TAKE DANCE PREMIERES AN EVENING-LENGTH PRODUCTION: SALARYMAN
When: Wednesday, May 18 – Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 7:30PM
Where: Dance Theater Workshop, 219, West 19th Street (between 7/8), Train 1/9 18th Street or 2/3/F/L/A/C/E to 14th Street
NEW YORK (For Immediate Release) – TAKE Dance celebrates its seventh New York City season with the world premiere of SALARYMAN, the company’s first full-evening production choreographed by Artistic Director/Founder Takehiro “Take” Ueyama. SALARYMAN takes audiences through a “day in the life” of over-worked Japanese executives. As a native of Tokyo, Ueyama leverages his own personal experiences and casts a haunting yet enlightening spotlight on Japan’s collectivist business culture.
As a work in progress over the past year, SALARYMAN was conceived prior to the devastating tsunami in Japan. For Ueyama, this piece is his salute to Japan’s resilient nature. “My initial intention for SALARYMAN was to showcase Japan’s business landscape,” explains Ueyama. “Now, as the Japanese struggle to survive one of history’s largest catastrophes, I recognize that their innate loyalty and stringent norms are indicative of not just the corporate culture but of the Japanese community as a whole and will ultimately help the country thrive once again.”
In SALARYMAN, a cast of 11 dancers perform multiple vignettes that portray Japan’s “big biz” culture. Based on intimate interviews between Tokyo business executives and Ueyama, the illustrations depict the “salaryman’s” responsibilities, pressures, and their subsequent emotional impactions. To help portray the essence of Japanese society, Ueyama collaborates with two Japanese artists – filmmaker Yuko Takebe and set designer Yukinobu Okazaki. Inspired by the eponymous song by Japanese rock singer Kiyoshiro Imawano, SALARYMAN is set to the ambient sounds of metropolis Tokyo, metronomes, and contemporary works by Laurie Anderson, Michael Gordon, and Eve Beglarian, to name a few.
Described as “a bold tribute to modernity, with just enough originality,” (New York Times) Ueyama’s East-meets-West style comes from his Japanese upbringing coupled with his Juilliard schooling and tenure with Paul Taylor. Known for his infectious passion for athletic, expansive movements, it’s “the elements of surprise married to easy pauses or lulls that make Take’s choreography delicious.” (OffOffOff.com)
About TAKE Dance
TAKE Dance is a New York City based contemporary dance company that explores the integration of expressive and physical movement. Artistic Director Takehiro 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. 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 NYC at Central Park SummerStage, Joyce SoHo, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, and the Thalia Theater at Symphony Space. The Company has also performed for four consecutive seasons at PS/21 in Chatham, NY and at various summer dance festivals including Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Downtown Dance Festival, DanceNOW [NYC], SaratogaArtsFest and San Francisco’s WestWave Dance Festival. Additional venues include The Lewis Center at Princeton University, New Noises Festival at Perry-Mansfield in Colorado, Kaatsbaan International Dance Festival, and Nort Maar Fete de Danse. TAKE Dance was recently company-in-residence at Skidmore College and at the University at Albany.
TAKE Dance is also the subject of a documentary film entitled A YEAR WITH TAKE DANCE, an official selection of the 2009 Columbia County Film Festival in Chatham, New York. The film was also featured in the European 2009 Punch Festival in coordination with the SMART Project Space of Amsterdam, and was screened most recently at the 23rd International Singapore Film Festival in 2010. A YEAR WITH TAKE DANCE was chosen by the New York International Independent Film Festival as the winner in the category of
Best Dance Documentary for 2009.
www.takedance.org
TAKE Dance Premieres SALARYMAN
Choreography: Takehiro Ueyama
Dancers: Kristen Arnold, Jill Echo, John Eirich, Kile Hotchkiss, Gina Ianni, Clinton Edward Martin, Nana Tsuda Misko, Lynda Senisi, Kei Tsuruharatani, Takehiro Ueyama, and Marie Zvosec
Music: Laurie Anderson, Joy Askew, Aun, Eve Beglarian, Michael Gordon, Ana Milosavljevic, Boban Markovic! Orkestar, and RC Succession
Musician: Ana Milosavljevic (violin)
Costume Design: Taylor Forrest
Lighting Design: Jason Jeunnette
Set Design: Yukinobu Okazaki
Film: Tomoyuki Morioka (video), Yuko Takebe (director), and Atsushi Takaoka (lighting)
