerome Rousseau Fashion Promo


Nina McNeely - Video Artist
Grey Ant - Fashion Designer
Robbie Williamson / We Are The World - Music
Nicole McDonald - Director 
Amy Jo Diaz - Painter / Collage Artist
</description>
		
		<excerpt>MoonSpoon Saloon - Danish Couture House Website Link Collaborations: Heavy Metal Parking Lot - The Musical/ HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA, Armory Show @ Ace Hotel NYC,...</excerpt>

		<!--<wfw:commentRss></wfw:commentRss>-->

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	</item>
		
		
	<item>
		<title>THE SWEAT SPOT </title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/THE-SWEAT-SPOT</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/THE-SWEAT-SPOT</comments>

		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:06:25 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Heffington's Dance Studio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3808799</guid>

		<description>3327 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-953-8089
info@TheSweatSpotLA.com
www.TheSweatSpotLA.com


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Ryan Heffington's The Sweat Spot opened in June 2010. The goal of his dance studio is to offer adults at any level in their training the opportunity to dance in a warm e non-competitive environment. There is a full schedule that includes pilates, ballet, tap and hip-hop as well as Ryan Heffington's Sweaty Sundays and Wet Wednesdays. Kids classes are also offered as well as events aimed at bringing the local artist community together for networking and inspiration. Studio rental is available to local dance companies for performances, workshops and rehearsals, and to production  companies, visiting artists, film makers and all others creative. His mission is to engage community and to offer an affordable space to support artistis and their endeavors. 

A note from Heffington:
"My classes, SWEATY SUNDAYS and WET WEDNESDAYS" are open-level feel good dance classes where people of all shapes, sizes, and ages come to sweat while exercising their minds and physical beings in the form of dance. It was nearly four years ago that I finally responded to friends and strangers who were inspired by the numerous dance productions we were presenting around Los Angeles (bars, museums, theaters, homes, backyards, etc.) "Is there a beginning class you could recommend?" - "I want to get back into dance again, any advice?" These questions presented themselves too often to ignore. People simply wanted to dance. It was then that I started teaching dance classes early in the evenings at my monthly dance club "Fingered" . The sight of 75 slightly wasted party people in the middle of a club, eager for dance class was incredible! At that moment I made promise to myself by the end of the year I would start a dance class for everyone.

May 25, 2008 SWEATY SUNDAYS was born.

Today, my sold out classes are filled with grandmothers, rockstars, professional dancers, fathers, bakers, bikers, directors, choreographers, therapists, 9-5ers, unemployed artists, trainers, healers, and lovers of the dance. SWEATY SUNDAYS and WET WEDNESDAYS  are safe places to expand your physical being, vibrate on a higher level, and just rock out. They bridge the gap between the dance club, the gym, and church. AMEN!"</description>
		
		<excerpt>3327 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90026 323-953-8089 info@TheSweatSpotLA.com www.TheSweatSpotLA.com     Ryan Heffington's The Sweat Spot opened in June 2010. The...</excerpt>

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	<item>
		<title>COSTUME DESIGNER</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/COSTUME-DESIGNER</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/COSTUME-DESIGNER</comments>

		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:06:23 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Dance / Theater / Music]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3808759</guid>

		<description>COSTUME DESIGN
&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/moca3 copy copy.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/moca3 copy copy_o.jpg" data-mid="20422307"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/CREAM 3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/CREAM 3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422322"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/TRIO 3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/TRIO 3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422329"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/WATW3 copy.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/WATW3 copy_o.jpg" data-mid="20422331"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/BODYPARTY.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/BODYPARTY_o.jpg" data-mid="20422336"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/FINGERED3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/FINGERED3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422340"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/LISA 3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/LISA 3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422343"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/MASKS 3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/MASKS 3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422361"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/BRIGHT 3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/BRIGHT 3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422362"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/COMEDY3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/COMEDY3_o.jpg" data-mid="20422372"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/fingered2.3.jpg" width="670" height="251" width_o="1152" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808759/fingered2.3_o.jpg" data-mid="20449524"  border="0" align="left"/&#62; 	Fullscreen

"At age 8, my first costume entailed tinfoil and cardboard crucifix earrings, a shredded trash bag boa and a shoe string necklace - I was preparing to WIN the Madonna look alike contest at the local roller rink. My mother however, didn't allow me out of the house with such eccentric passion which sparking my need for greater expression I remember.  Throughout middle and high school and into years after college I created extravagant looks for choreographic pieces I'd created for school and competitions. In 1996, my underground cabaret performance troupe "Psycho Dance Sho" proved a forum for my bountiful creativity in costume design. Before collecting a proper sewing machine, I would drape, hand sew and duct tape dancers into their costumes, creating couture silhouettes, matching jewelry and complimentary yarn wigs with detailed cardboard genitalia to complete my characters. In 1999 I debuted "Rock'n Sissy" clothing line and soon through word of mouth dancers, choreographers, stylists and rock queen Gwen Stephani requested my pieces. My mothers gift of a sewing machine at 26th changed my life. With machine in hand and inspiration from my partner at the time, fashion designer Grant Krajecki, I soon developed my sewing techniques, pattern making and design skills that procured my newest line "Sir Heffington". Blurring aesthetic lines of male and female qualities, layering techniques and hand printed shirts were my signature. Beck, J-Lo, Mick Jagger, Britney, and Dave Navarro were a few of rock royalty along side dance and theater companies that adorned my designs."

Having the understanding of movement practicality coupled by his unbridled creativity, his costumes are the perfect combination of storytelling and technical structure. It's the rare opportunity to create dance works with fully realized aesthetic direction that makes Heffington's work so unique. With his designs come fantastical manifested worlds and enriched, accessible characters (as extravagant as they may be) with qualities of human desires, strife and love.

Today, Heffington's design credits include national dance companies, theater companies and performative artists including Collage Dance Theater, Hysterica Dance Company and Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company as well as commissions for major films, music videos and fashion publications. 

</description>
		
		<excerpt>COSTUME DESIGN   "At age 8, my first costume entailed tinfoil and cardboard crucifix earrings, a shredded trash bag boa and a shoe string necklace - I was preparing...</excerpt>

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	<item>
		<title>PROJECTS</title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/PROJECTS</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/PROJECTS</comments>

		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 19:53:25 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Live Performance + Video Work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3808748</guid>

		<description>HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA
Engagement Party Residency
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California
For his Engagement Party residency, Heffington presented Heffington Moves MOCA, a three-part series of participatory dance-based artworks. 

HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA - ENGAGEMENT PARTY RESIDENCY
"GET YOUR LEAD OUT"
GET YOUR LEAD OUT invited the audience to sketch a series of tableaux, inspired by the tradition of still-life painting, in which dancers performed. The title connotes both the act of drawing and the lightness of the dancers’ movements. Placed into scenes resembling (almost) still-life paintings, the performers were dressed in couture costumes that suggested recognizable objects such as flowers, seashells, and taxidermy animals—all traditional still-life subjects. Moving slowly and interacting with simple props to create shifting compositions, they got the lead out, removing the weight of the genre and bringing stillness to life.

 GET YOUR LEAD OUT from MOCA on Vimeo.


"HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT - THE MUSICAL"
The punk-rock dance event HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT: THE MUSICAL, was a wild collage of performances inspired by the influence of MTV on small-town America during the years it first debuted. Inspired by the 1986 documentary of the same name chronicling the tailgating antics of heavy-metal fans, HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT payed homage to the MTV that gave hope to a generation by offering it an escape from the banality of everyday life and the embrace of a collective identity through music. The work featured music by WE ARE THE WORLD and Zig Zags; fashion by MoonSpoon Saloon; sculpture by Zwilling Haas and Mindy LeBrock; lighting by Ryan Granich;  styling by Diana Contreras and Hair by Yuya Takahashi. Heffington orchestrated over 40+ performers ranging from dancers, musicians, an Opera singer and models posing as hood ornaments.

Event Footage:
 HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT: THE MUSICAL from MOCA on Vimeo.

PROMOTIONAL TEASER 
Directed by Heffington
Editor: Darwin Serink, Music: Zig Zags
 Teaser: Heavy Metal Parking Lot The Musical from MOCA on Vimeo.


"SEX ON A STRING" (2009)
"Sex On A String", self produced by Heffington, disrupted traditional performance space expectations by bringing dance out of the galleries and theaters and into streets of east-side LA. Ryan, for this roving installation, inquired with a list of Los Angeles artists with disciplines including film editing, fashion design, music, sculpture and his core group of dancers to perform in order to create several vignettes under his theme of voyeurism, secrets and love crimes. Hundreds of voyeurs met at a disclosed bar where they were herded up hills, into car ports, through Elysian Park and into neighborhood homes to experience this unique play on performance. Their path endowed with a 20ft noose, a blood red macrame curtain that disrupted traffic, a 4 story peepshow and shadow play that encompassed a mountain. Video trickery instantly propelled audience members into these intimate scenes while echoing vocal work invited them into the minds of the performers. Part museum tour, part roving night club, this transient installation redefined dance for many Los Angeles art enthusiasts. 

&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820327-Stillplaying.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820327-Stillplaying_o.jpg" data-mid="20182211"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819239-Iloveyoubut.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819239-Iloveyoubut_o.jpg" data-mid="20182263"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819240-Killingher.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819240-Killingher_o.jpg" data-mid="20182277"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819238-Ikilledher.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819238-Ikilledher_o.jpg" data-mid="20182282"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820318-Peekers.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820318-Peekers_o.jpg" data-mid="20182289"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820319-Handsup.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820319-Handsup_o.jpg" data-mid="20182305"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820320-Almostthere.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820320-Almostthere_o.jpg" data-mid="20182327"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820329-Olgaleftcorner.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1820329-Olgaleftcorner_o.jpg" data-mid="20182343"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819237-Piekabooagain.jpg" width="670" height="446" width_o="960" height_o="640" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3808748/PageImage-484794-1819237-Piekabooagain_o.jpg" data-mid="20182608"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;
Photos: Eliot Lee Hazel

Sigur Rós - "Fjögur Píanó"  (2012)
Directed by Alma Ha'rel
With alarming imagery and over 2 million web views in 2 days this short film may leave you confused and breathless. Heffington worked closely with long time collaborator Ha'rel to develop a movement language complimenting the dramatic story of a couple trapped within a arresting cycle that is their relationship. Drawing on gestures from humorous to abrasive, Heffington relayed the depth of the human spirit that is complex in nature. 

 Sigur Rós - Fjögur píanó from Sigur Rós on Vimeo.

"Target Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular" (2010) @ The Standard Hotel NYC 

***Awards***
TED Talks' Top 10 Ads Worth Spreading / Best Choreography for Live - Concert Performance by World Dance Awards /  Gold Lion in Stunts + Advertising at Cannes / Best Branding -  Brand Experience &#38; Environments by D&#38;AD / AICP MOMA  Next Awards for Integrated Campaigns

Heffington, with Legs Media and Mother NY, took over the southern facade of The Standard Hotel for this single night extravaganza of music, dance,  and fashion. Backed by a 30 piece orchestra, 155 rooms with 66 dancers inside were turned into giant animated pixels, bringing a 20 minute live experience to the people in the streets below. It received 160 million media impressions and has been shared online over 12.6 million times. The need for precise articulation, timing and execution was the greatest challenge for the creators and performers. Heffington and his crew created pages and pages of grids and maps to ensure that each of the 66 dancers knew their trackd and timing. He utilized hotel room mock ups for the dancer's rigorous rehearsals to assist in getting the proper timing for costume and room changes and spent  hours  on second by second dictation of movement and corresponding lighting. With only 4 hours of rehearsal in the hotel the night before - reahearsals and  pre-production were of essence. The final result was a completely live event that enthralled hundreds in the streets of Ny and could be seen as far away as New Jersey
 Target Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular from LEGS MEDIA on Vimeo.

 Fallen Fruit, Let them Eat LACMA (2010)
David Burns, Matias Viegener and Austin Young of Fallen Fruit curated a one-day event where several artists and collectives activated, intervened, and re-imagined the entire museum’s campus and galleries. Peppered with interactive talks, performances, and events, Let them Eat LACMA expanded museum goers perception of art, food, and the museum.

Heffington along WE ARE THE WORLD premiered "CONSUMED" - a performance engaged with dance, live music, costumes and audience that examined our future based on the fact that food and water sources have been contaminated with pesticides, drugs and other poisons. Children whom easily digest non-sense programing are unveiled as victims along side parents who too are numbed by media and food regulation reports ensuring a rebuttal, if proposed at all, that is weak at most.

The band took a doo wop approach with music, alluding to the industrialization of food and the degrading quality that followed. Ryan created costumes that reflected bodily infections from poisoned food intake. The choreography incorporated hand jive gestures and violent body thrusts reminiscent of heart seizures. 





HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA / ENGAGEMENT PARTY RESIDENCY
"…AND NOW WE ALL DANCE!" 
"...AND NOW WE ALL DANCE!" comprised an engaging dance environment installed for a single evening under the outdoor canopy at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Developed with a group of artists, musicians, and performers collectively known as The East Siders, this work attempted to literally move the viewer, who was invited to complete the piece through freestyle dancing as well as by participating in a variety of activities, including two classes taught by Heffington, during the three-hour event. The project also included live choreographed performances by the Sweaty Sunday Dancers and the Fingered Dancers and costume designs conceived especially for the occasion. The work was complemented by music by DJ Trident and video projections created by Heffington and artists Jessica Hundley, Nicole McDonald, Nina McNeely, Steven Synstelien, and Andrew Tonkery. 

The possibility of connection and communication—the exchange of energy and ideas through physical movement—is Heffington’s primary inspiration. …AND NOW WE ALL DANCE! presented an opportunity to realize his utopian vision of disparate individuals transformed into a dynamic community through a collective experience of joy and freedom on the disco dance floor.

 ...AND NOW WE ALL DANCE from MOCA on Vimeo.

"WET_OPPORTUNITY" (2011)
Directed by Andrew Tonkery 
Choreography + Costumes by Heffington
Click to view video</description>
		
		<excerpt>HEFFINGTON MOVES MOCA Engagement Party Residency Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California For his Engagement Party residency, Heffington presented...</excerpt>

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	</item>
		
		
	<item>
		<title>ABOUT HEFFINGTON </title>
				
		<link>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/ABOUT-HEFFINGTON</link>

		<comments>http://cargocollective.com/HEFFINGTON/following/HEFFINGTON/ABOUT-HEFFINGTON</comments>

		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:17:03 +0000</pubDate>

		<dc:creator>Ryan Heffington</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Artist / Choreographer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">3807913</guid>

		<description>&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3807913/jrcircles.jpg" width="334" height="432" width_o="334" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3807913/jrcircles_o.jpg" data-mid="20076207"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3807913/LA WEEKLY JUMP LARGE.jpg" width="330" height="432" width_o="330" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3807913/LA WEEKLY JUMP LARGE_o.jpg" data-mid="20076211"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;&#60;img src="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3807913/voguejump.jpg" width="590" height="432" width_o="590" height_o="432" src_o="http://payload75.cargocollective.com/1/8/265656/3807913/voguejump_o.jpg" data-mid="20076231"  border="0" align="left"/&#62;
	Fullscreen


Ryan Heffington - Choreographer

Ryan Heffington (b.1973, Yuba CIty, California) is a performance artist, choreographer, designer and self-described dance guru who makes highly theatrical works exploring dance's aesthetic and socio-cultural possibilities. Since arriving in Los Angeles in 1991, Heffington has forged collaborations in order to create performances and site specific projects that mix choreography, video, music, dance and costume design. He was co-artistic director of Hysterica Dance Company, a founding member of the dance-performance band WE ARE THE WORLD and the owner of The Sweat Spot dance studio in Silverlake. Driven by the impetus to encourage audince involvement, his work is conceived to allow the viewer to engage with the performers and therefore take part in the art making process. Attentive to the relationship of the body to the ephemeral moment, Heffington's work also brings to light the collective experience of many bodies housed in a choreographed space. Extending the intersection of art, performance and dance as pioneered by artists such as Merce Cunningham, Joan Jonas, Robert Rauschenberg, and Yvonne Rainer, Heffington's expansive approach to dance-as-life-as-art constructs avenues for participation, provides space for the play of identities and roles, and explores the physical presence and impact of diverse bodies, gestures and movements. 

Ryan's exhaustive resume has expanded to include work that has been presented in national art galleries, on fashion show runways, professional dance stages, numerous TV shows and at some of the grittiest night clubs around the world. He has been described as both "a mad Bob Fosse with a sewing machine" and "Martha Graham on meth" by the Los Angeles Times, "A force to be reckond with" by Huffington Post and "a fucking genius" by Blackbook Magazine. 

In 1996 Heffington and Bubba Carr joined choreographic forces and created "Psycho Dance Sho," a punk influenced, gender bending cabaret style nightclub act that would run for the next four years in Los Angeles. The couple described their revue as "a psycho-sexual mash-up between Vaudeville, Gallagher, Lucille Ball, Wendy O. Williams, Bob Fosse, Pina Bausch and PJ Harvey," but  it was the men's DIY creative aesthetic that ultimately defined this tipsy midnight circus. With sewing skills and bank accounts lacking, Heffington and Carr duct taped girls into "couture" draped dresses and adorned their muses in homemade yarn wigs, cardboard genitalia and hand-me-down costumes, bringing a dirty high art quality into crusty dive bars. The raunchy and explosive shows were structured around humorous vignettes containing complex story lines and precise dance technique that left no doubt in anyone's mind that these kids were the real deal. "Psycho Dance Sho" offered Heffington a forum for self expression and unbridled creativity  that would later become the mantra for his choreographic journey. In Heffington's world, passion and unabashed creativity reigns paramount. He continues to create new and fantastical worlds by collaging art, dance, fashion and music. Drawing on the talents of highly technical dancers who also have the ability to convey uniquely developed character relationships,  Heffington personally edits a soundtrack that grounds his somewhat schizophrenic stream of storytelling, taking viewers into his world and inviting them into a new and distorted reality that is nevertheless full of sympathy and compassion.  

As an artist, Ryan has staked his claim equally in both the commercial and underground art worlds. High art enthusiasts have experienced his electrifying work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum, Charlottenborg Museum (Copenhagen), REDCAT, Highways and L.A.C.E. Gallery. From 1999 - Present, Ryan is the Co-Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Hysterica Dance Company with which he was nominated for Best Male Performer, Best Small Group Ensemble, and Best Costume Design by the Horton Awards. During the same period, Ryan individually choreographed several site-specific dance projects: "House Party" and "Sex On A String" that disrupted traditional performance space expectations by bringing dance out of the galleries and theaters and into the parks, homes and streets of east-side LA. Part museum tour, part roving night club, these transient installations redefined dance for Los Angeles audiences. 

In 2010, Ryan was commissioned to create "Heffington Moves MOCA," a three month residency as part of the museum's Engagement Party Series. These packed shows included dance classes, performances with interactive projections, and living sculpture art installations. For his finale, Ryan choreographed "Heavy Metal Parking Lot: The Musical" -  a dance punk music performance piece which included two live bands, more than forty dancers, muscle cars, opera singers and costumes by the couture Danish design house "Moon Spoon Saloon." With over 2000 people in the audience, the performance broke attendance records for the museum. 

Also in 2010, Target commissioned Ryan to choreograph for the company's "Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular," a larger than life dance performance in the 144 rooms of the NY Standard Hotel. This spectacle included over 60 dancers, a fashion show, and a light installation that could be seen from the shores of New Jersey. The project was announced by a TED initiative called TED: Ads Worth Spreading - one of the 10 best Ads of 2011. Ryan also received an award for “Outstanding Choreograpy for Concert / Live Performance” by the World Dance Awards for the event. 

As promoter and performer, Ryan has been instrumental in the success of multiple sold-out monthly dance parties such as Sock-It, Fingered and Full Frontal Disco - again, infusing non-traditional performance spaces with his contemporary punk dance choreography. Fingered is where Ryan first introduced midnight dance classes to the masses, thus sparking his idea for "Sweaty Sundays - A Dance Class for Everyone" which he began teaching in 2008. The overwhelming success of this weekly dance class eventually led Ryan to open his dance studio, The Sweat Spot, which aims to make its classes accessible to both the adult beginner and the professional dancer. The studio also serves as a performance space and has hosted various companies and performances less than two years after opening. Ryan continues to teach his ever-growing classes and has traveled as a teacher across the US and to Nicaragua, Tokyo, Germany, Denmark and Canada, spreading his enthusiasm for dance around the world. 

Ryan works under the design alias Sir Heffington, designing for various dance and theater companies, network TV shows, films and super celebs like Britney Spears, Mick Jagger and Beck. He is also a founding member of the Dance/Music Collective WE ARE THE WORLD. On stage, this high-concept masked foursome jump between instruments, vocals and choreography. During their first year together, they toured Europe and the United States opening for Yelle, Tricky and CSS. The Hammer Museum, LACMA and MOCA presented this art music collective as well. Their full length debut album "Clay Stones" is available on iTunes. 

Other noteworthy credits include choreographing Muse's "Uprising" performance at the 2011Grammys and the latest Evian "Live Young" commercial. Ryan has over 10 music videos under his belt including "Tonight's Today" by Jack Penate (directed by Alma H'arel) which was nominated for Best Video by UK MVAs in 2009. Other credits include choreography for The Gossip, Little Dragons, Sigur Ros, Ke$ha, Shiny Toy Guns, Beirut, and Nikka Costa and an episode of "The L Word." He appeared on RuPauls "Drag Race" for 3 seasons as a dance coach, and has continued to perform live with various artists including Ladytron, Peaches, Fischerspooner and The Black Eyed Peas for "So You Think You Can Dance." Ryan also appeared on tour as "Dirty Diana" for Margaret Cho's Off-Broadway show "The Sensuous Woman." More choreographic works can be seen in 2 forthcoming feature films "Vara: A Blessing" and "The East" (Fox Searchlight) starring Alexander Skarsgard, Ellen Page and Brit Marling.

"A blend of Merce Cunningham and Mark Morris with a splash of Freddie Mercury and Peaches"  
											                                                                                                   - someone once said. . . 

_____________________________________________________


Excerpt from the Museum of Contemporary Art's Engagement Party Blog:
Every once in a while an artist comes along and reinvigorates a community. For our generation and our city, this is Ryan Heffington. For the last 10 years, Heffington has been performing in and choreographing an array of dance and dance-related events. Orchestrating large-scale spectacles and awe-inspiring happenings, Heffington has been working in the margins of the arts institution with an unwavering vision of what dance can offer. He has challenged the status quo by subverting gender norms through drag, creating Leigh Bowery-esque costumes that distort the body’s silhouette, and surpassing every expectation that confines art in a particular space. Performing in both underground clubs and museum galleries (and everywhere in between), Heffington has shown us time and time again that there are no limits to what he can and will do. To name a few, he has choreographed an after-hours public tour involving melodramatic performances and sensational installations in Sex on a String, co-masterminded the enigmatic electro dance band We Are the World, then asked us to revisit glitter disco with the monthly Full Frontal Disco. 

In addition to his body of choreography and performance work, Heffington has inspired a whole community of individuals to dance. With the founding of his Silverlake studio The Sweat Spot, dancers and non-dancers alike now have a place to convene, move, and form community. And the best thing is it’s open to everyone. With beginning classes for those who have never taken a dance class in their lives to advanced courses that make one’s jaw drop, Heffington is exercising the power of dance. There is an unmatched vision and contagious enthusiasm that drives all this. His classes have even led to protest-like dance attacks throughout the streets of Los Angeles!

And the secret formula that makes all this possible is even more extraordinary than the product—it’s the collective. The Sweaty Sundays dancers and creatives are a collaborative team of individuals who dance, create and think up ambitious projects that are always realized to their full potential. Reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s Factory days, there is particular harmony that binds this group and allows it to evolve and morph over time. This collective isn’t interested in a select cast of individuals with specialized skill sets, but a whole-hearted way of thinking and living. They attend the classes, perform and produce the events, and welcome anyone interested to join. Some talk about engaging with the community; others just make it happen. Dance has become a way of asserting the interconnectedness of experience, proclaiming the motto “If we can dance together, we can live together.” And if living, we might as well celebrate the body, the community and this moment in time.
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		<excerpt>   Ryan Heffington - Choreographer  Ryan Heffington (b.1973, Yuba CIty, California) is a performance artist, choreographer, designer and self-described dance guru...</excerpt>

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