CRYSTAL FIELD and THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY, THE SWEDISH ARTS COUNCIL, and THE UPPSALA CITY COUNCIL present:
THE SWEDISH ARTS COUNCIL, and THE UPPSALA CITY
COUNCIL present:
SOOT: a solo performance by Swedish Butoh choreographer SU-EN
FROM A FIREFLY'S EYE: by American choreographer Nancy Zendora and performed by the Zendora Dance Company
Lighting Design for Zendora and Production Manager: Juan Merchan.
Costumes for Zendora: Jennifer Lee
Lighting for SU-EN: Svante W. Monie Technician: Lina Kramar
Saturday November 3 at 8:00
Sunday November 4 at 3:00
Admission 5 RESERVATIONS: 212 254 1109
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue, New York, NY 10003
(Between 9th and 10th streets)
SOOT enters a world of leftover particles, the powdery soot making random patterns. Civilization and cultural human behavior relinquish remnants that cannot be controlled or discarded. The powdery soot makes its own dance in chimneys in cottages and industries, threatening the existence of living beings. The process of organic material is an ever-changing process. The wood is chopped in the spring from logs, burnt in the fireplace in winter, leaving heat to warm our bodies, leaving ash that we throw on the ash pile, and leaving soot -- a material disintegrating, dissolving and transforming.
Music and sound by: Lee Berwick
FROM A FIREFLY'S EYE embodies a Haiku by Yuko Otomo, capturing the changing moods of the seasons. The piece for 7 dancers: Marie Baker-Lee, Ann Coppola, Zackary Model, Stephanie Schwartz, Frances Rosario- Puleo, Craig Zarah-Hoke, Dawn Yuster, creates an elegant ritual of delicate gestures that recall a rock garden of mysterious beauty. Explosions of movement contrast with moments of stillness that evoke a landscape showing a mythic relationship between humans and nature.
Nancy Zendora and SU-EN met in l990 in Tokyo at a Kyogen workshop at the International Theater Institute. They have continued their friendship for over 20 years and are sharing these evenings to express the light and dark aspects of the psyche. The imprint of Japanese aesthetic is strong in both choreographers.
SU-EN/SU-EN BUTOH COMPANY
SU-EN is the artistic director, choreographer, and main dancer of SU-EN Butoh Company. The company was formed in Tokyo in 1992 under the supervision from Tomoe Shizune & Hakutobo, where SU-EN was studying between 1988-1994 as apprentice in the Hakutobo group, where Yoko Ashikawa was teaching and choreographing. Since 1994 the company is based in Sweden and performs internationally. Since 1997 SU-EN Butoh Company is based in the old village school Haglund Skola, 30 min from Uppsala in the middle of the forest.
The work of SU-EN is strongly influenced by processes in nature, the struggle, and the friction of inevitable changes in life. Her work has been described as cruel beauty. Main influences today are performance art, visual art and her many cross-over collaborations with artists from other genres. The SU-EN Butoh method requires many years of studying to master. Through teaching apprentices on a long-term basis a new generation of Butoh dancers will emerge out of SU-EN Butoh Company, thus developing the lineage of Tomoe Shizune and the heritage of Tatsumi Hijikata.
Since 2006 SU-EN is the curator for Friction International Performance Art Festival which is organized by Uppsala Art Museum and SU-EN Butoh Company. Friction takes place every two years in the city of Uppsala.
www.suenbutohcompany.net
NANCY ZENDORA/ ZENDORA DANCE COMPANY
Nancy Zendora/Zendora Dance Company performs yearly in New York in venues such as Joyce/SoHo, Danspace Project, White Wave Rising and La Mama Moves Festival. In recent years performances have included festivals in Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, and Egypt. Zendora’s travels to older cultures where there is an interconnectedness of landscape and ritual has inspired her vision.
Zendora is a Certified Movement Analyst from the Laban Center for Movement Studies and has a certification in Authentic Movement. She teaches Authentic Movement and also workshops in "The Poetics of Performance" which combines Laban, Butoh and improvisation with imagery through the creative use of Haiku. She has been a guest artist at Universities and Cultural Centers including NYU, Iona College, University of Maryland and Pomona College. She is on the Fulbright Roster until 2014 and recently performed in Patzcuaro, Mexico. Several visits to Japan plus the study of their various dance/theater forms, including Noguchi Taiso Exercise and Seitai (spontaneous movement), has had a strong imprint on her work and has been integrated into her performance.
EMAIL: zendoradancecompany@earthlink.net
URL: www.zendoradancecompany.com
