Program Description
Presenting a listening session of Laurie Anderson’s Big Science with Portland-based choreographer Laura Cannon. The landmark 1984 album invites movement and reflection, offering something for every listener: storytelling for those seeking drama, hypnotic rhythms for flow and improvisation, and Anderson’s beautiful violin. Whether you want to dance or drift, Big Science makes room for the listener inside its stories.
About Laura Cannon
Laura is a Portland-based dancer, choreographer, and movement educator with over 25 years of experience in site-specific and multidisciplinary performance. In 2019, she founded ProLab Dance to realize her innovative visions across dance, film, and design. Her work explores embodiment through choreography, performance, filmmaking, and costume.
Cannon received the Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in 2023 and was a Dance Wire PDX Ambassador in 2021–22. Her experimental dance films, that examine our relationship to where and when we exist, have earned international recognition.
In 2024, she premiered When We Were Ocean, a large-scale, 360° immersive dance film and live performance inside Portland’s Kendall Planetarium. A graduate of the University of Texas (BFA) and recipient of the John Bustin Award for Versatility in the Arts, Cannon has performed with Deborah Hay Dance, Sharir + Bustamante DanceWorks, and Rude Mechs. She has recently been in residence at Zidell Shipyards, developing her multi-year, site-specific project Break to Build.
The Listening Experience
Immersive Listening programs center on the depth and clarity of the OJAS high fidelity sound system. These sessions are built as continuous listening environments, where sound fills the gallery and becomes something you sit with, move through, or settle into. The session begins with a brief introduction, after which there is no narration or commentary. The room remains dark and immersive, with space to stand, sit, or find your own position as the music plays. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available for purchase. Sessions last 90 minutes, with 30 minutes of open listening afterward. Phones and cameras are set aside to support a focused, shared room. Details about visiting the space can be found in the FAQs.
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