The Salon Project. Photo by Maria Anguera de Sojo. [Enlarge in New Window]

Donna Uchizono: The Salon Project

Donna Uchizono is intrigued by the intimacy of people socializing, sitting, and watching. In particular, this New York-based artist is inspired by the blending of generations and social classes that can be found in such environments as a salon. In her latest dance, The Salon Project, Uchizono collaborated with composer Guy Yarden to develop a piece influenced by the atmosphere of a European salon.

The Salon Project took shape in Rosario, Argentina, during a month-long cultural exchange residency in August 1999. Her dance company, the Donna Uchizono Company, was awarded a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to create a new work. During that time, Uchizono first created Invitados, an evening-length work involving COBAI (a coalition of choreographers and dancers in Argentina), the dancers in her company, and the musicians of the Tobas Indian Nation. While sitting in a circle with members of Argentina's indigenous community, she developed the concept of The Salon Project. "With each new work," says Uchizono, "my aim is to create a new movement vocabulary, thus fostering a symbiotic dialogue between form and content."

In terms of form, the circular movements of the tango will guide the choreography of The Salon Project. Originating in Argentina, the tango which was initially danced in brothels and other traditionally non-respectable places, now finds itself in high society. She is interested in "the exploration of the awkward and inelegant, rendered beautiful." In The Salon Project, Uchizono says she will investigate displacement, resistance, constrictions of limited space, and night and darkness using the counter-clockwise circle of the tango as a structural form and metaphor.

Uchizono was first introduced to dance at a young age when she took ballet in southern California. Initially she wanted to be a doctor. However, her strong interest in dance evolved in high school, when one of her teachers took an interest in her and saw that she had a propensity for the art of movement. It was during this time that Uchizono started doing choreography and creating works of purpose.

Since 1988, Uchizono's dance works have been presented at many New York venues, including The Joyce Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, PS 122, and the Whitney Museum on 42^nd Street. Known as a choreographer whose work charts new territory, she has been the recipient of many awards and grants, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Rockefeller Foundation. Internationally, she has performed in Germany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, and Argentina.

Uchizono views her dance work as a "very human synthesis of ideas." With The Salon Project, she continues to expand this concept by integrating the tradition of modern dance into a salon setting. The work presents new challenges for the choreographer, in that she must find a venue that will allow the performance to project the energy and ambiance of the tango-flavored dance. At this stage, she has divided the project in two phases: first, the creation of a new modern dance work, Low, for the proscenium stage (this premiered in 2002 at The Duke on 42^nd St., New York, and was presented by Dance Theater Workshop); and second, the expansion and reconfiguration of this work for presentation in ballrooms and dance halls.

Perhaps it is Uchizono's altered course from doctor to dancer that separates her from other performers. Her need to connect to and to heal people seems to have translated into ambitious collaborative works that cross communities and cultures. Describing herself as "influenced by those with strong artistic vision," she furthermore sees herself as a professional under oath to maintain a strong artistic integrity. In her words, "the world needs healing, and it is important to be in the world as best you can and contribute as best you can." For Uchizono, this means continuing to take cues from the particular universe in which she finds herself.

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THIS PROJECT'S CATEGORIES: Performance > Dance | Asian Themes | New York | 2002