Fledge

This 2008 iLAB mini residency is supported by the iLAND organization.

Collaborators: Choreographer Theresa Duhon and Biologist Colin Grubel

During June and July 2008, cormorant researcher Colin Grubel and choreographer Theresa Duhon will engage in one another's work as observers and active participants. Duhon will be assisting Grubel in studying the diet of Double-crested Cormorants, work that involves the collection and identification of fish as well as pellets containing identifiable parts of past meals, regurgitated by the birds. Samples will be collected at several colonies in the NYC area and identified in the lab at Queens College. The work also includes monitoring nests and banding birds. Grubel will participate in Theresa's choreographic process as a dancer, learning dance material and contributing to improvisational exercises as well as to the discussion of their results. Despite their complete lack of training in one another's fields, the collaborators hope to contribute in a meaningful way to the work, while also developing a deeper understanding of both fields and identifying similarities and differences between the scientific and artistic approaches.

Dancers regularly participating in this project include Sophie DeVore, Cristina Jesurun, Johannah-Joy Magyawe, Uta Takemura, and Lutin Tanner. Additionally, various dancer and non-dancer guests join each session as participants and/or observers.

Photo by Theresa Duhon View of cormorants through the window of a Swinburne Island building	Photo byColin Grubel Theresa Duhon and cormorants, Swinburne Island
Photo by Colin Grubel Double-crested cormorants, Swinburne Island	Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon holding a cormorant, Swinburne Island
Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon observing cormorants, Swinburne Island	Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon observing cormorants, Swinburne Island
Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon holding a cormorant for banding, Swinburne Island	Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon holding a gull chick, Swinburne Island
Photo by Colin Grubel Gull nest with egg, Swinburne Island	Photo by Colin Grubel Gull chick, Swinburne Island
Photo by Colin Grubel Cormorant pellet on the ground, Swinburne Island	Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon picking up a bolus (eel), Swinburne Island
Photo by Colin Grubel Theresa Duhon dissecting a cormorant pellet, Queens College Lab	Photo by Theresa Duhon Colin Grubel holding a bolus (regurgitated partially-digested fish), Queens College Lab
Photo by Colin Grubel A fish otolith (ear bone), used to identify fish species eaten by cormorants	Photo by Colin Grubel The otolith of a cunner
Photo by Takashi Yokoyama Fledge rehearsal, Astoria Park, July 19, 2008 Colin, Theresa, Uta, Mary, and Cristina	Photo by Takashi Yokoyama Fledge rehearsal, Astoria Park, July 19, 2008 Colin Grubel, Uta Takemura
Photo by Takashi Yokoyama Fledge rehearsal, Astoria Park, July 19, 2008 Uta and Theresa	Photo by Takashi Yokoyama Fledge rehearsal, Astoria Park, July 19, 2008 Mary, Cristina, Colin, and Uta