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>>> In this edition of Artbeat
Nation, see how dance pushes
boundaries.
>> We are about making things
for the eyes and the senses and
communicating through them.
>> Get a deeper understanding
man's best friend.
>> It's where you could see your
favorite breed immortalized on
canvas.
>> Meet a showgirl turned
painter.
>> We're not only connected with
viewing the audience, and how we
want them to feel but how we
make each other feel.
>> And learn how culture can
infuse art and inspire the
young.
>> It's a huge movement for
them.
It's a cultural expression of
who they are.
>> It's all ahead on this
edition of Artbeat Nation.
>>> Funding for Artbeat Nation
is made possible by
contributions to eight from
viewers like.
Thank you.
>>> Motionhouse is an
international dance troupe known
for its innovative take on
contemporary dance.
Artists director Kevin finnan
sheds some light on their
unorthodox approach.
>>> The company was formed in
the 1980s, and the house scene
was happening and there was
house dancing, and a lot of I
couldn't find ground art
resurfacing again.
It was fun time.
And we wanted a name that would
capture our spirit of bringing
everything together under one
roof, and trying to make
something new.
I suppose one of the keyways we
differ from a lot of dance
artists, is we always start from
a theatrical image.
We have imagery that we want to
communicate, and content theme.
So, we start from a visual
world, and then we evolve our
movement language to go with the
free show.
We are a spectacular art.
We are about making things for
the eyes and the senses and
communicating through them.
And then it's about welding this
visual world that we have from
European theater and all the
great work that's out there, and
then putting that into a very
visceral physical context, so we
really push the physicality in
our work.
>> Scattered is a show whereby I
wanted to make a show about
water.
And what fascinates me is that
in our western environment, it's
on tap literally.
I showed it to my kids.
I was in the bathroom and I
turned the tap on and I said,
look at this.
Fantastic!
And my kids' eyes rolled up,
yeah, it's a tap, dad.
And they did not see the magic
of having water on tap.
Is therefore it comes down to
the key moment of realizing, I
am distanced from the reality of
what it takes to get fresh water
to my house whenever I want it.
Is, I want to make a show where
I go, look, I am going to stop
for minute and go, this is in
bloody marvelous.
This is fantastic.
So, I make a show about my
experience trying to look at
water again.
Sometimes, some of the imagery
is about the beauty of water,
its sensualness, there's a bit
of a chemical bonding process of
h2o and all the rest it, but it
does not matter really if you
get those things but about you
engage with the theme.
Because at the end of the show
if you are thinking about water,
the show served its purpose.
We try to learn where we go, and
it has the pitfalls and dangers
where we consider the engagement
with the audience, and we
consider the type of imagery we
use and the duration and the
speed.
All of that has really been
formed from working outdoors.
We consider, and sometimes we
go, you know what, we are going
to help them out here.
We are going to do this for the
audience.
And then in other parts we're
going to go, we really want to
challenge them here, so I am
going to give them something to
give them bit of confidence in
us, and we are going to
challenge them, and then I'm
going to bring them back
somewhere so they feel that they
know where they are.
There's lots of art now about,
you know, altering ourselves
surgically, or we all think of
robots or that thing.
Nobody thinks about the person
working on the construction side
with the machine, digging a
trench to within an inch of
specification.
Being able to manipulate over
different grounds and moves.
And the way that person moves
that machine is a skill of
intense beauty.
We started making these machine
dances with machines that, in
the U.S. refer to as backhoes
where we would dance with them
and on them, and we create a
movement language for them, and
the machines would pick us up
and pass us between machines.
We engage with it, and the
machine dance was really whole
exploration of look, what is
dancing and what is the body.
So, you had a serious
intellectual underpinning to it.
Actually, when we made the show,
you get huge audiences, and you
get loads of kids come along.
They don't care about what a
body is or whatever.
They just are having a great
time looking at the spectacle of
these machines dancing and
moving.
But for other people there is
the potential for them to read
further into it.
And I always really liked the
two sides.
We got one of the largest
commissions of the cultural
olympiad.
So in the middle, we created a
full-size ship.
We built a passenger line, four
stories high in between the big
colonial buildings in the city
hall.
Right in the middle of the city.
It was an enormous spectacle of
its own, and we project onto the
ship and on the buildings
around.
A whole fundamental story of why
people journey.
The voyage was very interesting
because again, it was like ok,
we're going to create a
spectacle but it will be
engaging because the spectacle
has become a dirty word in
theater, because it's the empty
spectacle, nothing by it's
appearance.
I think today is the era of
spectacles again.
And the way it speaks to us on a
direct level.
To make something on that scale,
is emotionally engaging, was one
of the great moments in my
career.
It's kind of interesting because
you know you can't top, it and
you go maybe I should start.
Actually, last year taught me a
lot of new things, and I want to
bring those into the work, and
touring here and getting the
reaction of audiences here to
the show that we are touring,
you go oh, that's so
interesting.
That works.
I want to put that in the next
show.
>>> You can find out more at
motionhouse.co.uk.
>>> St. Louis, Missouri is home
to a fine arts museum devoted to
man's best friend.
The museum of the doghouse
houses over 700 pieces of canine
theme art exploring the
relationship between man and
beast throughout the ages.
>> A dog museum is a museum
devoted solely to canines.
It's the only dog museum of its
kind in the world.
It's a fine art museum.
So we have paintings, bronzes,
porcelains, decorative arts,
artifacts, and all relating to
man's best friend.
And it's where you can see your
favorite breed immortalized on
canvas.
There was a group of interested
people back in the 1970s who
got together and said, you know,
there is all of that a beautiful
dog art out there in private
collections and various places.
There must be enough to sustain
a particular museum that we
could have a dog museum, and
bring it all together in one
place to share with everybody.
And that's pretty much the
premise behind the dog museum.
The dog museum is housed in
jarvel house in queeney park,
west Louis county.
It dates from 1853, a fabulous
home, absolutely gorgeous.
The collection is comprised
primarily of 19th century,
early 20th century pieces, but
of course, dog painting, dog art
has been around long before
that.
These two objects are probably
the oldest pieces in the
collection.
These are Japanese temple dogs,
and they date from the 1500s.
And they would have, at one
time, more likely adorned a
temple in some way, but probably
to ward off evil spirits.
You could see there is a bit of
a menacing look to their face,
and it would have been to make
the bad things the bad spirits
go away.
They would have also been more
brightly paint at one time, and
a lot of that has been lost, but
the character of the pieces are
certainly still here.
This is a portrait of a pointer,
paint by the French artist
Jean-baptiste oudry, dating from
the mid 1700s.
It's one of the earlier
paintings in the museum's
collection.
Particularly interesting about
the museum's collection is how
it documents the evolving
relationship between dogs and
humans, throughout history.
>> At one pointed, the dog was
primarily a working dog, a
working companion because he was
a hunter, a guardian, a herding
dog.
A dog that used, was used to
protect flocks of sheep.
Cattle and so forth.
He helped to earn his keep in
some way.
And the dog was very prized for
that ability, and so a lot of
times you would have someone who
might commission a painting or a
drawing of their dog because
they wanted to show off their
prized hunting dog.
Then queen Victoria came along,
and queen Victoria loved and
adored animals.
She had many, many, many dogs.
And she commission the best
artists of the time to paint
portraits of her pets.
So, out of the Victorian age you
have this really fine dog
painting.
This is one of the premiere
paintings by sir Henry Landseer.
This does not happen to be the
Queen's dogs, but very typical
of what you would have seen in
the Scottish highlands, the Deer
hound and fox hound, when you
look at this piece you could see
how absolutely impressive it is.
And, and he's used all sorts of,
of things here in the
composition which draw your eye
to the focal point, which would
be the portraits of the two
dogs.
So you have this angle of a
deerhound's legs, which guide
you up this way.
And it shows a sentimentality
between the two dogs.
There is a sort of relationship
here, a story.
It's not just the static
portrait, a confirmation
portrait.
So, you know, the artist is
telling you something.
And what is he telling you here?
He's saying that the dogs had
emotions.
They have feelings.
They interact with each other as
well as with humans.
>>> This is a large painting by
Richard ansdell, it's titled
"the poacher."
Dates from 1865, and this is a
really nice example of a tie
dog.
The large dog was a mastiff, and
these dogs were tied by day and
let loose at night to parole
private properties and estates.
We know it was a tie dog because
the art I was has purposely put
this large ring on the collar,
identifying this dog, this
mastiff as a tie dog.
>> This is a perfect example of
the quintessential pet portrait.
This is paint by William Henry
Hamilton trood and dates from
1888.
We see a variety of breeds
depicted in an interior scene,
and you could see all the
different types of working dogs.
But here they are shown inside
of an interior scene.
And that really reflects the
changing attitude of the role of
the dog from, perhaps, just
solely a working dog to canine
companion, a member of the
family, someone who is with you
in the house.
>>> Some of the paintings are as
much reflections of humans as
they are depictions of pets.
>> ANthropomorphism was popular
in the 19 as the century, that
was when you gave human
attributes to animals, and we
relate to that and find it
Whimsical.
And we have a presidential pet
portrait of George bush and
first lady Barbara Bush's dog
Millie shown on the south lawn
of the White House.
>> There are galleries that
highlight the courage of war
dogs and police canine units.
A dog Hall of Fame.
And memorabilia that reminds us
of some of our favorite Fury
Hollywood stars.
>> The museum also has some
fascinating artifacts such as
this incredible palladian style
doghouse by the architect Juan
paulo molyneux, who has studios
in Paris and New York City, and
where else can you see a mastiff
carousal figure created by the
luthe factory, dates from the
19th century.
It was an item used on a
merry-go-round.
And then in addition we have
this darling child's cart.
This also dates from the 19th
century, and children would have
used this to play with and it
would have been pulled by a dog.
And we can see an example of a
painting up here on the wall
where you actually have a cart
that's being pulled by a mastiff
and a small steer.
>>> It is a museum dedicated not
only to fine art, but to the
special bond that is endured
between our two species for
centuries, founded on love and
friendship, loyalty, work and
play.
This is the perfect venue for
the dog museum because dogs are
part of the family.
They are a member of the family.
And to see their portraits
displayed in a home setting, as
opposed to maybe just blank
white walls and a larger
gallery, doesn't mean as much to
have them here in a home, it
makes it much more personal and
it makes more sense for this
collection.
>>> To learn more visit
museumsofthedog.org.
>>> Artist Terry Ritter once
perform on the Las Vegas strip
as a showgirl.
Today, she's turning her passion
for dance into works of art.
Her mural "folies in flight,"
now welcomes millions of
international visitors to Las
Vegas's Mccarran airport every
year.
>>> My name is Terry Ritter.
And I am an artist.
I am from Las Vegas, Nevada.
I work in watercolor, oils,
acrylics, and sculpting.
The mural I did I got
commissioned to do is at the
McCarran airport, in the new
terminal, the international
customs area.
>> Everybody is so excited.
I'm excited, and it's going in.
>> It's from the folies bergere,
and the girls are running
through each other and, and
having interaction, and, yes,
it's a 50-foot mural of
showgirls, but in the 1983
costume that Jerry Jackson had
designed.
>> We installed it in two weeks.
I had really good crew of
people.
And I had a great architect, and
he helped me get the people who
I need to get, and I kind of
hand picked who was going to do
what, and I wanted to know them
personally, and we worked
together, too.
It wasn't all me.
>> I'm just putting on the
finishing touches of this mural.
It's very textured, and it's
very organic.
It's a representation of the Las
Vegas showgirl.
I had always gone to school for
-- to be an artist since I was
nine.
That's what I was going to do.
I always liked to draw.
It was easy for me.
I just knew how to do that.
And I was always interested in
art.
I got into dancing, also.
I saw ballet, and then afterward
I got to meet the performers in
the ballet.
And, and I said, I want to look
like that.
And I didn't know what you had
to do or whatever.
But, I started taking classes.
This was the perfect place in
Las Vegas to do that because the
best of the best came here.
These are real people, not just
paintings.
They would pose for me
backstage.
I was really fortunate to be in
the right place at the right
time.
Put in the work, and landed a
job, and a small review.
And we were a shorter line of
girls, they called them pony
dancers.
She's a fashion designer, and
she's, she's married.
The first show I worked in was
called the wild world of
Burlesque by rocky sennes.
And I worked there for a long
time on and off for like 15
years, and we did various shows.
Keep smiling America.
And the roaring 20's, and I
worked for Jerry Jackson and
Pin-ups at the movies, and
dancing was never -- you're not
still, you know, you're always
moving.
So, to create that has always
been my kind of my goal.
Being a dancer, you're looking
in the mirror all the time.
You are always looking at lines.
You are looking where your
elbows are, you are looking
where your shoulders are.
We are really connected when we
are on the stage, we're not only
connected with the viewing of
the audience, and how we want
them to feel, but how we make
each other feel on the stage.
The mural is a lot about that
and some of the scenes I've done
with the girls backstage or in
the shows, we are playing with
the other, we are playing off
each other, and so you kind of
inspire each other.
My dance community just the
support that I got and they all
came from my ribbon-cutting
ceremony I had there.
It was just overwhelming.
It was like I was walking down
the aisle at my wedding day, and
I look at my mother, you know.
I would just start to ball
because someone who had
supported me all these years,
and they were all so proud of
me.
It was just -- I still get
teary-eyed thinking about it.
So it was very -- such an honor,
and I feel I represented my
community and my arts community.
If you have a passion, pursue
it.
You know.
It doesn't matter if you make
money at it.
And if you can only do it on
weekends or whatever, you know,
and keep those demons away from
not doing it because you can do
it.
Anybody can do it.
That's it.
>>> Terry Ritter recently
published a book of her
paintings called "stage life,
the show must go on."
It can be found along with her
other work on Terryritter.com.
>>> Walt pourier is a painter
and designer who incorporates
his native American culture into
his art.
Through his art, he strengthens
local communities and offers
guidance to kids.
Powerplay.
>> You are not a human on a
spiritual journey, you're a
spirit on a human journey.
I like to paint ravens from the
lakota prophesies are seen as
the messenger to the other side,
they take our messages to and
from the spirit world.
The Denver art museum residency
program, it has been an honor to
be a part of it, not only to
showcase the fine arts that I'm
working on, but also just this
huge opportunity to show youth
what they can do with careers
and what they can do with the
arts, fine art and graphic arts
and so on and so on.
>> You have got to sing, too.
>> The program itself is
unbelievable because you are
right here on the native
American level where all the art
out there shows our past space
that I'm in today.
We are showing a lot of the
current.
>> We say telling our stories of
old through the new creative
means of today.
The way they used to tell the
stories in the old days was on
Buffalo hides and on the sides
of the teepees, on drums.
They were being expressive about
who they were at that time
through these means of that
time.
So what are these expressive
means for them today and how can
they tell those stories in those
cultural identities who they are
through today's means?
If they say they can put a
graphic they created of sitting
bully or if they can take any of
their particular tribes'
culturally identities and turn
it into graphics and show it as
an identity of this is me, this
is who I am, on a skateboard
deck, that is pretty powerful
for them.
The stronghold society is
actually a place in South Dakota
in the Badlands.
And we say this is our "live
life call to action campaign,"
and not only do we teach them
the fine arts and the graphics
sides and expressive means of
writing and music and art
design, film, photography, we
also do it through the
skateboard movement, which is
really huge for them right now,
we built them a skate park, too.
And they have something to
skate.
We are able to build these parks
in any country and then come
back and do these creative
things at the parks, as well.
You start to see there is more
to this than just skateboarding.
There is more to this than just
fine arts.
It's a huge movement for them.
It's cultural expression of who
they are and what they
represent.
For our native youth today, that
is really huge.
>> What I really like about fine
art painting is that you can
just be expressive to how ever
you want to be.
There is no limits to it.
There is really no, no rules to
it.
So you can just paint.
>> My philosophy of the art is
more on the cultural side of it,
expressive, making an impact.
I find that today, it's far more
important to have positive focus
messages.
I think arts have the ability to
change a mindset of an
individual.
>>> To learn more about his art,
visit nakotadesigns.com.
For more arts and culture, visit
azpbs.org/artbeat where you will
find featured videos and
information on the Arizona art
scene.
Funding for Artbeat Nation was
made possible by contributions
to eight from viewers like you.
Thank you.