ANIKAI Dance Theater and More Set for Green Space, May 2013

Green Space presents Take Root with ANIKAI Dance Theater on May 18 and Fertile Ground New Works by various artists on May 19. Green Space will offer a diverse roster of new/emerging artists in May. Green Space is located at 37-24 24th Street (bet. 37 & 38th Ave.) in Long Island City, NY. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.GreenSpaceStudio.org.

TAKE ROOT, now in its 4th season, aids in the continued development and performance of new dance work of various aesthetics by providing choreographers with the opportunity to be produced in a full or paired evening of work. This once a month series supports dance makers by providing our venue, Green Space, with full technical and marketing support.

May 18, 2013
8:30pm
Admission: $15
Take Root with ANIKAI Dance Theater

Lilith, a solo performance, will be an envisioning of the character of Lilith from the Jewish tradition - the first woman, created as Adam's equal, who rebelled against Adam and ran away from the Garden of Eden. This character will be explored as a figure from ancient texts who has been re-envisioned and reclaimed in modern feminist Jewish thought.

The performance will view Lilith as an observer of history, dwelling outside of linear time, who relives her own creation, her fall/escape from Adam and Eden, her punishment (to have one hundred of her children die every day) and the injustice that led to it. At times, however, she will appear as a creatrix, a serpent, a winged creature, embodying the many ways that literature and art has viewed her through the ages, but reinterpreting these disparate images into one whole, complex being.

Wendy Jehlen, Artistic Director of ANIKAI Dance Theater, is a choreographer whose unique approach to movement incorporates elements of a wide range of dance styles including Bharata Natyam, Odissi and Kuchipudi, which she has studied for thirty years in India and the US; Capoeira, Kalaripayattu, West African dance, Butoh, and American and European Modern and Contemporary dance styles. Jehlen's emotionally powerful choreography has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, India and in Japan.

Jehlen has received funding and recognition for her choreography from the Artist Grants Program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council (2001, 2003),the Senior Performing Artist Fellowship program of the American Institute of Indian Studies (2001), the Ford Foundation/Arts International (1996), the Puffin Foundation (2001), the Tokyo American Center (2002), the National Endowment for the Arts(2005), the Fulbright program/United States Educational Foundation in India (2005-2006, the National School of Drama (2006, 2011), the Alliance Francaise de Madras (2006), Abhinaya (2011), the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (2011) and the Consulate General of Chennai (2011), among others.

Jehlen is a 2011-2012 Brother Thomas Fellow of the Boston Foundation, a 2012-2013 Choreography Fellow of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a 2013 Creative Artist Fellow fo the American Institute of Indian Studies, a 2013 Boston Dance Alliance Retreat and Rehearsal Fellowship recipient and a recipient of a 2012-2013 Boston University Jewish Cultural Endowment grant for the creation of Lilith.

FERTILE GROUND is a monthly new works showcase for emerging and established artists now in its 7th season, producing the work of over 50 choreographers each year. This non-curated performance event features five-six choreographers each evening, and includes a post-performance discussion with wine and cheese, moderated by Green Space's Artistic Director, Valerie Green.

May 19, 2013
7pm
Admission: $10

Featuring:
Sarah, Whitney and Kate
Jacobs Campbell Dance
Marsi Burns and Alice Teirstein
Nonalee Dance Theatre
Vital Dance
Cassandra Motta Collective

DANCE ENTROPY / GREEN SPACE: Dance Entropy Inc. created its company home base, Green Space, in Long Island City, in November 2005. Green Space is a spacious 2000 sq. foot venue housed in a former silk factory with magnificent views overlooking Manhattan. Green Space offers choreographers, dancers and the local community an affordable professional dance rehearsal, class, and performance space in New York City.

By Subway: N, Q, or the 7 to Queensboro Plaza, the first stop outside Manhattan. Take the North pedestrian bridge to the street. Look to your right, you will see Crescent St., turn right on Crescent and walk to 38th Ave. Turn left on 38th Ave. Walk one block to 24th street. Green Space is in the red brick, four-story building. (Approximately a ten-minute walk.)

Photo Credit: Bob MacDonnell