Maida Withers and The Dance Construction Company have worked extensively
with technology
and art for over 40 years. Maida and the company are leaders in
experimentation with performance and laser beams, "real-time"
interaction with cyber worlds, video and animation, interactive sounds
environments, others. Maida has created award winning video art and
collaborated on documentary works for festival and television airing
that also features her talking about the arts. Maida has been an interview
guest for programs in Russia, Korea, Brazil, and other international
programs.
Aurora/2001: Dance of the Auroras-Fire in the Sky (2001)
Part I: The Sun / Virtual Sun; Part II: Solar Wind
towards Magnetosphere: Part III: Magnetic Storm Seen from
Above; Part IV: View from the Earth .
Real time interactive poetic journey through space where dancers manipulate
and alter cyber world environments by using the wireless mouse. Maida
Withers, concept/choreographer/director; DCCompany (dancers - USA, Russia,
Poland); Øystein Sevåg Global House Band, composer/musicians
(Norway); Tania Fraga, cyber world artist (Brazil); David Liban, filmmaker.
Installation includes motion pictures from NASA, European Space Agency,
Lockheed Martin, Trond Trondson, Auroral Imager, Robert Eather and SolarMAX
IMAX, photographs of aurora artists including Jan Curtis and Dick
Hutchinson. Premiere: The Northern Lights Festival, Tromsö, Norway.
Linda Lewett, video artist (see video above).
Utah * Spirit Place * Spirit Planet * Tukuhnikivatz (1996)
Evening-length multimedia installation and performance based on ancient
and contemporary earth consciousness and Native American mythology commissioned
by Lincoln Center. Maida Withers, concept/choreography/video; Brent Michael
Davids, Native American/Mohican composer and music ensemble; Bruce Hucko,
earth photography; Adam Peiperl, kaleidoscope photography; Verabel Cluff,
Stefanie Altomare-Sese, video; Jennifer Kinloch, visual installation;
Thomas Fiocci, set; Turker Ozdogan, masks; Kellie Owens, costume design;
Spencer Brown, light design. Premiere: Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors
GREAT DANCE in the BANDSHELL Series, Damrosch Park, NYC.
Stirrings (1994)
Multimedia solo created by Maida Withers for Kim Je Young (Korea); Adam
Peiperl, installation - polarized light sculpture video; Kang Tae
Hwan (Korea), saxophone; Premiere: Munye Theatre, Seoul, Korea.
In Winds of Sand (1993)
Solo dance performance, video, and slide installation based on the Hero's
Journey by Joseph Campbell. Maida Withers, concept and performance; Verabel
Cluff, video, SandsS CycleS, and earth slides; A.F. Caldeiro,
music for drum and voice. Premiere: Marvin Theatre, Washington,
DC.
Laser Dance: Departure, Quest, Domain, Rites, Skylight, Departure(1985)
Evening-length performance inside installation of argon laser
beams on stage and in the theatre with sound installation - microphones
responsive to heat of laser beams. Maida Withers, concept/choreography;
Rockne Krebs, laser sculptor; Bob Boilen, Synclavier II composer. Premiere:
Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC.
Stall.(1981)
Evening-length performance, a dialogue with the rotating loudspeaker installation.
Maida Withers, choreography; John Driscoll & Phil Edelstein, music
and loudspeaker animation. Premiere: Akadamie de Kunst Festival,
West Berlin, Germany.
Phase Tracing I (1978) and Phase Tracing II
(1979)
Performance where dancers create audio with movements of the body dropping
the projected ultra sound an octave into a level of audability.
Maida Withers, choreography; Ron Kuivila, ultra sound music and sculpture.
Premiere: Dance Project and Marvin Theatre Washington, DC.
Time Dance (1976)
Group performance based on structure of pulse and accumulation. Maida
Withers and DCCompany, choreography; John Driscoll, music for miniature
objects; John Bailey, costumes, Premiere: Hand Chapel, Washington,
DC.
Bog Works (1975)
Site-specific performance in an environment of homemade loudspeakers.
Maida Withers and DCCompany, choreography; John Driscoll, construction
and performance with loudspeakers and battery-operated light/set. Premiere:
Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC.
Dance Video Publications
Under the Radar (2003) 8:05-min
Modern dance in Russia (concept, Maida Withers; shot and edited, Linda Lewett). Festivals in St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk and Solovki Island, Russia plus visiting Russian dance presented at DTW in NYC.
One
Minute Wander (2001) 00:49-min
Maida Withers performs out of door; Shot and edited by Linda Lewett.
Dance DC (2006) 3:00- min
1700 K Street, Washington, DC street dance and demonstration/strike. Participants in 12th DC Improvisation Festival. Camera and edit, Maida Withers.
Thresholds Crossed (2006) 75-min Original art video and animation - film footage from Russia and
American; propaganda poster art, historic monuments to war, political
portaits, and contemporary Russia and America life projected as a full
stage backdrop during the performance of Thresholds Crossed.
Maida Withers, concept and camera (select); Linda Lewett, editor/animator.
DVD
Thresholds Crossed (2006)75-min Dance documentary of the world premiere performance in Lisner
Auditorum, Washington, DC. Maida Withers concept/producer/choreographer;
DCCompany and international dancers from Russia and Ukraine; Ludovic,
camera. DVD
Abu Ghraib - America's Gulag (2005) 4-min Art video shot on location in the historic ArtAngar Center built
in the 1920s by Solovki Island Gulag, forced labor camp, in the White
Sea in Russia. Choreography from Part II of Thresholds Crossed;
Maida Withers producer/choreographer; Maida Withers and Anthony Gongora,
dancers; Linda Lewett, camera; Megan Whittemore, editor.
Dance of Auroras - Fire in the Sky (2001) 4:50
min
Video art /promotional based on footage shot in rehearsals and performance
of Aurora/2001 at Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC. Linda Lewett; camera;
Maida Withers Dance Construction Company, producer.
Aurora/2001 (2001) 75 min
Dance documentary / promotional video based on Aurora/2001: Dance
of the Auroras-Fire in the Sky performance in Lisner Auditorium,
Washington, DC; Maida Withers, concept and choreography; DCCompany, dancers;
Linda Lewett, camera; Maida Withers, editor; GWTV producer.
Tukuhnikivatz (1996) 30-min
Dance documentary / promotional video based on Utah * Spirit Place * Spirit
Planet *Tukuhnikivatz, Lincoln Center, NYC, NY; Maida Withers, concept
and choreography; DCCompany; Stefani Altomare-Sese, editor; GWTV, producer.
SandS CycleS(1992) 30-min.
Dance-art video shot at White Sands, New Mexico and Coral Dunes, Utah
edited to the hero's journey described by Joseph Campbell: innocent, martyr,
orphan, caretaker, warrior, destroyer, magician, and the ruler; concept
and solo performance by Maida Withers; Verabel Cluff, camera, editor,
and producer. Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, Brazil (1992); Women Make Movies
VIII (1993), Washington, D.C.; IMZ Dance Screen, Lyon, France (1994);
installation for performance, In Winds of Sands.
Orbit(1990) 3:30-min
Dance-art video, male duet, conceived and directed by Maida Withers; Paul
Caffrey, editor; Eddie Taketa and Greg Simeon, dancers; GWTV, producer.
Excerpt from Obsession – America’s Obsession with Sex.
Premiere: IMZ Dance Screen in Frankfurt Germany (1992); Selected for showing,
D.C. 1990 International Film Festival and l991 Women In Film Festival,
Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.
Ledge(1989) 30-min
Dance documentary video; Maida Withers, choreography; John Lancaster and
Maida Withers, dancers; Linda Lewett, videographer; Cable TV, Metro-Arts
Program, Arlington, Virginia, producer.
Light Suite: Rings, Dunes, Wall Floating (1987) 18:30-min
Experimental video combining polarized light sculptures and dance; Maida
Withers, choreographer; DCCompany, dancers; Adam Peiperl, sculptor; Paul
Caffrey, editor; GWTV, producer.
Obsession(1987) 30-minute
Dance documentary video of Obsession - America's Obsession with Sex; Includes
interview with Maida Withers; Choreographer, Maida Withers; DCCompany,
dancers; Linda Lewett, camera; Judy Lowe and Maida Withers, editors. Cable,
Metro-Arts Program, Arlington, Virginia, producer.
State of the Art (l986) 15-min
Award winning dance documentary video; Maida Withers, choreographer; DCCompany,
dancers; Linda Lewett, editor; Metro Arts Program; Arlington, Virginia,
producer.
Laser Dance (1985) 23:30-min
Dance documentary video from 16mm film of premiere in Lisner Auditorium,
Washington, DC; Maida Withers concept and choreography; DCCompany, dancers;
Bob Boilen, interactive sound installation; Rockne Krebs, argon laser
installation; Linda Lewett, camera and editor; Dance Construction Company,
producer.
Maida Withers (1984) 7:30-min
Artist profile - Maida; ABC-TV special for Saturday Magazine,
Washington, DC.
Dance, Dance, Dance (1978) 30-min each
Ten-part dance series for NBC-TV, Washington, DC; Narrator and concept,
Maida Withers. National distribution: Chicago, Los Angeles, New
York City, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.
From Movement to Dance: People, Creatures, Things(1967)
15-min
16mm black and white film; Dancer, Maida Withers; Producer: Mid-Atlantic
Educational Institute.
and art for over 40 years. Maida and the company are leaders in
experimentation with performance and laser beams, "real-time"
interaction with cyber worlds, video and animation, interactive sounds
environments, others. Maida has created award winning video art and
collaborated on documentary works for festival and television airing
that also features her talking about the arts. Maida has been an interview
guest for programs in Russia, Korea, Brazil, and other international
programs.
