TAKE Dance Presents Two Programs at DTW, 5/19-5/22

TAKE Dance, a contemporary dance ensemble known for its effortless fusion of Eastern and Western sensibilities led by artistic director and choreographer Takehiro Ueyama, presents two programs exploring poetic and visceral human connections to nature. All performances will feature the World Premiere of Flight, set to music by artists including Ana Milosavljevic, Terry Riley, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Philip Glass, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and choreographed by Takehiro Ueyama. Program A will also include Footsteps in the Snow (2009), with music by Arvo Part. Program B features Sakura Sakura (2005), a prize-winner at the fourth Certamen International de Choreografia en Danza Moderna Burgos, as well as the New York Premiere of Left There by the Tide, choreographed by Jill Echo. Performances will take place from May 19 - 22, 2010 at 7:30pm at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students and seniors) and are available at 212-924-0077 or www.dancetheaterworkshop.org.

The two programs follow:

Program A: May 19 and 21 at 7:30 pm
Footsteps in the Snow, Flight (World Premiere)

Program B: May 20 and 22 at 7:30 pm
Sakura Sakura (2005), Left There By the Tide (New York Premiere), Flight (World Premiere)

Footsteps in the Snow (2009), set to music by Arvo Part, is an ethereal and darkly evocative work about our fleeting existence. Though immortal, we long to leave an imprint of ourselves behind. Hauntingly beautiful imagery of loss, love and community are depicted beneath falling snow. The World Premiere of Flight, choreographed by Takehiro Ueyama, is performed to the music of a vast array of artists, including Ana Milosavljevic, Terry Riley, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Philip Glass, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The sizable quantity of musical choices parallels the large group of performers dancing in the piece. Flight was inspired by Mr. Ueyama's encounter with a flock of starlings in Rome, seemingly dancing in the sky with breathtaking unison and elegance. The piece expresses the desire to join in and fly with the freedom of those birds. Sakura Sakura (2005), prize winner at the fourth Certamen International de Choreografia en Danza Moderna Burgos, Spain, is an all-female piece danced to a Japanese traditional song by the same title. The phrase translates to "cherry blossoms" in Japanese, and uses that symbol and its musical counterpart to celebrate the beauty and strength of Japanese women. The other piece of music used is the Adagio from Mozart's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 23 in A major. The New York Premiere of Left There by the Tide is choreographed by Jill Echo, with music by Philip Glass, Graeme Revell, Damian Eckstein and Lukas Foss. The title of the piece is taken from a line in a poem by Pulitzer-Prize winner Edna St.Vincent Millay. The piece is composed of vignettes that re-create emotional moments from a variety of relationships which begin and end in a sea of waves. Appropriate for ages eight and up.

THE COMPANY: Kristen Arnold, Elise Drew, Jill Echo, John Eirich*, Kile Hotchkiss, Gina Ianni, Mariko Kurihara, Milan Misko, Sharon Park, Nana Tsuda, Takehiro Ueyama, Amy Young*
WITH: Stephanie Amurao, Christina Ilisije , Ann Olson, Gabe Spellberg, Jacob Warren, Marie Zvosec
* courtesy of Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, Inc.

TAKE Dance is a New York City based contemporary dance company that explores the integration of expressive and physical movement. Artistic Director Takehiro "Take" Ueyama, a native of Japan, graduated from the Juilliard School before joining the Paul Taylor Dance Company. After eight years touring with the Taylor Company, Take founded TAKE Dance. Take blends eastern and western sensibilities to communicate the universal human condition - exciting athletic movement and an unusual sensitivity are combined to create distinctive work that is uniquely "TAKE". Collaborations with contemporary artists in other creative genres are one of the motivating factors in his creative process. Through its diverse movement, musical choices, subject matter and artistic partnerships, TAKE Dance brings a unique depth and fulfilling experience to audiences. TAKE Dance has performed in New York at Central Park SummerStage, Joyce SoHo, Columbia University's Miller Theater, Downtown Dance Festival and the Thalia Theater at Symphony Space. The Company has also performed for four consecutive seasons PS/21 in Chatham, NY and returned to the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival's Inside/Out stage for their 2009 season. Additional venues include New Noises Festival at Perry Mansfield in Colorado, Kaatsbaan International Dance Festival, and Nort Maar Fete de Danse. The Company will celebrate its sixth annual New York season next May at Dance Theater Workshop. TAKE Dance is also the subject of a documentary film entitledA Year with Take Dance which was an official selection of the 2009 Columbia County Film Festival in Chatham, New York. The film is also featured in the European 2009 Punch Festival in coordination with the SMART Project Space of Amsterdam, and was chosen by the New York International Independent Film Festival as the winner in the category ofBest Dance Documentary for 2009. A Year with Take Dance is currently being shown in Singapore as part of the 2010 International Film Festival.

Takehiro "Take" Ueyama was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan and moved to the United States in 1991 to study at the Juilliard School in New York. Upon graduation, Take was invited to join the Paul Taylor Dance Company. After eight years with the Taylor Company, Take founded TAKE Dance in 2004. Take finds inspiration in the beauty of nature, duality in life and the exploration of darkness and light in relation to the human condition. His vast repertory of work features powerful athletic movement contrasted with delicate gesture and sensitivity. Take's choreography has been performed for audiences worldwide, including Central Park SummerStage, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, the New Noises Festival at Perry Mansfield in Colorado, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Joyce SoHo, The Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, the Ailey Citigroup Theater, and PS/21 in Chatham New York. Take's SAKURA SAKURA was selected as the 3rd prize-winner at the International Modern Dance Choreographic Competition in Spain. Take has created and restaged his work for The Alvin Ailey School,Tallahassee Ballet, PHILADANCO for the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, The New School, The Juilliard School, Purchase College, Princeton University, Vassar College, Marymount Manhattan College, Randolph College, Perry Mansfield and International Summer Dance in Burgos, Spain. Take performed with the Martha Graham Ensemble and has appeared as a guest artist with Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre since 2003. Television and film credits include appearances on PBS for Dance in America's Acts of Ardor, and Dancemaker, a film by Matthew Diamond. Take is the 2010 recipient of the S & R Foundation's Washington Award.

Jill Echo has been active in the New York City dance community for over twenty years. As a professional modern dancer, Jill performed with Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater, Pearl Lange Dance Company, Janis Brenner & Dancers, Sue Bernhard Dance Works, Cortez & Company, Risa Jaraslow, Karla Wolfangle and Wil Swanson, among others and began performing with Takehiro Ueyama as a founding member of TAKE Dance in 2004. Jill was also founding member of Taylor 2 and a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Jill is the Director of the TAKE Dance annual Summer and Winter Intensives and also creates the programming and curriculum for the Company's outreach and education projects. She has taught master classes worldwide for all ages and levels in technique, repertory, improvisation, partnering and choreography/composition. Teaching at Alvin Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, Long Island University CW Post, The Joffrey School, New York University, Randolph Macon Women's College, West Virginia University, Perry Mansfield, International Summer Dance in Burgos, Spain, and for the American Academy of Ballet among others, is a great source of inspiration for Jill. She has held the positions of Adjunct Professor of Dance at Purchase College, and Adjunct Instructor at Vassar College and is presently teaching Movement for Actors in the Department of Theatre Arts and Film at Purchase College. Jill's choreography has been performed at West Virginia University, Purchase College for the Conservatory of Dance, Vassar College and Long Island University CW Post. Her first work for TAKE Dance, Left There by the Tide, premiered in 2008 at PS/21 in Chatham, NY, and was recently performed at the Lewis Theater in Princeton. Jill has also choreographed for the following Purchase College Repertory Theater Productions: Brendan Behan's The Hostage, Shakespeare's All's Well, That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Winter's Tale, Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Tennessee Williams' American Blues, A collection of one acts and Suddenly the Sky Turned Blood Red a devised play by David Bassuk. Jill holds a BFA and MFA from Purchase College. She has restaged the works of Takehiro Ueyama and Kazuko Hirabayashi for dance programs in the United States and Abroad. Television credits include appearances on PBS Alive From Off-Center, Dance in America and American Masters.

TAKE Dance at Dance Theater Workshop is made possible through Dance Theater Workshop's Guest Artist Series. The Guest Artist Series is a comprehensive rental program benefiting a diverse group of dance and theater companies and producing organizations interested in self-producing their work at Dance Theater Workshop.

For more information, visit www.takedance.org.

TAKE Dance
Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th Street, NYC
May 19 - 22, 2010 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25 ($15 for students and seniors)
212-924-0077
www.dancetheaterworkshop.org/take