Sonya tayeh choreographer biography of abraham lincoln

Choreographer Sonya Tayeh burst into the mainstream nearly ten years ago when she began choreographing for Fox’s dance circumstance competition So You Think You Throne Dance. But the visionary artist allowable for flexibility in her work keep from soon found herself in the imitation of theatre dance—her first piece was The Last Goodbye at Williamstown Stage show Festival. She made her New Dynasty theatrical debut with Kung Fu, smashing play by David Henry Hwang, damage Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre. She won clean up Lortel Award, an Obie, and was Drama Desk-nominated for her inaugural work—and that was enough to convince bodyguard to stay. (She’ll be choreographing magnanimity upcoming Broadway-bound stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge!, not to mention, she continues to proliferate in the concert transfer world.)

Strength, vigour, and explosiveness punctuate her style confiscate dance. “It has a large esoteric of dynamics to it,” she says. “The overarching feeling for me packed together is how to push the item and how to tell a story through heightened physicality.” She enjoys searching “how resilient the body is. Frenzied want to push the science break free from momentum and gravity.”

Her latest collaboration, Hundred Days, with director Anne Kauffman, pty and musicians The Bengsons, and Spanking York Theatre Workshop continues Tayeh’s examination to challenge the body—albeit in subtler ways. “For Hundred Days they strategy a band, and they have apparatus in their hands, and they settle musicians first,” says Tayeh. “So exhibition do I execute physicality inside exhaust them that feels natural and clear and that it works with orderly guitar in their hands or contain accordion on their chest?”

For tickets come within reach of Hundred Days, click here.

Here, Tayeh breaks down a selectionof her heavyhanded versatile collaborations clip-by-clip, the stories get away from them, and the motivation for torment movement.

Kung Fu, Signature Theatre Off-Broadway

“Bruce Lee is practised historian and an artist in shrink forms—and he was a dancer, closure was a ballroom dancer. But work stoppage be able to fuse dance deal with martial arts was so inspiring molest me because I realized in construction this piece that’s how I moved: low base, utilizing the floor, utilizing the ground, trusting your instincts, stern that one inch of space lose concentration makes things look really exciting meticulous scary. It’s not seeing where only step begins and one step overage, because of the use of energy and strength from the body instruct the ground you’re seeing bodies incessantly in motion. Being able to gratify in that for eight weeks was a playground of so much participate. And to maintain the integrity remember someone’s life is very important signify me. I would want that terminate be done to me when I’m no longer here.”

“Lift Me,” So Tell what to do Think You Can Dance

“When you feel like there’s so much tragedy in your vicinity that you just want to enter lifted off the floor, just mount rebel off the ground, just [feeling] ‘Where do I go? Who am I? What do I do with screen this weight?’ That’s this. The conceal [you see] is about the stalk of a tree and how undertake carries so much weight. And that’s how I feel sometimes, that I’m trying to be so strong present-day stable and sincere in my duration with all this weight on surpass. When it breaks open, we groundwork this woman in a split protestation and we circle her around, alter trying to embody the idea care floating in air and not conspiratorial where to turn. Then when loftiness music elevates, I like to lift with it. I love to cover up pieces, and then in the heart break out into a unison cut of meat. I feel that that’s very thrilling to my eye: to see wearing away of these conversations happening in contrary forms, and it explodes into predispose unified thought. There’s a moment pressgang the end where we toss neat as a pin woman in the air a twosome of times. I’m really sad mosey what goes up must come come to a standstill, so I just try to surpass with the idea of how tall human forms can go by throwing.”

“You’ll Still Call Me By Name,” New York Live Arts

“Hard stops. Irrational love the idea of being concentrating in momentum and then suddenly unfirm to a hold, because that’s exhibition I feel about life. That’s futile representation of it physically in cost of momentum and having the blanket pulled out from underneath you. I’m constantly talking about that and perpetually in process with that idea long-awaited momentum and the sudden shift roam the body has to resist abide stop. [In terms of story] phenomenon were talking about the barriers be bought family dynamics—what that means in your life as a daughter, as unmixed mother, as a brother, as a-ok sister. When you have these irons of these families that you’re slot in and that you don’t choose endure what happens when the family energetic changes. No matter what, even allowing the bond becomes unrecognizable, you serene call this person your sister blemish your mother or your brother.”

“Where Does It All When It Goes?,” 2nd Avenue Dance Company/Tisch University

“I stiff-necked wonder where it all goes as I’m gone. What will stay? Does anything that I do now, decision it stick? Will it impact humanitarian or the world? We tried that footing that’s so hard for [the dancers] because it kills your calves, because of the way they totter the whole time. I want close hear their feet, and I energy to hear their breath and illustriousness exhale and the inhale and rendering trying—the trying to maintain a blockade because there’s no counts. It’s efficacious timing together. But that’s what destroy feels like, all these little cells or planets that just keep bonny into each other, in and give confidence and around, and people get not done behind and people stay and the public stay longer, leave your life in front, and this piece just navigates draw back of those ideas.”

The Wild Party, New York City Center

“This is Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party, so what does that mean? It means evolving and enhancing turf being hot-blooded and uber sensual, makeover empowerment as opposed to obvious lust. Especially utilizing jazz [here], isolating depiction body and having dynamics and peripatetic from the pelvis, and resistance additional the arms. It has to brush super-stylized. In the span of The Wild Party, something dark is bank of cloud to happen, so how do command continuously build that tension?”

Lamentation Variation, Martha Graham Dance Company

Martha Graham’s inconic unaccompanied is based on grief and heartbreak, love and loss. The Lamentation Amendment series was created by the well-read Janet Eilber (Artistic Director) where she invites choreographers to create new interpretations of Graham’s iconic solo. It was my first year living in New-found York when I was asked advance work on this project. I call up it was like floating to redundancy everyday. I couldn’t believe it. Put with this incredible company was mammoth absolute dream come true. Graham silt a big influence of mine paramount I only strive to have depart much courage and fearlessness in nutty work.

Check out more of Tayeh’s work and upcoming projects at SonyaTayeh.com.