The Other Witch Program
Dance and Choreography - Nejla Yatkin
Lighting - Jacob Snodgrass
Video - Enki Andrews
Dramaturgy - Susan Manning
Composition - Shamou
Music - Chopin
Corsette - Jordan Ross
Masks - Anna Wooden
Skirt - Judy Hansen
Text/Voice - Nejla Yatkin
Rehearsal Assistant -Chloe Bigalow
Lighting - Jacob Snodgrass
Video - Enki Andrews
Dramaturgy - Susan Manning
Composition - Shamou
Music - Chopin
Corsette - Jordan Ross
Masks - Anna Wooden
Skirt - Judy Hansen
Text/Voice - Nejla Yatkin
Rehearsal Assistant -Chloe Bigalow
The Other Witch
The Other Witch is a solo dance performance featuring elements of contemporary dance, dance ritual, text, sound, and music. The dance solo is a haunting visual experience that alludes to the untamable aspects of Nature. The piece is inspired by and references Mary Wigman’s 1914 dance piece Hexentanz, but recreates itself anew. The Other Witch premiered as a virtual solo film in three segments in November 2020. This is the live premier of the Other Witch.- This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council -
Nejla Yatkin creation was supported by a 2019 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award.
This project has in part been supported by the Dance Presenting Series of Columbia College Chicago, with funding from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation to support the Chicago Artists Performance Platform.
Rehearsal space provided by The Ruth Page Dance Center and Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Artists BIOS
Described by The New York Times as “a magician, telling tales and creating worlds” and “a fierce and supple performer,” Chicago-based choreographer Nejla Yatkin travels the globe inspiring empathic connections between people and their environments. She creates solos, choreographs ensemble dances for stages and sites, collaborates on plays and film/video projects, and educates young artists. Nejla hails from Germany; her artistic lineage enfolds European dance-theatre, American modern dance, African American modern dance, and numerous international influences. She is the recipient of awards from the Princess Grace Foundation, the National Performance Network, 3Arts, and the Baryshnikov Arts Center, among others.
Susan Manning (Dramaturge) is an internationally recognized historian of modern dance who has presented her research in Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, and Argentina as well as in the United States. A professor of English, Theatre and Performance Studies at Northwestern University, she has authored Ecstasy and the Demon: the Dances of Mary Wigman (1993, 2nd ed. 2006) and Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion (2004); coedited New German Dance Studies (2012); and curated Danses noires/blanche Amérique (2008) at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris. From 2004 to 2008 she served as President of the Society of Dance History Scholars, and she currently serves as Principal Investigator for the Mellon-funded initiative, “Dance Studies in/and the Humanities.” In 2013 she received the Outstanding Scholarly Research Award from the Congress on Research in Dance.
Composer Shamou's music career began at an early age in his native Iran where he also studied and performed with the Iranian National Ballet as a dancer. He began his formal music training in Tehran, studied with teachers from the Royal College of Music in London and completed his training at Berklee College of Music in Boston. A well-known figure in the Boston music scene in the mid-90's, Shamou was the lead singer and percussionist with several award-winning world music ensembles. From 1998 to 2001 he performed extensively at major venues such as Fillmore West, Great American Music Hall and Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco, Hard Rock Café, Mandalay Bay and Venetian in Las Vegas, as well as other venues in Phoenix and Los Angeles. Since 2004 Shamou has been performing with his world ensemble, Loopin’ at festivals and venues across Maine. Shamou is also known for his collaborative work with dancers including the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Co., Mark Morris Dance Company, ODC /San Francisco, San Francisco Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Boston Dance Collective and Prometheus Dance Company among others.
Jacob Snodgrass (Lighting Designer) is a 2003 graduate of Columbia College Chicago. He has been designing lights and working within the performing arts community since 2000, and has been lighting works for Aerial Dance Chicago since 2007. Mr. Snodgrass has also designed lighting for Giordano Dance Chicago, The Dance COLEctive, Khecari Dance Theater, Thodos Dance Chicago, Chamber Opera Chicago, Joel Hall Dancers, Hedwig Dances, the Ruth Page Foundation and Concert Dance Inc. with whom he traveled to China in 2009. In addition to design work, Mr. Snodgrass has served as the Technical Director for the Ruth Page Theater and for Hamlin Park Dance Theater.
Enki Andrews (Video): Enki is a Chicago-based multimedia, interactive artist experimenting with physical phenomena to discover how humanity views itself in light of our finite human perceptions and how expanding those reflections enhances our self-awareness. Initially inspired by “technology” artists such as Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Chuck Close, and United Visual Artists, Enki began working as a photographer in 2000. His arts pieces have been exhibited at New York Figment, Nuit Blanche New York and at Monitor Digital Festival. His photography has appeared in the Huffington Post and the Washington City Paper. The film, Dancing Around the World, created with collaborator Nejla Yatkin, was awarded the 2018 Silver Palm Award for Documentary Short Film by the Mexico International Film Festival. For more syncord.com
Jordan Ross (Costume Designer) Her long and varied career include designs for theatre, opera, television, film, commercials and cruise ships. Recent credits are the Comedy Dive Show Big Daddy’s Hideaway Heist, We Will Rock You, and Mama Mia. Chicago dance highlights: Havana Blue, Renatus, Habaneras, and 5 Easy Lessons all for the River North Dance Company, and The Man That Got Away, performed at River North, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Giordano Dance Company.
Susan Manning (Dramaturge) is an internationally recognized historian of modern dance who has presented her research in Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, and Argentina as well as in the United States. A professor of English, Theatre and Performance Studies at Northwestern University, she has authored Ecstasy and the Demon: the Dances of Mary Wigman (1993, 2nd ed. 2006) and Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion (2004); coedited New German Dance Studies (2012); and curated Danses noires/blanche Amérique (2008) at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris. From 2004 to 2008 she served as President of the Society of Dance History Scholars, and she currently serves as Principal Investigator for the Mellon-funded initiative, “Dance Studies in/and the Humanities.” In 2013 she received the Outstanding Scholarly Research Award from the Congress on Research in Dance.
Composer Shamou's music career began at an early age in his native Iran where he also studied and performed with the Iranian National Ballet as a dancer. He began his formal music training in Tehran, studied with teachers from the Royal College of Music in London and completed his training at Berklee College of Music in Boston. A well-known figure in the Boston music scene in the mid-90's, Shamou was the lead singer and percussionist with several award-winning world music ensembles. From 1998 to 2001 he performed extensively at major venues such as Fillmore West, Great American Music Hall and Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco, Hard Rock Café, Mandalay Bay and Venetian in Las Vegas, as well as other venues in Phoenix and Los Angeles. Since 2004 Shamou has been performing with his world ensemble, Loopin’ at festivals and venues across Maine. Shamou is also known for his collaborative work with dancers including the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Co., Mark Morris Dance Company, ODC /San Francisco, San Francisco Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Boston Dance Collective and Prometheus Dance Company among others.
Jacob Snodgrass (Lighting Designer) is a 2003 graduate of Columbia College Chicago. He has been designing lights and working within the performing arts community since 2000, and has been lighting works for Aerial Dance Chicago since 2007. Mr. Snodgrass has also designed lighting for Giordano Dance Chicago, The Dance COLEctive, Khecari Dance Theater, Thodos Dance Chicago, Chamber Opera Chicago, Joel Hall Dancers, Hedwig Dances, the Ruth Page Foundation and Concert Dance Inc. with whom he traveled to China in 2009. In addition to design work, Mr. Snodgrass has served as the Technical Director for the Ruth Page Theater and for Hamlin Park Dance Theater.
Enki Andrews (Video): Enki is a Chicago-based multimedia, interactive artist experimenting with physical phenomena to discover how humanity views itself in light of our finite human perceptions and how expanding those reflections enhances our self-awareness. Initially inspired by “technology” artists such as Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Chuck Close, and United Visual Artists, Enki began working as a photographer in 2000. His arts pieces have been exhibited at New York Figment, Nuit Blanche New York and at Monitor Digital Festival. His photography has appeared in the Huffington Post and the Washington City Paper. The film, Dancing Around the World, created with collaborator Nejla Yatkin, was awarded the 2018 Silver Palm Award for Documentary Short Film by the Mexico International Film Festival. For more syncord.com
Jordan Ross (Costume Designer) Her long and varied career include designs for theatre, opera, television, film, commercials and cruise ships. Recent credits are the Comedy Dive Show Big Daddy’s Hideaway Heist, We Will Rock You, and Mama Mia. Chicago dance highlights: Havana Blue, Renatus, Habaneras, and 5 Easy Lessons all for the River North Dance Company, and The Man That Got Away, performed at River North, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Giordano Dance Company.
NEWS
“Exploring a rich movement tapestry of disembodied arms, legs and spine, Yatkin’s witch is at once human and arachnid, faceless, hatching, it would seem, from an egg of billowy fabric that serves simultaneously as set, prop and costume.
“The Other Witch” is a shadowy figure, always and foremost enigmatic and unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous. Who knows? Will she bite? Mask designer Anna Wooden’s black sequined mask is a full-skull helmet that conceals the witch’s human face in parts one and two and suggests a spider-like creature, while it is a distinctly human hand that emerges from the voluminous folds of fabric. Arms and hands unfold like independent animals, fingers groping, arms seeking prey almost plant-like entwining the space in the darkness. An eerie humming voice and percussion effects complement the undulation of isolated shoulders and torso, abstractions of spine. Is she laying eggs? Casting a spell? Seeking her prey? What is the mask and what does it conceal? Only in part three do we see the humanness of flowing hair and glimpses of a face, full body movement and an integration of forms coalescing into spinning, twirling, arching freedom and wholeness.
Yatkin, whose work delves deeply into the confluence of art and nature, created “The Other Witch” in part as a response to German expressionist dancer Mary Wigman’s solo 1935 work, “Hexentanz,” and in part as a statement of our times.”
– Lyn Colburn Shapiro
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