Press Release
Friday, April 20th, 2012“The Berlin Wall Project” by Nejla Y. Yatkin”
Press contacts for Nejla Yatkin: Christian Davenport, T:202- 465-6086.
E: christiandavenport@gmail.com
General Information and Photo Contact:
Nejla Y. Yatkin/NY2Dance
Phone: 202-210-8247
Email: ny2dance@gmail.com
Artist Webpage: www.ny2dance.com
Project Webpage: www.berlinwallproject.com
NY2Dance presents Wallstories by Nejla Y. Yatkin
The New York International Fringe Festival –Fringe NYC
A production of the Present Company
August 12th -28th, 2011
Tickets: $15-$18. For tickets visit www.FringeNYC.org
Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, New York, NY 10002
Wallstories is an evening length Dance Theatre work which was conceived by German
choreographer Nejla Y. Yatkin and premiered to rave reviews in 2009 in Washington DC as part
of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Wallstories is part of Ms.
Yatkins Berlin Wall Project (www.berlinwallproject.com). The Berlin Wall Project is a triptych
movement project: manifesting on stage, on screen, and on the streets. Wallstories is the stage
manifestation and is based on stories and reflections of Germans including Ms. Yatkin who lived
with the Berlin Wall. While 2009 celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall,
2011 marks the 50th Anniversary of the year the Wall was built. Wallstories was named by
Pulitzer Prize winning critic Sarah Kaufmann of the Washington Post as on of Top 10 Dances of
2009.
Performances of Wallstories were made possible in part by donations by the Historical Dance
Foundation in honor of Ms. Elizabeth A.R. Brown, as well as donations by Elizabeth A.R. and
Ralph S. Brown, in part supported by the University of Notre Dame and the German Consulate.
Performance dates of Wallstories during the FringeNYC at Dixon Place:
FRI 8/12 @ 7:15-8:10 PM
MON 8/15 @ 3:00-3:55 PM
SUN 8/21 @ 4:15-5:10 PM
SAT 8/27 @ 4:00-4:55 PM
SUN 8/28 @ 4:15-5:10 PM
NY2Dance was formed in 2000 by dancer and choreographer Nejla Y. Yatkin. NY2Dance is the
vehicle for Ms.Yatkins vision to use dance in exploration of the human experience through
movement. The company’s mission is to: 1) create works that reflect the complexity of human
existence, that tap the essence of what is common within all humanity and to embrace spirituality
as a guiding force, a point of communication as well as reflection; 2) to collaborate with other
artists from various disciplines from around the world; and 3) to preserve the works of master
choreographers. Toward these ends, Ms. Yatkin is in the process of synthesizing the diverse
techniques that she has been exposed to throughout her life into her own style of dance, entitled
MOZAIK. For more information please visit www.ny2dance.com
Nejla Y. Yatkin is a 2008 Princess Grace Choreography Fellow (awarded by the Princess Grace
Foundation in New York City) and an Artist in Residence at the University of Notre Dame. In her
choreography, she explores the beauty as well as complexity of memory, migration,
transformation, identity and multiculturalism through movement. This is achieved by drawing
upon diverse traditions of dance, cultures and medium as well as utilizing subjects that are at
once universal and timeless. Inspired by Martha Graham and other great female choreographers,
in 2000 Ms. Yatkin began choreographing solo works for herself. She then moved to create
larger works on other bodies. To date, she has performed in 20 countries and 70 cities around the
world and has choreographed on the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dallas Black
Dance Theatre, the Washington Ballet and The Maryland Dance Ensemble and the Baltimore
Ballet. A recipient of many awards and honors, Ms. Yatkin has received the DC Mayors Arts
Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist, 6 Metro DC Dance Awards, a 2008 Princess Grace
Choreography Award, a 2009 Princess Grace Special Project Award, 4 Artist Fellowship Awards
from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities for her excellence in Dance and
Choreography, and she was selected as one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 To Watch.” Nejla Y.
Yatkin has been supported by the National Performance Network, La RED, D.C. Commission on
the Arts and Humanities (an agency of the National Endowment for the Arts), University of
Maryland, the Goethe Institut NY, US International Artists, University of Notre Dame, the John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Princess Grace Foundation and the Historical
