Pittsburgh-born DJ shares ‘a full circle moment’ with dancers, animators and other artists
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - As a Central Catholic High School student, Hussein Pwono was more into drawing than music. The Highland Park native didn’t discover his talent for mixing music and making beats until he graduated and headed to Penn State University.
He returned to Pittsburgh in 2016 and was surprised at the changes he found.
“I had no idea what was going on in the music scene,” said Pwono, aka DJ pvkvsv. “It’s really strong, the diversity of sounds from the DJ community.
“The last 10 years has been really exciting – a full circle moment for me.”
Pwono was among 19 Pittsburgh-based artists of various genres who participated in the first Pittsburgh Homecoming. Their performance Sept. 18 was titled “Pittsburgh, Tomorrow: A City on the Rise.”
A blend of dance, music, animation, photography and interactive media, the event was the grand finale of a weeklong Start-UP PGH conference showcasing Pittsburgh’s innovation. But it was also very much a homecoming, not just for the artists but for former Pittsburghers seeing the region through fresh eyes.
“Pittsburgh really has the ingredients to be the world’s best place to live, and we’re working with partners in every sector to lift the veil on the incredible things afoot here,” said Doug Heuck, founder of Pittsburgh Tomorrow, a nonprofit working to grow Pittsburgh, which produced the event.
Pwono and composer Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh provided music to accompany performances/installations by visual artists Johannes DeYoung, Brendan Burch, Wendy Willis, Julian Glander, Sujin Kim, Kevin Lorenzi, Natalie Westbrook, Jamie Wolfe and Kristin Lauth Shaeffer.
Dance and movement was created by Attack Theatre founders Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope, Jax R.F. McAtee, Will VanSlander, Anya Epstein, Miranda Nichols Braseth, Mia Giovanna Kuzma and Savionne Chambers.
In addition to live performances, some of the dancers’ movements were transformed through motion tracking technology into digital imagery on screens throughout the space at Rockwell Park in Point Breeze.
Pwono, who tried to choose music that would “blend in with the vibe they had,” said he especially enjoyed the final piece of the evening, “when they danced to whatever music I was playing.”
The dancers could often be seen in shadow boxes and their silhouettes were sometimes combined with animation by DeYoung and other visual artists.
Chambers, a new company artist with Attack Theatre, said the room at Rockwell Center was “a sizzling positive energy.”
“As a Baltimore native, it’s exhilarating to witness the Pittsburgh community transform into a vibrant canvas that showcases local artists and longstanding arts organizations,” she said.
DeYoung, a professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University, noted that this was the first time the 19 artists created together in Pittsburgh.
“Their works, collectively and individually, ask us to reflect on the uncanny and often overlooked moments in daily life,” he said.