Sonya Tayeh to Debut YOU'LL STILL CALL ME BY NAME at New York Live Arts

New York Live Arts presents Sonya Tayeh, Obie and Lucille Lortel award winner and Drama Desk and two-time Emmy award nominated choreographer, in her New York City debut of an evening-length original work, you'll still call me by name, an emotionally charged dance-symphony that explores a mystifying, complex and jagged relationship between a mother and daughter.

Commissioned by New York Live Arts and presented through its Live Feed creative residency program, the performances will take place December 9-11 and 14-17, 2016, at 7:30PM at New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street, NYC. Press night is December 10, 7:30PM. For tickets and information, call 212 924 0077 or visit livearts.

Performed by a company of ten dancers and six musicians, Tayeh's riveting new work exposes the cellular desire for familial acceptance, intimately investigating and dissecting the heartbreaking chasm that forms when it is lost and the endurance it takes to transcend the space in between. As she explains, "...respect and honor are ageless acts, in all forms of life... living them, but also not receiving them, that's what really drives me...."

With an original score composed and performed live by The Bengsons, whose music has been called exhilarating, raw, spine-tingling and radiantly emotive (The Guardian, Time Out New York), you'll still call me by name features Colette Alexander, Abigail Nessen Bengson, Shaun McClain Bengson, Mia DeWeese, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Lenin Fernandez, Jennifer Florentino, Jenn Freeman, Rory Freeman, Geneva Harrison, Jo Lampert, Dani Markham, Kevin Pajarillage, Christopher Ralph, Chelsea Thedinga and Maddy Wright.

New York Live Arts supports and nurtures the creation of new work with developmental residencies, commissions and informal public showings, which offer a sneak peek into each resident artist's process before they hit the Live Arts stage.

Sonya Tayeh is a New York City-based choreographer and teacher. Her work is a tribute to her Detroit roots - a constant yet grounding influence that inspires her to create aggressive, sometimes jarring, emotional and powerful choreography. Since paving her professional career, her work has been characterized as androgynous and even excessive - a blend of powerful versatility and theatrical range. Her work has been described as a "...tackling of tough psychological territory with a powerful physical style...."

Tayeh has gleaned accolades for her work across the worlds of commercial, theater and concert dance, including two Emmy nominations for Fox's So You Think You Can Dance(2015 and 2013), the 2014 Lucille Lortel Award and an Obie Award for "Outstanding Choreography" for her work on David Henry Hwang's dance-play Kung Fu, for which she also received a Drama Desk nomination.

Her upcoming credits include: The Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience, 2017); Hurricane Diane (Two River Theater, 2017); and Hundred Days (Under the Radar Festival, 2017).

Her former choreographic credits include but are not limited to: Andrew Lippa's Wild Party(City Center Encores! / Dir. Leigh Silverman); Martha Graham Dance Company's 2015 Lamentation Variation series (The Joyce Theater); Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic Stage Company / Dir. Rachel Chavkin); The Last Goodbye (Old Globe / Dir. Alex Timbers); Kung Fu (Signature Theatre / Dir. Leigh Silverman); and Cirque du Soleil's Walk for Water (premiered in Las Vegas).

The Bengsons (married duo Abigail Nessen Bengson and Shaun McClain Bengson) blend soaring vocals, frenetic rhythms and rousing all-join-hands choruses to create a new hybrid of indie folk/folk punk/art/theater performances. Their Americana-influenced brand of indie folk has received praise from fans and critics alike.

They have appeared at Joe's Pub (NYC), NYU's Skirball Center (NYC), 92YTribeca (NYC), MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA), FlynnSpace (Burlington, VT), Z Space (San Francisco, CA), On The Boards (Seattle, WA), Artists Rep Theater (Portland, OR), Know Theater (Cincinnati, OH) and the Market Theater (Johannesburg, South Africa).

Their folk opera HUNDRED DAYS, for which Sonya Tayeh is the movement director, was awarded the TBA Award for "Best New Musical." They have had three singles featured on national television's So You Think You Can Dance (FOX) in collaboration with Tayeh. Most recently their music was featured in Anne Washburn and Rachel Chavkin's Iphigenia in Aulis at Classic Stage Company. They are founding members of the Real Make Collective with Sonya Tayeh and Jo Lampert. Abigail Nessen Bengson has toured as a member of the band tUnE-yArDs, including appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Conan.

Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times.

At the center of its identity is Artistic Director Bill T. Jones, world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and is the company's sole producer, providing support and the environment to originate innovative and challenging new work. New York Live Arts produces and presents dance, music and theater performances in its 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts offers an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists and commissions.

you'll still call me by name is independently funded through a crowdsourcing campaign and under the umbrella of New York Live Arts as a fiscal sponsor for Tayeh Dance, Inc.

IF YOU GO:

NEW YORK LIVE ARTS
December 9-11 & 14-17, 2016, 7:30PM
219 West 19th Street, NYC (btw. 7th and 8th Avenue)
Tickets start at $15/$20 and can be purchased at 212 924 0077
or online at Live Arts