TAKE Dance Presents DARK MOURNING at Peter Norton Symphony Space Tonight

TAKE Dance, the New York City-based contemporary dance troupe led by Artistic Director/Founder Takehiro Ueyama, presents DARK MOURNING - two nights of world premiere works tonight, September 27th and Saturday, September 28th at NYC's Peter Norton Symphony Space. The program will include: the world premieres of the eponymous Dark Mourning by Take Ueyama, and a specially choreographed new work by renowned choreographer/master teacher Kazuko Hirabayashi; along with the fan favorite and critically acclaimed Flight.

The program's centerpiece is the world premiere of Dark Mourning, an interpretation of grief performed in nine sections by seven dancers. Inspired by his own mourning process experienced after the death of his aunt, Take says this piece is his way of saying goodbye. "I was bewildered by all the different and strong emotions I felt," explains Take. "I wanted to reconstruct this grief through dance. In a way, this choreography is the final step in my own healing process."

Dark Mourning explores the visceral moments that is universally shared when someone or something passes. Juxtaposing sadness, struggle, fear, and loneliness are moments of acceptance, acknowledgement and even happiness. "Dark Mourning is not all about suffering. It also reflects the beauty and enjoyment of life."

A long time mentor for TAKE Dance, choreographer/teacher Kazuko Hirabayashi creates a new duet work (title and details TBA) for Take and Jill Echo, both formerly of Paul Taylor Dance Company. The piece is inspired by a Japanese ghost story and set to use Shakuhachi (the traditional Japanese bamboo flute music). Hirabayashi is the founder and Artistic Director of Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater since 1971. Her work combines classical and modern American dance with Hirabayashi's Japanese heritage.

Premiering in 2010 at Dance Theatre Workshop, Flight embodies elements of the beauty of nature including purity, honesty, courage and danger. "I find that nature inspires me most and this is what I try to capture in my work," explains Take. Inspired by a flock of starlings playing in the sky in Rome, Take marries surprise with movement and hesitations to portray the birds' breathtaking unison flights and banking turns, sculpting the air so seamlessly elegant. "Time stood still as they danced in the heavens leaving me on the ground wishing I could fly away with them." According to the New Yorker, Flight "has speed, size, and a Philip Glass-driven turbulence cycle, as well as reverential calm, stillness, and silence." For this Symphony Space performance, former Paul Taylor dancer, Barry Wizoreck, joins as a special guest in Flight.

TAKE Dance is a NYC-based contemporary Dance Company founded by Artistic Director Takehiro Ueyama. Since its inception in 2005, TAKE Dance has been praised for its exciting athletic movement and unusual sensitivity to create distinctive work that is uniquely "TAKE".The Company's mission is to create and stage works that deepen society's sensitivity and understanding of the human condition. The fusion of Eastern and Western culture is a key element in what makes Take's work truly one of a kind. By making bold choices in movement, musical selections, and subject matter, TAKE Dance strives not simply to be seen but rather, fully experienced. Take utilizes action to inspire action: the works created and performed by the Company are based on socially relevant issues and seek to make a positive impact on society. TAKE Dance seeks to use the human body to its fullest capacity, smashing the barriers created by language, skin color, gender, or religion. By taking these aforementioned differences that have become so enormously divisive and linking them, Take's work speaks to a wide range of audience members and demonstrates that despite the variation that exists between us, we are all ultimately connected to one another.

The Company has performed: in New York at Central Park SummerStage, Joyce SoHo, Dance Theater Workshop, Columbia University's Miller Theater, Judson Memorial Church, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, Cunningham Studio, Joe's Pub and The Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, Baruch Performing Arts Center and PS/21 in Chatham, NY; and, in Italy for the Festival Internazionale Nuova Danza of Cagliari, Sardinia as well as Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Downtown Dance Festival, WestFest Dance Festival, DanceNOW Festival, National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, SaratogaArtsFest, San Francisco's WestWave Dance Festival and Spring to Dance Festival - Dance St. Louis. Additional venues include Dance Place in Washington DC, The Lewis Center at Princeton University, New Noises Festival at Perry-Mansfield in Colorado, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Nort Maar Fete de Danse and DanceNOW SteelStacks. TAKE Dance recently served as company-in-residence at Skidmore College, University at Albany, Randolph College and Kingsborough College.

Tickets are $20 Advanced/$25 Day of Show/Students + Seniors $15. To purchase, visit symphonyspace.org or call 212.864.5400. For more information, visit www.takedance.org.