Burgess & Co. Dance At Skirball Center for the Performing Arts 3/11

Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company returns to New York City for a special performance on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 8:00 pm at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South, NYC. 

This special program choreographed by Burgess that deals with relationships and finding a sense of self and calm in the calamity of life. It will include the two New York premieres of: "Hyphen" an innovative and provocative piece, using historic and rarely seen Fluxus films by famed video artist Nam June Paik, a Korean American; a multilayered soundscape, and a unique movement style to explore "hyphenated" America. What does it mean to be Asian American, Latin American, or Irish American, and how do you find a place to belong in a world that can feel alienating?

Taking inspiration from a previous time of social and political flux—the late 1950s and early 1960s. Members of the dance company held discussions about what the hyphen meant in their lives. Snippets of these discussions are part of the sound design.  The set design is by Paik who was the founder of video art and the first Asian American artist at the heart of the avant-garde Fluxus movement, that included Yoko Ono and John Cage.

The works used for Hyphen are the little-seen early Paik classics Cinema Metaphysique, Button Happening, and Hand and Face.  "Meditations" which was originally choreographed a year ago for Ballet Memphis to American Chamber music and Gamelan by Lou Harrison.

Also being performed are the revivals of "Chino Latino" (2007)  Music: La China y La Rumba Trio Matamoros y Los Guaracheros de Oriente Los Anos de Oro: Recuerdos de Cuba, Mi China Lola,  Si a Todas la Llaman China,  La Hija de Japonesita Carlos Gardel;  Costumes: Judy Hansen.   "Khaybet"  (2003)  Music: Philip Glass; Costumes: Judy Hansen.

Known for Asian-inspired works and visual clarity, the Washington, D.C.-based Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co. debuted its first piece in December 1992. Since then they have performed at numerous venues such as the Kennedy Center, The Harborfront Theaters (Canada), Lincoln Center Out of Doors, La Mama, and the Kaye Playhouse.

The company toured Peru, Ecuador and Latvia with the support of the US State Department and Artslink.  The repertoire has been performed in Germany, Bulgaria, Colombia, Ecuador, Latvia, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Korea, and Russia. They have received commissions from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities,  NEA New Forms/Andy Warhol Foundation, Kennedy Center, Washington Performing Arts Society and the Smithsonian Institution. The company is currently a participant in the Kennedy Center's Capacity Building Program.

The company celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala at Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Theater. In 2003, the company premiered "Tracings", an evening length work commissioned by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and the Kennedy Center to celebrate the Korean American Centennial. This piece toured nationally and internationally.  The company was awarded the Washington, DC Mayor's Arts Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline in 2005. "Images from the Embers" toured throughout 2006 representing the United States at the International Choreographer's Festival in Lima, Peru.  The company opened the 2007 Kennedy Center modern dance season, marking the company's 15th Anniversary. They recently performed in Egypt and a multiple city tour in India with the support of the US State Department.    

For more information visit: www.dtsbco.com.

Dana Tai Soon Burgess (founder, artistic director and choreographer) for sixteen years, has created dances that freshly synthesize Eastern and Western aesthetics. The award-winning Burgess was raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to an Irish-Scottish American father and a Korean American mother. He originally trained with Tim Wengerd and Judith Bennahum and then studied the Michio Ito technique. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from George Washington University, where he is a professor of dance. He has taught at the Hamburg Ballet School, The University of Venezuela, The University of Panama, The National Ballet of Peru, and King Sejong University, Korea, and has conducted master classes for Xiamen Dance Company and the Beijing Contemporary Dance Company, China, the Garage Performance Space in Alexandria Egypt, and the Latvian State School of Dance. He  received a Senior Specialist Fulbright last year to choreograph and teach in Lima, Peru.

Tickets are FREE and  reservations can be made apa.rsvp@nyu.edu or call 212-992-9653.