Tei Blow

Tei

Undergraduate Discipline

Theatre

Graduate Program

MFA Theatre Program
A performer and media designer born in Japan, raised in the United States, and based in Brooklyn, New York, Blow’s work incorporates photography, video, and sound with a focus on found media artifacts. He has performed and designed for The Laboratory of Dmitry Krymov, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jodi Melnick, Ann Liv Young, Big Dance Theater, David Neumann, and Deganit Shemy & Company. He also performs as Frustrator on Enemies List Recordings and is one-half of Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble. Blow’s work has been featured at Hartford Stage, Dance Theater Workshop, Lincoln Center Festival, The Kitchen, BAM, The Public Theater, Kate Werble Gallery, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Wadsworth Atheneum, and at theatres around the world. He is the recipient of a 2015 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Sound Design. Blow composed the sound score for I Understand Everything Better by dancer and choreographer David Neumann, in which Blow also performed; the piece won a 2015 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Production. Blow’s most recent production with Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble, The Art of Luv Part I: Elliot, premiered in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival in January, 2016; it was reviewed in The New York Times. Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble is the recipient of a 2016 Creative Capital award. SLC, 2016–

Previous Courses

Theatre

Directing, Devising, and Performance

Open, Component—Year

Through the creative reuse of mass media, this course is designed to introduce students to a performance strategy that synthesizes an experimental performance practice from existing material. By stripping found media materials from their original context and arranging them in new ways, participants will explore the methods and politics of appropriation in performance work. By then extending those techniques into embodied practices, students will experiment with various methods of extracting movement, text, and intention from those source materials. Biweekly workshops on text, sound, and video manipulation in a collaborative format will alternate with experiments in performance composition and lectures on the historical use of appropriation in a variety of art forms. Participants should have an interest in both performance and performance technology, though experience in either is not a prerequisite. The course culminates in a rehearsal and performance period.

Faculty

Directing, Devising, and Performance: Devising With Media

Open, Component—Year

Through the creative reuse of mass media, this course is designed to introduce students to a performance strategy based on sampling ​existing text, video, and sound. By stripping found media materials from their original context and arranging them in new ways, participants will explore the methods and politics of appropriation in performance work. By then extending those techniques into embodied practices, students will experiment with various methods of extracting movement, text, and intention from those source materials. Biweekly workshops on text, sound, and video manipulation in a collaborative format will alternate with experiments in performance composition and lectures on the historical use of appropriation in a variety of art forms. Participants should have an interest in both performance and performance technology, though experience in either is not a prerequisite. Each semester of the course culminates in a major performance project.

Faculty

Intro to Media Design

Open, Component—Year

This course serves as an introduction to theatrical sound and video design that explores the theory of sound, basic design principles, editing and playback software, content creation, and basic system design. The course examines the function and execution of video and sound in theatre, dance, and interdisciplinary forms. Exercises in sampling, nonlinear editing, and designing sequences in performance software will provide students with the basic tools needed to execute sound and projection designs in performance.

Faculty

Sound Design I: Intro to Sound Design

Open, Component—Year

This course serves as an introduction to theatrical sound design that explores the theory of sound, basic design principles, editing and playback software, content creation, and basic system design. The course examines the function and execution of sound in theatre, cinema, and interdisciplinary forms. Through field recording, sampling, nonlinear audio editing, and performance software, students will learn the basic tools needed to build and execute sound designs for theatre and audio installations. Students will be assigned to design a current theatrical production in the second semester of the course.

Faculty

MFA Theatre

Advanced Media Design

Component—Year

This course will prepare students to solve problems in video, sound, and multimedia design for live theatre and performance. We will look at the creative use of live video and audio playback and processing, multichannel sound, and interactive performance systems. By creating a cohort of designers committed to working on campus theatrical productions, the course will serve to mentor, troubleshoot, and critically analyze theatrical design. Students will be expected to be working on designs for theatre or dance productions or their own solo work.

Faculty

Grad Lab

Graduate Component—Year

Taught by a rotating series of Sarah Lawrence faculty and guest artists, this course focuses on developing the skills needed for a wide variety of techniques for the creation and development of new work in theatre. Ensemble acting, movement, design and fabrication, playwriting, devised work, and music performance are all explored. The class is a forum for workshops, master classes, and open rehearsals, with a focus on the development of critical skills. In addition, students in Grad Lab are expected to generate a new piece of theatre to be performed each month for the Sarah Lawrence community. These performances may include graduate and undergraduate students alike. Required for all Theatre graduate students. This class meets once a week.

Faculty

Graduate Lab

Component—Year

Taught by a rotating series of Sarah Lawrence faculty and guest artists, this course focuses on developing the skills needed for a wide variety of techniques for the creation and development of new work in theatre. Ensemble acting, movement, design and fabrication, playwriting, devised work, and music performance are all explored. The class is a forum for workshops, master classes, and open rehearsals, with a focus on the development of critical skills. In addition, students in Grad Lab are expected to generate a new piece of theatre to be performed each month for the Sarah Lawrence community. These performances may include graduate and undergraduate students alike.

Faculty

Interactive Media MFA Studio

Graduate Component

This course is designed to introduce students to strategies for making performances and installations using contemporary media playback systems and existing materials sourced from popular culture. By rearranging found media materials in new ways, participants will explore the methods and politics of appropriation in performance work. Bi-weekly workshops on text, sound, and video manipulation in a collaborative format will alternate with experiments in performance, composition and lectures on the historical use of the remix in a variety of art forms. This course is designed to introduce students to strategies for making performances and installations using contemporary media playback systems and existing materials sourced from popular culture. By rearranging found media materials in new ways, participants will explore the methods and politics of appropriation in performance work.  Bi-weekly workshops on text, sound, and video manipulation in a collaborative format will alternate with experiments in performance, composition and lectures on the historical use of the remix in a variety of art forms. The course takes the form of a weekly 4-hour lab format. Participants should have an interest in both performance and performance technology, though experience in either is not a prerequisite. Prerequisites: Open to Graduate Students and advanced Undergraduate students who have taken Sound Design or Video Design courses.

 

Faculty

Introduction to Projection Design

Component—Year

This course is an introduction to theatrical projection design that explores design principles, content creation, video editing, media server and playback software, basic projection system design, and digital show control. Through text analysis, visual research, and lab experiments, the course examines the role of video projection in theatre and interdisciplinary forms and prepares participants to create video designs for their own work and to integrate video with other media.

Faculty

LIVE MEDIA: Creating Hybrid Performance With Technology

Component—Year

This class will prepare students to solve problems in sound and multimedia production for live​ performance. We will look at the creative use of live video and audio playback and processing, multichannel sound, and interactive performance systems. The course is composed of technical demonstrations and short-form group performance assignments involving technology. The course is designed for theatre grads working with technology in Grad Solos but is suitable for any students working on independent performance work with technology. Participants interested in this course should be prepared to design and execute at least two short-form performance works or media installations over the course of the academic year. Participants interested in this course should be prepared to collaboratively design the projection elements for a performance or installation in the second semester.

Faculty

Performance Lab

Graduate Component—Year

Taught by a rotating series of Sarah Lawrence faculty and guest artists, this course focuses on developing the skills needed for a wide variety of techniques for the creation and development of new work in theatre. Ensemble acting, movement, design and fabrication, playwriting, devised work, and music performance are all explored. The class is a forum for workshops, master classes, and open rehearsals, with a focus on the development of critical skills. In addition, students in Grad Lab are expected to generate a new piece of theatre to be performed each month for the Sarah Lawrence community. These performances may include graduate and undergraduate students alike. Required for all Theatre graduate students. This class meets twice a week.

Faculty

Projection Design for Theatre

Component—Year

This course is an introduction to theatrical projection design that explores design principles, basic video editing, media server and playback software, content creation, basic projection system design, and show control. Through text analysis, visual research, and lab experiments, the course examines the role of video projection in theatre and interdisciplinary forms and prepares participants to create video designs for their own work.

Faculty