"Breathing Monster" at REDCAT Feb. 15

REDCAT is proud to present the U.S. premiere of Breathing Monster, an evening of abstracted, hypnotic movement and sound from Polish-French composer and electric bass player Kasper Toeplitz and French dancer and choreographer Myriam Gourfink. Performing live, Toeplitz hybridizes his electronic theorbed bass and explores the frontiers between pitch, noise, oscillations and stillness while Gourfink uses meticulous internal visualizations to manifest an evolving, interconnected series of micro-movements. Kasper Toeplitz will also perform Elaine Radigue's Elemental II (2001), her first work for an instrument, written for Kasper Toeplitz at his urging. It became an instant "drone classic", in which the sounds are more felt than heard. Breathing Monster will take place on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 for one night only at REDCAT.

As a composer and electric bass player, Kasper Toeplitz has developed a body of work in the no-man's-land between "academic," electronic composition and sheer noise. Known for collaborating with such unclassifiable musicians as Zbigniew Karkowski, Dror Feiler, Art Zoyd, Eliane Radigue, Phill Niblock and Ulrich Krieger, Toeplitz makes use of the computer both as a real instrument and as a tool for reflecting on music differently, transforming the musical parameters of pitch data and temporality. Some of Toeplitz's awarded distinctions and prizes include first prize for orchestral composition at the Besancon Festival, first prize at the "Opera autrement / centre Acanthes" competition, Villa Medicis Hors les Murs (New York), grant Leonardo da Vinci (San Francisco), Villa Kujoyama (Kyoto), and DAAD (Berlin). For more information and to hear Toeplitz's work, visit www.sleazeart.com.

Since January 2008, Myriam Gourfink has been director of the Center for Choreographic Research and Composition (CRCC) at the Royaumont Foundation in France. A leading figure in choreographic research, Gourfink has been featured at numerous international festivals including springdance in New York City, the Kunsten Arts festival in Brussels, the Festival de la Batie in Geneva and the Dancas Na Cidade festival in Lisbon. The respiratory techniques of yoga are at the source of Myriam Gourfink's endeavors; the idea is to seek after the inner urge that leads to movement. More information on Myrian Gourfink can be found on her website at www.myriam-gourfink.com.

Kasper Toeplitz and Myriam Gourfink: Breathing Monster will be presented at REDCAT on Tuesday, February 15, 2011. Curtain for the performance is 8:30 pm. Tickets are $20 ($16 for students with current I.D.) and are available at www.redcat.org or by calling 213 237-2800. REDCAT is located at 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 at the corner of W. 2nd and Hope Streets, inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.