Wildflowers, a feminine genesis
“Maureen Fleming mesmerizes…as earth goddesses go she’s the real black madonna.”
– The Boston Globe
Choreography and Performance by Maureen Fleming
Presented by La MaMa and Irish Arts Center
A world premiere work by acclaimed dance artist Maureen Fleming, Wildflowers, a feminine genesis is a sensuous celebration of mystical femininity. Surreal movement poetry creates mesmerizing visual theatre in this interdisciplinary movement piece, inspired by the lush symbolism of Irish poet William Butler Yeats.
Wildflowers reclaims a feminine archetype that has been historically occluded by colonization and misogynist distortions of religious ideology. Featuring music by renowned Irish composer and violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire (founding member of the Frames) and uilleann piper James Mahon, with pianist Bruce Brubaker performing music of Philip Glass.
This performance contains nudity
“…Transcends the material world and enters a realm of pure spirit…wondrous choreographic metamorphosis.”
-The New York Times
“A sensation of danger, of a violence, of a revelation still remains there: that mixing of life and death, of image and flesh…that make us a human being, and that Fleming’s courage opens for a moment into a fascinating and hypnotic wound.”
– La Repubbilca
CREATIVE TEAM
Choreography and Performance by Maureen Fleming
Composer/Violin: Colm Mac Con Iomaire
Pianist: Bruce Brubaker
Light Design: Christopher Odo
Composer: Philip Glass
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Maureen Fleming Company, an internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary performance ensemble, ‘gives birth to a new vision of the body’ (Ballet Tanz International). The company includes a core of collaborative artists under Fleming’s direction including: Christopher Odo, an eclectic artist, dancer, designer, videographer and photographer, has worked with Maureen Fleming Company since 1993 in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Russia and was in the original Tony award-winning M. Butterfly on Broadway. Bruce Brubaker, a pianist presented by Carnegie Hall has performed with orchestras throughout the U.S. and has toured Europe, South America and Asia. He received Juilliard’s highest award and joined the faculty in 1995 and is chair at Boston’s New England Conservatory. Brett Jarvis sound designs include: NY Shakespeare Festival; Roundabout Theatre; Joyce Theatre, Bill Irwin’s Mr. Fox: A Rumination, Mark Dendy’s Dream Analysis; and the Off Broadway production of Avenue Q.
Maureen Fleming Company has collaborated in the original and touring presentations: ‘AFTER EROS’ (1996), ‘DECAY OF THE ANGEL’ (2004) and ‘WATERS OF IMMORTALITY’ (2007), ‘B. MADONNA’ (2013) and ‘WILDFLOWERS a feminine genesis’ (2018). Crossing cultures and art forms, spanning five continents, MFC depicts images that ask what is universal about the journey of the soul and being human. The company has received national and international acclaim in the La Mama’s 2013 premiere of B. MADONNA in NYC, the O’ Shaughnessy in the Twin Cities, the ICA in Boston and was chosen among the Top 10 presentations of the year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune (2015) and the Boston Globe (2017). Other presentations include: the NPN Performing Americas 2012 tour to Colombia’s International Festival of Manizales 2007, 2009, 2012, Argentina’s Teatro REAL 2012, Uruguay’s Teatro Verde 2012; Italy’s Spoleto Festival 2011, Cleveland Museum of Art VIVA! 1998, 2009, 2011; Cincinnati’s Contemporary Dance Theater 2007, 2009, 2011; Korea’s Seoul Performing Arts Festival 2004, 2007; Kaatsbaan International Dance Center 2004, 2007, 2018; Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theater 2001, 2004, ICA 2007, 2017; Brazil’s FILO 2005, 2015 and Mercado Cultural 2011, 2005, 2009; Jacob’s Pillow Festival 2008; Fall for Dance Festival at City Center 2006; among others. Fleming’s evening length works include collaborations with playwright David Henry Hwang and composers Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Guy Klucevsek and Philip Glass.
Awards include: National Endowment for the Arts (1993-1995, 2001, 2004, 2013, 2015),National Performance Network Creation Fund 1996 (After Eros), 2002 (Decay of the Angel), 2005 (Waters of Immortality), NPN Community Fund (2009, 2011), New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project (1997-1999), Rockefeller MAP Fund (1997, 1998), National Performance Network: Performing Americas Project (2003, 2012), Meet the Composer Choreographer Project (1992), the Asian Cultural Council (1990, 2004, 2006), NEA Japan US Friendship Commission (2001), Japan Foundation Performing Arts Japan (2002, 2004, 2007). Arts International (1993- 2003), USArtists International 2009, 2016.
Find out more at www.maureenfleming.com
photo: ©Maureen Fleming