Premiere of Dance Film "Wind and Tree"
Company:
Megumi Eda
WIND AND TREE
A DANCE ON FILM TO EARTH’S OWN MUSIC
FEATURING THE SEISMOGRAPHIC RECORDING OF JT BULLIT
AND DANCER MEGUMI EDA
OCTOBER 15 AND 16, 2013, THEATRE 80, NEW YORK, NY
(New York, NY) – Wind and Tree, a 50-minute dance-film work, will make its world premiere in its completed form October 15 and 16 at Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark’s Place, New York, NY. The film will be presented on three screens and is set to JT Bullit’s seismographic recordings of the Earth’s vibrations. Performed by 20 dancers, featuring Megumi Eda, the dance is a deeply visceral, dark and haunting, reflecting the sounds created by the earth’s movement. Directed and choreographed by Abe Abraham, the film initially was presented in 2011 on a single screen but is now, as intended, a three screen presentation.
“I have re-edited the film for three screens and was fortunate to have the cooperation of JT Bullit who has provided his extraordinary Earth Sounds as the ever present sound environment for the installation,” says Abraham. “JT transposes seismographic recordings of the Earth’s vibrations into the range of human ears, to lift the deepest sounds of Earth into the field of human perception.”
Show times are 8pm for both screenings. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door. The showings will be followed by a Q & A session with the artists. Call Theater 80 at 212.388.0388.
Born in Nagano, Japan, Megumi Eda had her professional debut with the Matsuyama Ballet Company in Tokyo where she appeared in many of the ballet classics in repertoire. In 1992 she was invited to join the Hamburg Ballet School, and soon after she joined the company, where she worked with Mats Ek and choreographer/director John Neumeier. In 1997, Ms. Eda joined the Dutch National Ballet where she worked with Twyla Tharp, Hans van Manen, Rudi Van Dantzig, William Forsythe and Redha. In 2001, Ms. Eda moved to London to dance with the Rambert Dance Company. There she worked with Christopher Bruce, Jiri Kylian, Lindsey Kemp and also started exploring her own choreography, creating two pieces for the Rambert company. In 2002, Ms. Eda was awarded "Best New Artist" by Japanese national newspaper, Shinano Mainichi Shimbun. She now lives in NYC where she won a Bessie Award in 2004 for her performance in Armitage's piece Time is the echo of an axe within the wood.
Abe Abraham is the Artistic Director and Founder of Abanar, Inc (http://www.abanar.org/index2.php#/home/), a dance company formed for the purpose of expanding perceptions of movement through film. Inspired by what the camera can both hide and reveal, Abanar's films expose a world of details that would go unnoticed in a live dance performance. Film techniques such as showing multiple perspectives, moving forward and backward in time, isolating body parts, and framing space sets the groundwork for new ways of creating and perceiving movement. For Abanar, film becomes a partner in the creation of dance from the outset: a process designed to discover how these two media can challenge each other to create a novel vision. Abanar features dancers from some of the leading dance companies in the world, including soloists from the New York City Ballet, the Boston Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet. Abanar is commited to the advancement of the public's appreciation for dance. Abanar is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization.
Mr. Abraham received his BFA in Dance from the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University. As a dancer, Mr. Abraham appeared in feature films including Sing, Newsies, and A Class Act. Mr. Abraham has also performed with Max Stone, Johan Renvall, and in Franco Zefferelli's production of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera. Upon graduating from NYU, Mr. Abraham continued his ballet training with Wilhelm Burmann and David Howard and flamenco training with Soledad Barrio, Omayra Amaya, Victorio Korjhan, and Antonio Jimenez. Mr. Abraham has also studied Music Theory at the Mannes College of Music. For Abanar, Mr. Abraham has choreographed and directed five dance-films which have been presented by the Dance Films Association, The Performing Arts Library (Lincoln Center), the Makor/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y, The Tribeca Screening Room, and Symphony Space. In December 2006, Mr. Abraham curated "An Evening of Short Films" at the Makor/Steindhart Center of the 92nd Street Y which featured works by Samuel Beckett from the "Beckett on Film" project. In July 2007, Mr. Abraham received fiscal sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. In January 2010, Mr. Abraham received a grant from Pal Television East to film Wind and Tree, which opened in May 2011 at the Tribeca Screening Room. The dance critic Christine Jowers called Wind and Tree an “enthralling mystery” and continues to write: “We are connected to the poetry of the body and to the wonder of the thousands of stories that exist even in the smallest gesture”.
Credits
Direction & Choreography: Abe Abraham
Featured Dancers: Megumi Eda, Abe Abraham, Caitlin Mundth, Kevin Petite, Jake Warren, and Mina Lawton.
Director of Photography: Peter Masterson
Editors: Abe Abraham and Francois Bernadi
Earth Sounds by JT Bullitt
Producers: Abe Abraham, Dave Marden, and Pal Television East
