NYC Debut at Dance New Amsterdam
February 29-March 1, 2008 8 P.M.

TICKETS: $25/$20 students, seniors, DNA members
discount code: STUD

BOX OFFICE: Ticket Central: 212-279-4200 and www.ticketcentral.com

Dance New Amsterdam
280 Broadway, 2nd Floor (entrance on Chambers Street)
New York , NY 10007
212.625.8369

Hailing from San Francisco, Leyya Tawil’s Dance Elixir presents Capital Life Triptych, a powerful and insightful series that uses choreography grounded in the weight and speed of the human body to investigate facets of contemporary urban culture in both the Arab and Western world. Her dances have a charged, earthy quality which have earned her a place on the SF Bay Guardians’ “Top 10 Choreographers to Watch in 2006” and many additional critical accolades. Voice of Dance.com praised the company for being “an altogether satisfying experience, a true testament that choreography can communicate through performance, craft, and design.”

Inspired by Tawil’s work with Beirut-based Maqamat Theatre Dance, Capital Life explores what it means to be a contemporary artist, the multiplicity of “home” (ancestral/ emotional/ daily), and how globalization and marketing of culture affect perceptions of identity and “home”. The score for “Capital Life” was composed by the experimental musician Mark Gergis, known for his ethnographic research and composition in music and film.

Since 1997, choreographer Leyya Tawil and composer Topher Keyes have collaborated on over 43 dances. They founded Dance Elixir in 2003, and have since produced an annual season in San Francisco and toured extensively throughout the country. Their work has been produced by the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Oakland Art Gallery (CA), Arab American National Museum (MI), Yerba Buena Gardens (San Francisco) and Dance Mission Theater (San Francisco). Their work has been featured on KGO’s Hot Picks (CA), NBC11 (CA), KRON4 (CA), KNOE-TV8 (LA), KALX's "Women in the Arts" (CA), and WDET’s “Morning Edition” (MI).

Capital Life Triptych is co-sponsored by Alwan for the Arts, Dance New Amsterdam, and Arts at Middlebury (VT). This program is funded by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Last updated: 2008-02-10 17:54:37