Through Gardens
a dance solo by Oxana Chi
In celebration of  the 75 anniversary of the end of World War 2

An epic dance solo grappling with topics of migration, borders, and movement in the 20th and 21st centuries. An ode to women's power of resilience and hope. Oxana Chi recalls the tragic story and beautiful art of Chinese-Jewish-Russian dancer Tatjana Barbakoff, a successful expressionist dancer and political activist in the 1920s/1930s. The dance blends Western & Eastern dance styles and blurs the boundaries between traditional and contemporary aesthetics. "Through Gardens" creates an intimate and incisive universe, showing how the loaded legacy of deportation resonates in our present society.

Idea, Choreography & Dance by Oxana Chi
Music composed & performed by Ensemble Xinren
Soundtrack by Laszlo Moldvai (piano, hang stil-drum)
Live music by Layla Zami (flute) and Mara Rosenbloom (piano)

Special Guests:

Friday, March 13

Post-performance Talk-back with Professor Jens Richard Giersdorf (Marymount Manhattan College, Professor of Dance Studies) Prof. Jens Richard Giersdorf and Dr. Layla Zami (faculty member, Pratt Institute) in discussion with dance-maker and trendsetter Oxana Chi Saturday,

Saturday, March 14

Post-Performance Concert: Company member Mara Rosenbloom presents her brand new record Mara Rosenbloom's newest ensemble, Flyways, features 2019 Van Lier Fellowship winner Anaïs Maviel (voice & surdo drum) & acclaimed bassist Rashaan Carter (Wallace Roney, Marc Carey, Cindy Blackman). The group's premier work, "I know what I dreamed" sets the text of one of Adrienne Rich's "21 Love Poems" to melody, and extends it into a set length work, balancing composed narrative within a dynamic level of improvisation.  Adrienne Rich had a vision of a society where no human dominates another, and also a rich and complex awareness of what it means to inhabit, express, and sustain love; in expression of this work, the music flows from concentrated lyricism to the uninhibited sounds of the moment. For more information, visit: http://www.oxanachi.de/productions/through-gardens.html