DC Cheer!

We were thrilled to get this feature article in the arts section of Washingtonian. Click through the image to read the article!

One of my favorite parts of the DC Cheer! project is the camaraderie that results when a new group of people work together on a creative project- especially one that involves pyramids, high kicks or other cheerful body movements!

(photo by E. Brady Robinson)

If you want to get a feeler for what it’s like to be on our squad, without the commitment of actually joining, come to the workshop we’re holding on February 11th at the Arlington Arts Center (In conjunction with their current exhibition ‘She Got Game‘)

here’s the info (you must register to attend):

DC Cheer! Workshop at Arlington Arts Center in conjunction with the exhibition, ‘She Got Game’
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Time: 1:30-3pm
Location:
Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Blvd
Arlington VA 22201
Phone: 703.248.6800

Join ‘She Got Game’ artist Kristina Bilonick in a cheer-leading workshop. You need not be an experienced cheerleader to participate! Bilonick’s ongoing DC Cheer! project deals with community participation and connection building in an effort to bring more enthusiasm for the arts to DC.

On February 11th, meet the artist at the Arlington Arts Center for a crash-course on some on some of the already established DC Cheer! cheers. Then, as a group, we will choreograph a new cheer. Bring a grey tee shirt to print your own uniform tee (does not need to be new, and can be printed inside out if there is already printing on it).  The workshop will end with the group performing the cheers we learned for arts center visitors.

This workshop is free and open to the public but is limited to 15 participants. Email kristina.bilonick@gmail.com to register.

DC Cheer! is part of a group exhibition, ‘She Got Game’ opening in January at the Arlington Arts Center. For this show, curator Jeffry Cudlin has brought together 11 artists—men and women—who explore shifting contemporary perceptions of women’s bodies, gender roles, and identities through the lens of sports spectacle.

SHE GOT GAME, curated by Jeffry Cudlin
Arlington Arts Center
EXHIBITION DATES: January 13 – March 18, 2012
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, January 13, 6 to 9 pm

Featuring: Holly Bass,  Kristina Bilonick, Sarada Conaway, Jenny Drumgoole, Nancy Floyd, Moira Lovell, Tara Mateik, Dewey Nicks, Cory Oberndorfer, Martin Schoeller, and Amber Hawk Swanson

Martin Schoeller, Kim Harris, digital print on Dibond, 91 x 74

For the exhibition, we’ll be showcasing some of the amazing photos documenting our rehearsals and performances taken by our official photographer, E.Brady Robinson. We’ll also be holding a workshop in February where people can learn the cheers and collaborate on making a new cheer. yay, us! yay, DC arts!! (stay tuned for dates/info)

Just spotted a pic of DC Cheer in DC Modern Luxury’s roundup of the (e)merge art fair. Fun!

DC Cheer is performing tonight at Arena Stage as part of the closing party for DC Week. In this case, DC stands for Digitial Captial, and the past week has been chock full of talks, workshops and events centered around the creative, digital economy, arts and innovation in DC…something definitely worth cheering for!!

This time around we have a few new moves, a few new cheerleaders (will post their profiles asap), and a new interactive feature… for the DC week event we’ll be taking requests for what you want us to cheer about! Simply tweet you first name and your fave thing about DC using the hash-tag #DCcheer and we will incorporate it into our cheers.. whether  you can make it to the event or not!

EVENT INFO:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 8-9:30PM
DC’s Digital Capital Week Closing Party

Arena Stage 1101 6th Street, SW
Washington, DC
tickets and information>>

Enjoy music, drinks, dancing, and multiple art installations and performances around the entire space. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased using the link above!

This video came back into my mind recently while working on choreography for our next gig at DC’s Digital Capital Week…

Spike Jonez staged this ‘mockumentary’ slash early flash mob miracle in the late 90s…way before everyone else was doing it. The unpolished choreography and unabashedness of the dancers are totally akin to the dc cheer style! It also reminded me that with a little gumption, the robot can still look REALLY cool… lookout for us in front of a theater near you soon! xo, coach kb

I read about a lot about Judy Chicago when I was studying art at University of New Hampshire. This particular project stuck with me throughout the years, a project she put together in the 60s while teaching at Fresno State in California.

Judy Chicago championed a new breed of feminist art, often in the form of performance and installation. Her ‘C—t Cheer’ project was a positive reclaiming of the ‘C-word’ and also a way for women to show support other women in their endeavors whether they be as homemakers, business women, or the president of the National Organization of Women (NOW), as they do in this clip below:

(click image to see performance)

check out this piece featuring DC Cheer and other performances that will be taking place at (e)merge between September 22-25, and join us on opening night at the fair!

http://pinklineproject.com/article/emerge-art-fair-features-lots-performance-art

DC CHEER! is an a community-building art project by Kristina Bilonick.

Derived from an open call  DC Cheer! is a squad made up of artists and art enthusiasts. We are working together to create cheers that boost the morale of the DC art scene – celebrating artists, galleries, collectors and arts organizations that choose to make DC their home. (more after the jump…)
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