(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)December 17, 2003

(Mahwah) – Video art by Shalom Gorewitz, a visual arts professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, was selected for the PBS program The Territory. His video, My Body is a Boat (2000), was choreographed and performed by Brazilian dancer Regina Miranda and shown as part of her work, Ghazal (a Sufi love poem to God).

In My Body is a Boat, Miranda merges with skeletal ruins that jut out of the water along the coast. Using sequences of still frames and multilayered movements, Gorewitz creates a mysterious and sensual video reflecting on mortality, faith and union.

For any art to become ghazal, it has to not only describe, but also provide the experience of the intensity of love for The Other,” explains Gorewitz. The artist is treading a fine line between the sacred and profane. It can never be too much about physical or abstract devotion. How does one sexualize the image without it becoming pornographic? The work has to convey and provide the energy of search, seduction, consummation and merging.”

The video, which received support from Donald Trump, was recorded on the banks of the Hudson River between 57th and 66th Streets in Manhattan. The soundtrack features a voice-over by former Ramapo College student Christen Clark and was created in collaboration with New York City composer and performer Paul Geluso.

It will be broadcast on the Southwest Alternate Media Project program, which is produced in Houston and syndicated on network and cable stations primarily in that region. The video was previously shown as part of the New York City Dance on Film Festival in 2001. For more information, e-mail: shalom@gorewitz.com.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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