Welcome to the online home of Harper Piver and the hlab/performancecollective. I am a dancer, choreographer, and interdisciplinary artist available for residencies, community projects, performance engagements, and teaching. Please explore the site and write to me at harper@harperpiver.com.

For my full bio, please scroll below the news section.

The site is undergoing lots of changes. Y’all come back now, you hear?

The Dark Side of Hall and Oates has been unleashed. Are you ready?

After 6 years in a cave, the members of Koot Hoomi have emerged with a new album. The Dark Side of Hall and Oates is a radical interpretation of the band's catalogue. It's Hall and Oates as it might exist in an alternate universe, complete with off-kilter harmonies, psychedelic swirls, minor key digressions, and the occasional spot of Tuvan throat singing.

I play violin, sing, anf play percussion on the album.

Check out the project website at www.darksideofhallandoates.com to hear some tracks and learn more.

hlab/performancecollective

After much contemplation, Harper Piver Dance has a new name! I believe this title more accurately reflects the experimentation and breadth of my work. Additionally, I will use hlab as the umbrella for my other artistic explorations, including music, writing, and visual art.

The company will present its first season with the new name in 2010. Check back soon as dates and projects are announced.

Blog

I have secured a domain name for my new blog. I am very excited about this project, which will be a bi-weekly exploration of a dance theme very close to my heart. The blog will roll out with the new year. More details are coming soon!

2009 in Review

2009 was a year of personal sadness with the loss of my step-mother, Lynda Rogers Piver, and Rob’s grandfather, Robert Lurie. These passings brought about a period of reflection on the meaning and fleetingness of life and a deeper appreciation for each day I get to share with my family and friends.

Within the quiet, many exciting artistic happenings blossomed.

In January, my dance for camera piece Oscar was screened at Kinetic Cinema in NYC with guest curator Ellen Bromberg. Oscar and a special installation version of The Cacophony of Solitude screened at Motion Pictures in San Francisco. (Both videos are available for viewing on the work samples page.) I attended two fabulous workshops, one with Bill Evans in Arizona and another with Ruth Zaporah at Moving on Center in Berkeley. I started a solo project that I will be completed in 2010.

Mary Fitzgerald, Susan Bendix, Tony Obr, and I kicked off an exciting semester-long residency with Artspace making dance films with elementary and middle school students in West Phoenix, Arizona.

In February, Oscar screened at the San Diego/TijuanaDANCEonFILMFestival.

In March, Oscar continued his planetary hop to South Africa, this time screening in the Montage Video Dance Festival in Johannesburg. He was also presented at moves09 in Manchester, England.

March also marked the release of Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the new CD by Portland-based Solyoni. Solyoni is the brainchild of my brother-in-law, Daniel Lurie and often features collaborations with my husband Rob. I’ll pretend that has nothing to do with why I get to play on the new CD. J Regardless, I am honored that my violin is on the album that a reviewer from LeicesterBangs.co.uk categorized as “the best CD I’ve ever reviewed.” www.solyoni.com

In April I participated in a short workshop with Elizabeth Johnson of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

In May my dance technology students at Scottsdale Community College unveiled their innovative dance for camera pieces. Our Artspace students also completed their video projects and worked with Tony Obr to create sound for their work. After hosting their first artist question and answer session with a “cafetorium” audience of 11 – 13 year olds, these bright kids are ready for any challenge! I will be posting work from both projects on the site soon.

My beginning ballet students at Mesa Community College impressed me again! For their final performance, the combined Ballet Levels 1 and 2 Class, comprised of 30 new dancers, collaborated as a group to create an interesting and entertaining piece for their spring informal concert. I am amazed and proud every semester by what we create as a group with limited vocabulary and a lot of creativity!

I performed in Displaced Origins, an evening long work exploring the refugee experience, with Flux Dance Company in Phoenix.

In June I celebrated with my husband, Robert Lurie, on the publication of his first book, No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and The Church. We did a brief book tour coordinated with the band’s summer US tour in the Pacific Northwest followed by a much needed  (and amazing)
vacation with family in the area.

I started an online Flash Animation class that I completed over the summer. Look for animated shorts coming soon!

I also began working toward my yoga teacher certification with Carlyn Sikes.

I started a new writing project that I hope to share soon. It began as a short piece of creative non-fiction but it is expanding into something bigger. The characters are my family members and the plot is too twisted to be anything other than the absurd and hilarious truth!

In July I played in the studio in preparation for my residency in August with Front Porch Dance in Jackson, Mississippi. In one week and a lot of long days we created White Gloves and Party Manners, an exploration of the role of manners in southern society. I will be posting the piece on the website soon. The fine ladies of Front Porch were a pleasure to work with as was Jamie Weems, the musician who composed a score for the piece. Hats off to what they are doing to make more homegrown art happen in the south!

The fall (if one can call it that in Arizona) brought a return to teaching, a more concentrated leap into my yoga studies, and some serious rumination on how to best reshape the company to reflect the changes my work has taken over the past several years. I am excited about the outcome of this process and thrilled to begin revamping.

The artspace dance for camera project is thriving at a new school. Look for presentations and writings about this interesting experience at conferences in 2010.

Harper Piver is a contemporary dance performer, choreographer, and teacher currently based in Phoenix, Arizona. Her artistic work reflects her identity as both dancer and interdisciplinary artist, frequently incorporating text, media, and sound design. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her MFA in Dance at Arizona State University.

Her choreography has been commissioned and presented by organizations including the North Carolina Dance Festival (touring artist 2003-2004 season), the American Dance Festival’s Acts to Follow Series, by university and performing arts high school dance programs, and dance companies.

As a video artist, her dance for camera work has been presented in dance film festivals both nationally and internationally. In 2007, she created a 12-minute documentary produced in conjunction with Samantha Basting chronicling their experience studying dance and T’ai Chi in China.

Musically, Harper trained as a classical violinist. She studied Celtic music while living in Edinburgh, Scotland and has since stopped calling her instrument a violin and started calling it a fiddle. She has been fortunate to play on several recordings for Portland-based band Solyoni and is currently working on a top-secret project with Koot Hoomi, a.k.a. her husband and collaborator, writer and guitarist Robert Lurie. She has also studied and performed West African percussion.