Celia Ipiotis and Jeff Bush, ARC founders and directors, have been working in the field of television and the arts since the early seventies.
CELIA IPIOTIS is the creator, producer, and moderator of the nationally recognized culture series EYE ON DANCE & The Arts and EYE ON THE ARTS. Publicly singled out for her expertise in television and the arts, Ms. Ipiotis has served on university dance faculties, participated on international and national arts selection panels, functioned as advisor for WNET’s “Dance In America Series,” led panels and forums on arts issues and moderated conversations on the artistic process for major cultural institutions. Arts commentary by Ms. Ipiotis appears weekly on “EYE ON THE ARTS” and in print and internet publications.
Ms. Ipiotis began her professional career as a ballet and modern dancer and choreographer. She became intrigued with the creative potential inherent in the mixing of video and dance while completing a BFA in DANCE at Ohio State University and MA in Media Studies at New School for Social Research. The recipient of choreographic fellowships, she performed with the Dayton Ballet, founded and directed the Living Arts Dance Company and held numerous artist-in-residence positions in school districts throughout the United States.
In 1976, Ms. Ipiotis began collaborating with the pioneering videodance artist Jeff Bush.
JEFFREY BUSH migrated to the arts from a background in physics and theology. With an early interest in design and electronics, Mr. Bush obtained a BA in Astrophysics from Columbia College and Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary before entering the field of videotape production as manager of the video-user program at John Jay College. Discovering dance as a compelling subject for his video camera, Mr. Bush incorporated video and dance into the remainder of his formal studies.
He served as a faculty member of the Media Studies Program at New School for Social Research and as a video consultant for educational institutions. Utilizing his background in electronics and physics, he explored ways to marry the techniques of video technology with dance. Authoring one of the first articles stressing the importance of designing dance specifically for the camera, he coined the word “videodance” to describe this new art form. In 1976, Bush joined with Ipiotis to create a body of videodance works. In 1981, Bush and Ipiotis launched EYE ON DANCE & The ARTS in an effort to propel dance literacy.
Together, Bush and Ipiotis initiated model programs and services in the field of video and dance. They directed the Dance Television Workshop at Harvard and other universities, taught courses on video production and the arts and lectured and served on advisory committees. Their award-winning videodance productions and educational programs have been exhibited at Worlds’ Fairs, major cultural institutions such as Lincoln Center and film/video festivals around the world.
