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TAKE DANCE Premieres "Dark Mourning" (A DanceUpClose Video)

Choreographer Take Ueyma and dancer Ginna Ianni of TAKE DANCE chat with The Dance Enthusiast.

Dancing Up Close to Take Dance

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Sammi Lim for The Dance Enthusiast

The Dance Enthusiast had the pleasure of dropping in on TAKE Dance rehearsing at Gibney Dance Center. Japan-born choreographer Take Ueyama and his dancers are diligently preparing for Dark Mourning, which will premiere at Peter Norton Symphony Space in September. For more information, click HERE.

A Dance Enthusiast Minute: Moments of Mourning

The upcoming program is made up of three parts, but the pièce de résistance is Dark Mourning, an interpretation of grief performed in nine sections by seven dancers. Deeply moved by his last meeting with a dying aunt, Ueyama fashioned the work to bid his final adieus.

Humble Ueyama doesn’t hold back whenever expressing gratitude for his ‘dance mother.’ He might never have come to New York if not for a chance workshop with prominent Japanese choreographer, Kazuko Hirabayashi.

Take Ueyama on his INSPIRATIONS

Now student and mentor will present their works side-by-side. The evening’s second performance is a duet created by Hirabayashi that is inspired by a Japanese ghost story and set to use Shakuhachi (traditional Japanese bamboo flute music).

Though a city boy by nature, the country holds a special place in Ueyama’s heart. Ueyama was moved to choreograph the final dance titled Flight after observing a flock of starlings playing in the sky in Rome.

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