Oasis in Columbia
Monday, April 30th, 2012Before leaving to Colombia I just finished our first installment of "Oasis - Everything you ever wanted to know about the Middle East but were afraid to dance." I am excited to share that the Washington Post selected it as one of the best events for that weekend and we received a wonderful review as well. Please, read the Washington Post preview here and the review here
Our audiences in Washington, DC were great and we received wonderful feedback as well as comments. It was also a fullfilling experience to be able to spend two weeks in the Dance Place Theater to experiment with lights video, sound and spacing thanks to a new special grant - the Forth Fund by the National Performance Network
It was such a beautiful experience to be able to have time in the theater. Thank you NPN
After returning back from Colombia, I will continue working and refining Oasis for our premiere in 2013 at the Bates Dance Festival. We will have some preview showings around New York throughout the year and I hope to see you at one of the events. For those who could not be at the preview showing here is a little trailer of Oasis by photographer Astrid Riecken who spent some time with us during tech and dress rehearsals. The imagges are stunning.
If you don't know about the piece here is a little info:
This new piece for 7 dancers is an evening length multi-media dance theatre work conceived and choreographed by Nejla Yatkin. Original music is composed by Iranian American composer Shamou and Video Design is by Patrick Lovejoy.
Oasis is centered on a juxtaposition between the desert and the oasis. Similar to mystical realism in literature, the piece exists in multiple realities - magical elements blend seamlessly with the real world meaning that the "real" and the "fantastic" exist in the same stream of thought.
Through the prism of desert/oasis and magical/real, the piece explores issues of identity, veiling, torture and spirituality, moving through what is familiar; what is imagined or mythical, what is actual; what is out of the Middle East and what is inside it. The desert can be experienced as beautiful and exotic even as it is harsh and potentially lethal. The Oasis is an almost dreamlike element, just the idea of which sustains life--even in its most vulnerable state.
Against/with/for one another the two exist, in tension as well as in tandem- moving back and forth.
Thank you for your support and interest.
With gratitude,
Nejla
