Dance premiere in collaboration with Heidi Latsky Dance

For the past six months I've been working on a new piece with Heidi Latsky Dance. Heidi Latsky works with abled and disabled dancers to create piercing works about individuality, isolation and beauty. 
Composing this score has been very rewarding and the result is a 20 minute piece that is ethereal, percussive, relentless, and sensual. The lighting design is also quite stunning. It will be preceded by the premiere of a gorgeous dance film she made called "Soliloquy" and a staple piece called "Solo Counter Solo". 

Heidi Latsky Dance
TRIPTYCH

Concept, Choreography and Direction by Heidi Latsky
Original Music by Chris Brierley and Xi.me.na Borges
Lighting by Robert Wierzel
Costumes by Carlos Arias and Liz Prince
Dramaturgy by Stewart Schulman

Thursday, April 16th and Friday, April 17th, 2015 at 7:30pm
Saturday, April 18th, 2015 at 8:00pm
Sunday, April 19th, 2015 at 3:00pm
The Kasser Theater at Montclair State University

http://www.peakperfs.org/peak-programming-2014-15/triptych/
http://www.peakperfs.org/getting-here/

Running time: one hour
Performers: Brynt Beitman, Meredith Fages, Jeffrey Freeze, Larry Goldhuber, Jerron Herman, Jillian Hollis, Heidi Latsky, Saki Matsuda, John McGinty, Evan Ruggiero, Robert Simpson, Alexandria Wailes, Gregory Youdan

**For the Thursday and Friday performances, NJTransit is available to the MONTCLAIR HEIGHTS station, which is the desired stop (NOT the MSU stop).  For Saturday and Sunday, charter bus service is available from Port Authority directly to the theater.  See the "getting here" link above for further details.

Music Video Award

We are ECSTATIC to announce that "WannaBe", the film Jessica Taylor and I made together was just awarded the 2nd Jury Award in the Dances with Camera Competition during the 7th edition of Short Waves Festival in Poznań, Poland!!! 

"For exceptional use of the idea of public space by means of inviting passers-by and, as a result, crossing the boundary between professional dancers and common people. For redefining dance as a community of movement and a meeting area in spite of ongoing differences and social divisions. For a comprehensive approach to the problem of identity by means of using dynamic editing (faces versus bodies) and a contrast between scenography (boxes) and natural surroundings of the city."

Thanks to dancers Kyle Rostan and Sarah Zielinski and interns for the project Davonna Batt and Sarah XiZhu. 

New Dance Music Video!

A year ago I composed WannaBe for fantastic choreographer Jessica Taylor/DAMAGEDANCE. We loved the piece so much we decided to make a DanceMusic Video and after six months of planning, filming and editing here it is! For a whole day we walked around Dumbo Brooklyn with a big box in which we enclosed all our movements, laughters, wierdnesses and were gladly joined by many strangers to whom we connected on the most basic fact: We all want to move with freedom and without preconceptions of how "one should move". 

Hope you enjoy it! 

A Jessica Taylor/DAMAGEDANCE Production in association with Ximena Borges

Producer: Jessica Taylor / DAMAGEDANCE

Film Director / Camera / Editor: Ximena Borges

Choreography by: Jessica Taylor

Music by: Ximena Borges

Dancers: Kyle Rostan and Sarah Zielinski

New years wishes

Apesar de las cosas tristes que hayan pasado este año en mi pais, tambien sucedieron cosas bellas y hay que celebrarlas con optimismo por un año mejor!! Por lo tanto no queda mas que decir: "Yo no olvido el año viejo porque me ha dejado cosas muy buenas, me dejo una chiva, una burra negra, una yegua blanca y una buena suegra"

After a year of lows (my country sadly) but also of highs, let us celebrate them with optimism for a better year to come! All that is left to say is: "I wont forget the old year because it left me a goat, a black donkey, a white horse, and a good mother-in-law" !!!! 

Nebraska: here I come!

In a few weeks me and my loop station will be going to heartland of the US - (literally the belly button geographically speaking) - where my newly acquired family is from, to sing songs from my Christmas album "Joyful Noise", sing some duets with the terrific David Eames on guitar and meet a lovely midwestern crowd! Can't wait. Here are the details: 

Thursday December 11th, 7pm at Om Center. Click here for tickets: http://www.ximenaborges.com/event

Ximena is new musical director of Heidi Latsky Dance

A few years back, I was sitting in the audience crying while watching a dance piece called GIMP by the Heidi Latsky Dance Company. Ok, I cry often with music and theater. But this time it was the human factor that made me cry. HLD uses abled and disabled performers in its company, a gentleman with parkinsons, a deaf girl, a man with cerebral palsy, etc. But her choreography isn't made to highlight their lacks, but to highlight the beauty of their unique bodies. 

Today I am privileged to be working with them as their musical director! We are creating a whole new score for their piece "Somewhere" and it will premiere next year at Montclaire St. University. Will keep you posted. Meanwhile you can see her work here:

www.heidilatskydance.com

Reviews from Sonic Collages

Review by Parenthesis Magazine:

“Every time the Venezuelan soprano Ximena Borges manipulates her well-trained vocal chords to interpret any genres she dares, she does so following an infinite need for expression that references from the most classical to the most popular cultures, without fear of breaking the rules.” Revista Parentesis, Venezuela, August 2014

Review by Prodavinci:

"Ximena is a sum of Isabel Palacios + Tracy Champan + Lady Gaga in Venezuela, with that sort of postmodern universal proposal that isn’t afraid of its innovation. Her vocal lyricism allows her to record loops live that become homages, landscapes, and poems while the minutes pass and her arms lift as a sign of femininity among all the electronic sound waves"

Read full article: http://prodavinci.com/blogs/la-musicadelmundo-se-hace-en-venezuela-por-marcy-rangel-caracasencontratiempo/

Festival CCS en Contratiempo

Last month I sang at the second edition of this amazing festival featuring only musicians from Venezuela, extraordinary virtuosos that spanned pop, folk, traditional, electronic and world. I was in this last category with a band called Gaelica (whom I highly recommend for anytime when an injection of optimism is called for) and it was so much fun. It was a 500-person seat theater, full house, and a great audience. Here is one of the videos from that day:

Musica del Mundo (World Music)
Teatro de Chacao
July 30th 2014

Composing for Dance

I met Jessica Taylor, choreographer of DamageDance at The Field Artward Bound Residency summer 2013. We shared our love of Hollywood Golden Era, with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire dancing whom we grew up watching. She then invited me to create the music for a piece she was choreographing inspired by those films while exploring gender persona and identity. The piece was premiered beginning of 2014 and has since been performed all over New York City. 

We have since decided to make a music/dance video which we filmed in the streets of DUMBO Brooklyn and will be ready to show by December 2014. 

Here is WannaBe performed by Sarah Zielinski

Joyful Noise Reviews

TheBigTakeover: "The album is an entirely gratifying experience because Joyful Noise manages to finally shake off the dust of the once tired Christmas album, and reinvent in a new and exciting way."Read more here

Obscuresound.com: "Now that Thanksgiving has passed, there’s no excuse not to blast Christmas music to your heart’s content. For your neighbors’ sake, at least keep it to quality audible holiday cheer, though" Read more here

Neufutur.com: "Joyful Noise is an album that will shatter all conceptions that listeners will have about holiday music. This is the best holiday-themed album that we have happened upon so far this year, and it will maintain its freshness long after the Christmas tree has passed.." Read more here

Soletron.com: "She has a great voice and her experimentations with it paid off in this passion project . It is worth your time, if the normal X-mas fare doesn’t cut it for you. Would like to hear her voice put to use in her future endeavors, which I hope are just as adventurous. I normally hate X-mas music so for her to sway me is a testament to what she has crafted. " Read more here

Coxillah.com: "With on of the weirdest Christmas albums you will ever hear, Ximena Borges brings you a very avant-garde look at her rendition of holiday classics on her latest album “Joyful Noise.” Read more here

Available to Buy Worldwide!

Happy news! Joyful Noise is available on several sites to buy or download, click on any of these and get some Christmas gifts for your family and friends!

Cdbaby  Bandcamp  iTunes

Kurt Tannenbaum house remix!

For my Kickstarter campaign, my dear friend and fantastic sound designer Soraya Odishoo made a super cool remix of one of Joyful Noise songs. Its a song to dance in a dark room with a sexy someone next to you... 

Crunchy Drummer music video

It is with so much happiness I can finally put out this video I've been working on for the past year and am super proud! Hope you all enjoy it and spread the joy!! Happy holidays!

Joyful Noise in Estampas Mag

The main sunday magazine of Venezuela published a lovely 4 page article about Joyful Noise! if you read spanish you can read it here.

Kickstarter Update

Dear Backers,

I write to you as I am preparing all the pieces to make this album and fulfill this reward. This is so exciting!! 

So Fernando Aponte, fantastic sound engineer, has finished mixing and mastering all of the tracks. Gonzalo Grau and I have tweaked all the details and are very happy with each one of the tracks. Nathaniel Eames has now finished designing the cover for the album and I promise you can hear the music with your eyes! 

Thanks to all who have responded the survey about your address and preference of how to have your name appear in the backer list. To the few who still are missing, please do so soon, since we cannot have the CD's printed without this final list. 

While the CD is in the printers, I will be ordering the coffee mugs, postcards, envelopes, labels, and boxes and a group of kind friends will help me pack it all to get it to you before December! The new song recordings will happen too and private concerts are being coordinated. 

Much love to all!! 

100% Kickstarter funded

INFINITE THANKS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!!!!!!!! INFINITAS GRACIAS A CADA UNO DE USTEDES!!!!!!!!!! 

Thanks also to the people who supported me before, during and after this campaign!

Now it is up to me to reward you in a timely fashion, so I will send you a survey asking for your mailing addresses and how you would like your name written in the backers list inside the album. 

Humbled, grateful, and thrilled,
Ximena

La Tempestad success!

Fantastic weekend of great music, theater and art making at La Tempestad Extended. Thanks to everyone who worked so very hard to make this happen. It is a world-class show and I am so very proud to have taken it to where it is now. 

Thanks also to all the people who filled the Teatro Chacao for four days!!! 
Until next time.

La Tempestad Extended in Caracas

La Tempestad returns with more magical moments and new scenes to surprise audiences once more in Caracas at Teatro Chacao.

Xi.me.na Borges, concept and soprano
Jacobo Borges, director
Ricercarte Ensamble, sextet
Cirque Parallel 

New album "Joyful Noise" in the making

My very first album EVER!! Great thing about "firsts" is that they never loose their place, your first kiss, car, house, child... ALBUM! Anyway, super exciting! Its gonna be a long process but I believe in this project. Also: Im not alone: Gonzalo Grau is producing it with me, and anyone who knows him will tell you, Im a darn lucky singer to have him! 

Our premise is this: record an album, entirely with my voice and body, with Christmas songs from around the world! 

We want to go fearlessly against genre convention and create something unique, fun, young and interesting. Will let you know how it goes!