New York Premiere of OASIS by Nejla Yatkin
Featuring NY2Dance at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre on July 27th and 28th
NY2Dance
presents The New York premier of
Oasis
With support from Moon and the Star Project of
The American Turkish Society and the Turkish Cultural Foundation
July 27th -28th at 8PM, Tickets: 0- 5 visit www.smartTix.com (212) 868-4444
Where: Ailey Citigroup Theater
405 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019
NY2Dance brings the latest work entitled Oasis by choreographer Nejla Y. Yatkin to a New York premiere performance at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre with generous support by Moon and Stars Project of The American Turkish Society and the Turkish Cultural Foundation as well as 3Arts Project.
After a successful preview performance in New York and Washington, DC last year, this evening length multi media dance theatre work for 7 dancers with original music composed by Iranian American composer Shamou is making its premier at Danza Nuevo in Lima, Bates Dance Festival in Maine and then at the Ailey Theatre in New York.
Oasis is centered on a juxtaposition between the desert and the oasis. Similar to mystical realism in literature the piece exists in two realities – magical elements blend seamlessly with the real world meaning that the "real" and the "fantastic" exist in the same stream of thought.
Through the prism of desert/oasis and magical/real, the piece explores issues of identity, veiling, torture and spirituality moving through what is familiar; what is imagined or mythical, what is actual; what is out of the Middle East and what is inside it. The desert can be experienced as beautiful and exotic even as it is harsh and potentially lethal. The Oasis is an almost dreamlike element, just the idea of which sustains life--even in its most vulnerable state.
“Everything about Nejla Yatkin’s newest dance is bold: It addresses challenging subject matter through movement that is daring in construction and assured in its execution.” – The Washington Post
In 2012 Oasis received the Excellence for Choreography Award at the preview performance from the New York International Fringe Festival.
About NY2Dance
NY2Dance was formed in 2000 by dancer and choreographer Nejla Y. Yatkin in Washington, DC. NY2Dance in short for Nejla Yasemin Yatkin Dance, a bridging of cultures from East and West, is a virtuosic dance theatre company of engagingly individual dancers from around the world who explore the abstract telling of humanities’ story. The company explores topics of identity, transformation, migration and multiculturalism in movement through a dynamic mix of multi-media and diverse theater techniques. NY2Dance is the vehicle for Ms. Yatkins vision to use dance in exploration of the human experience through movement. The company’s mission is to: 1) create works that reflect the complexity of human existence, that tap the essence of what is common within all humanity and to embrace spirituality as a guiding force, a point of communication as well as reflection; 2) to collaborate with other artists from various disciplines from around the world; and 3) to preserve the works of master choreographers. For more information please visit www.ny2dance.com
About Nejla Y. Yatkin
Nejla Y. Yatkin originally from Berlin, Germany with Turkish roots, is a 3Arts Fellow, 2012 Forth fund recipient, 2011 National Performance Network Creation Fund recipient, a 2008 Princess Grace Choreography Fellow (awarded by the Princess Grace Foundation in New York City) and an Artist in Residence at the University of Notre Dame. In her choreography, she explores the beauty as well as complexity of memory, migration, transformation, identity and multiculturalism through movement. This is achieved by drawing upon diverse traditions of dance, cultures and medium as well as utilizing subjects that are at once universal and timeless. Inspired by Martha Graham, Mary Wigman, Susanne Linke and other great female choreographers, in 2000 Ms. Yatkin began choreographing solo works for herself after dancing with several companies in Germany and the USA for over 10 years. She then moved to create larger works on other bodies. To date, she has performed in 25 countries and 75 cities around the world and has choreographed on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, the Washington Ballet and The Maryland Dance Ensemble as well as the Baltimore Ballet. A recipient of many awards and honors, Ms. Yatkin has received the DC Mayors Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist, 6 Metro DC Dance Awards, a 2008 Princess Grace Choreography Award, a 2009 Princess Grace Special Project Award, 4 Artist Fellowship Awards from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities for her excellence in Dance and Choreography as well as she was selected as one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 To Watch.” Nejla Y. Yatkin has been supported by the National Performance Network, La RED, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (an agency of the National Endowment for the Arts), the German Embassy, The American Embassy, University of Maryland, the Goethe Institut NY, US International Artists, University of Notre Dame, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Princess Grace Foundation, the Historical Dance Foundation and the Illinois Council for the Arts.
