March 15, 2005

Professor of Dance Heads to Siberia for the “Isadora”

By Julia Jacobelli

Maida Withers, artistic director of the Maida Withers Dance Company and professor of dance in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, will perform in the “Isadora” International Festival of Modern Dance in Krasnoyarsk, Eastern Siberia.

At the festival, Withers and dancer Nikolai Schetnev will perform a duet called “Shocked and Odd — Live Art II” at the Krasnoyarsk Theatre of Opera and Ballet. This theatre is especially unique because it is the only traditional European-style theatre east of the Ural Mountains, according to Withers. The duet with Schetnev, who recently performed in the DC improvisation festival, is described as a dark and edgy work.

Withers, Schetnev, and a selected group of dancers will present “Memoriam,” a site-specific work created by Withers, at the Lenin Museum in the Cultural Historical Center of Krasnoyarsk.

“The festival is really an opportunity for Russian dancers all over the region to study modern dance,” she said. Withers explained that although dance has always been an important concentration in Russia, ballet is by far the most popular form. Modern dance was introduced after the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, and has been steadily growing in popularity since then.

Throughout the festival, Withers will be teaching modern dance workshops daily, as well as leading two lecture/woorkshops. The first explores the connection between art and technology.

“We try to use low-tech technology, like a cameras and projectors. Students will then perform, with images from their performance being projected into space,” said Withers.

The second workshop focuses on some of Withers’ own modern dance pieces. She was asked by Elena Slobodchikova, the director of the festival, to select some of her past performances to use as examples for the students.

Withers chose pieces that she thought would be interesting to the Russian students. In particular, she wanted to relate to the culture in Eastern Siberia. She explained that Siberia was still home to many nomadic, shamanistic tribes. Using these tribes as her inspiration, Withers selected one of her pieces that relates dance to ecology and the environment. The performance she has chosen is reminiscent of the Aborigine appreciation of the earth, and relates the human body to the earth.

While in Siberia, Withers also hopes to research for her future Russian-American collaboration “Thresholds Crossed.” This performance is inspired by the connections between America and Russia, and focuses heavily on the themes of oppression and domination. The area of Krasnoyarsk has a brutal history, and contains the remains of Kraslag, a Russian gulag where many suffered.

“Thresholds Crossed is really a summary of my relationship to the Russians,” said Withers. She has traveled to Russia more than seven times, and witnessed the transformation of a closed, Communist country into one where cultural ideas are freely expressed.

The performance is scheduled for January 2006, and will be composed of both Russian and American dancers. It will be choreographed in Russia, and then rehearsals will move to The George Washington University.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu