ENSEMBLE BIO: The Order of the Artists (OA) is a multimedia ensemble founded by director Edward A. Broms (ACM Recording Artist and former Blue Man Group Musician) in 2002. The OA is founded on the principles of explicit integration of various artists and art-forms, art as the highest expression of the divine, and performance as ritual. The OA's previous work has concentrated on the exploration of improvised mythic archetypes through a series of rituals on the major feast days of the solar calendar such as solstices and equinoxes. Other work has included small units of the ensemble performing completely improvised club sets, where the audiences have been know to sit in awed silence for up to an hour in otherwise normally noisy bars.
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"Animals" & "Mess Up" The Order of The Artists
The current works are based on the electronica explorations of Fraction (aka Eric Raynaud, composer) from Paris, France, who has recently released two completely improvised electronica albums, Animals and Mess Up, each about 45 minutes in length. Animals explores themes of following "instinctual orders" over conventional artistic intentions, and Mess Up explores aspects of the quintessential performance nightmare actually happening: essentially arriving to perform completely unprepared, and without any of the proper equipment, a scenario which played itself out at a recent Fraction show, which in turn generated this ingenious recording.
The cast, after a period of studying and living with these recordings, offers composed additions to, and improvisations based on, these recordings, performed in real-time against the sonic backdrop of the recordings themselves. These works feature mythic storytelling and music by longtime OA regulars Ed Broms, Dani Dalnian, Maria Orlova, and Marty Levin among others. DeAnna Pellecchia created original choreography for the pieces, danced by Pellecchia, Mary McCarthy and Danielle DiVito. Pellecchia also designed and directed the staging for the 8 cast members, crafting a seamless integration of narrative, music and dance.
