“FareWell is a modern Greek-style tragedy, delivered by a warrior goddess.”   Ballet -Dance Magazine, Carmel Morgan.

FareWell: To the End of the World As We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise – An evening-length solo dance performance by pioneering choreographer Maida Withers with collaborators Steve Hilmy, electronic musician/composer and Ayodamola (Ayo) Okunseinde, new media artist .  This work is the final full evening work part of a series of six passion driven FareWell dances choreographed by Maida Withers related to realization of change / loss of all that we love and understand about planet earth and our deep concern about the future of the human race.

FareWell: To the End of the World As We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise brings insight and vibrant critique to the contemporary issue of end time.  The culminating FareWell is as extreme in its moods and absurdities as we might think of “extreme weather.” We watch hypnotized, immobilized, arrogant, innocent and powerful – as the fires rage, volcanoes erupt, the Arctic melts, the Earth becomes parched, and the seas rise, animals become extinct.

This FareWell , finale, engages the audience intimately and dramatically through the real-time interactive aspects of the performance .  Ayo Okunseinde’s stunning environments, projected installations on the floor and the backdrop, provide demanding context with fires, ice caves, disappearing animals, and other stunning images that create dramatic visual commentary.  The electronic music, created and performed live by composure/musician, Steve Hilmy creates an exciting environment for performance with the penetrating/demanding/ sound. The poetry/text by David McAleavey brings immediacy and insight to the ideas as the soloist/dancer talks and frames unanswerable questions to the audience.

Maida Withers – dance;  Ayo Okunseinde – new media installation

NATIONAL and  INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES:
FareWell: To the End of the World As We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise is the final dance in Withers’ FareWell series.  This evening-length work features three distinguished artists   Maida Withers, dance artist, Steve Hilmy, composer/musician and Ayo Okunseinde, new media, projected installation.

Settle question: (2008) May 14  – GoDown Center, Nairobi, Kenya; U.S. Embassy, Department of State, Cultural Envoy (FareWell: mix Tipping Point and To the End of the World as We Know It)   Maida remembers dancing this, but the printed information on the report to US Embassy does include the evening-length FareWell. There are two printed cards that indicate the performance FareWell by Maida occurred.

(2008) April 24 – 27 Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City (LIMS) and CENTRO LABAN RIO and regional Brazilian cultural and academic institutions presented the LIMS International Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: LBMS is an integrative system and language for observing, describing, and analyzing human movement.
(2008) April 26 @ 6 pm For this major cross-cultural conference, Maida Withers performed FareWell – To the End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise.

(2009) April 13 to 25 –  Performatica Contemporary Dance Festival, University of the Americas, Puebla/Cholula, Mexico.  (Universidad de las Américas Pueblo (UDLAP), and Complejo Cultural Universitario (CCU) de las Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP).
Note:  Maida Withers Dance Construction Company were featured artists for the contemporary dance festival in Cholula, the oldest city in Mexico.
April  17 or 19 – Stage presentation:  FareWell: The End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise. Maida Withers, dance, Steve Hilmy, composer/musician,
Ayo Okunseinde, new media.  See video of this performance below: (38:58)
April 24 – Site specific performance commission: Maida Withers created a site work with 17 Performatica Festival dancers presented in the modern outdoor courtyard of UDLAP. Steve Hilmy, composer/musician performed live. Site work is included in Performatica video by Linda Lewett. (View video below: Performatica 2009).
Film -“Performatica”:  Linda Lewett, USA filmmaker attending Performatica with Maida Withers Dance Construction Company, created a documentary film that features the founding and history of the performatica program along with footage of Withers performance of FairWell: To the End of the World as We Know IT OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise and the site specific performance with 17 Performatica dancers.
While in Cholula, Linda also created three film shorts:  Maida Withers, Steve Hilmy, and Ayo Okunseinde comment on his/her role as an artist in the work, FareWell:  To the End of the World As We Know IT OR Dancing Your way to Paradise:
(2009) Performatica film:  to be added after transfer to vimeo
(2009)  Interviews / Film Shorts – 3 Artists Review their role in the FareWell performance.
Maida Withers:  https://vimeo.com/7113850
Steve Hilmy:  https://vimeo.com/7346369
Ayo Okunseinde:  https://vimeo.com/7113378

(2009) May 22  Amazing EarthFEST, Kanab, Utah, 7 to 9 pm  Crescent Moon Theater. FareWell: The End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise:  Maida Withers, dance; Steve Hilmy, composer/musician; Ayo Okunseinde, visual installation, live. Maida, born in Kanab, Utah, the youngest of 8 children, serves on the Board of Directors for the Amazing Earth Festival.  Kanab, is a beautiful historic city known as “Little Hollywood” based on extensive “western movies” shot in the beautiful red earth region in southern Utah.   View Amazing Earthfest program at the end of the photographs below.

Maida Withers – FairWell Dance Artist

(2010) July 30 Dance in the Desert Festival, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada – Maida performed FareWell: The End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise.
July 31 Maida receive the prestigious Dance in the Desert  “Daffy Award” for “lifetime service of dance as an art form.” Kelly Roth, founder of the festival, presented this public recognition to Withers on stage at the opening of Dance in the Desert Festival, Las Vegas, July 31, 2010.  Kelly Roth and Maida enjoyed a long and deeply respected friendship.  Roth was a strong voice for contemporary dance and education.  Maida was deeply saddened by Kelly’s early death.

?(2010)  September 8 to 13 ? – World Premiere: Zagrebi Festival, Zagreb, Croatia.
Program:  FareWell: The End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise –  Maida Withers, solo dance artist, Steve Hilmy, composer/musician, Ayo Okunseinde, new media projected installation (Ayo, not present).  Participation in the festival was made possible by the generous support of the United States Croatia Embassy, Zagreb, Croatia.
? What else did Maida perform?

Above:  Maida Withers – A night out on the town…Zagreb, Croatia

(2010) November 6/7 – Dance Place, Washington, DC.  FareWell To the End of the World As We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise.  NAKED TRUTH was also performed, a collaboration with Tania Fraga, Sao Paulo, Brazil, technology with manipulation of BOTS “live” during the performance.
https://vimeo.com/17018474
Trailer:  https://vimeo.com/15561322 (01:12)
Below:  Dance Place FareWell performance

(2010) December 3  Alwin Nikolais 100th Anniversary Celebration, Hunter College, New York City. The performance included choreography from FareWell:  Tipping Point and FareWell to the End of the World As We Know It.  For this important NYC celebration, Steve Hilmy performed Live; Ayo Okunseinde visual installation was projected but not visible due to the high intensity of stage lighting. (remove)

INDIA:  Maida Withers, dancer, and Steve Hilmy, electronic music composer/musician were honored to tour in India.  The following  performances, film presentation, and workshops by Maida Withers and the Dance Construction Company were made possible by the generous support of the United States Embassy, New Delhi, India:

(2012) February 21  6:30 pm  New Delhi, India:  The Fountain Lawns, India International Centre (IIC), an acclaimed cultural institution located in Lodhi Estate area of New Delhi:
Work #1:  FareWell: To the End of the World as We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise.  Maida Withers, dance artist; Steve Hilmy, composer/musician;  new media – projected installation, Ayo Okunseinde (not present).
Work #2:  Thresholds Crossed, Part II, original work involved Russian-American collaboration investigating the haunting legacy, psychological weight, and social issues born out of the Cold War era.  This solo, originally a duet with Athony Gongora, reveals intense engagement by Maida Withers with strong emotional music narrative by Steve Hilmy, composer/musician.

(2012) February 22  New Delhi, India:  Screening of seven of Withers experimental DANCE FILMS for DanzLenz presented at the Habitat Center, CEC  (list films and date) Dance Construction Company (look in MRW Journals)

(2012) February 24-26  Sattal Estate in Bhimtal, India in the State of Uttarakhand – 7th Annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2012).  
The 7th Annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2012) was a prominent international festival sponsored by the Academy of Electronic Arts (The AeA). The three-day event took place at the serene Sattal Estate in Bhimtal, located in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, India. Experimental Mediums: The festival primarily served as an interactive hub for experimental music, electronic arts, digital media, and creative tech.  Global Collaborations hosted creative practitioners, performers, and exhibitors from across India and around the globe.  The international festival was particularly interested in the electronic music of Steve Hilmy, music he created and performed with Maida Withers in India.

Presentations: 
Withers made significant adaptations of the work, FareWell:  The End of the World As We Know it OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise due to the very open site- performance by Maida  with no specified locations for the audience.

Film Showing:  “The renowned Maida Withers Dance Construction Company selected and screened the avant-garde dance film TUK/Tukuhnikivatz to represent their film work at the venue.” Carnival of e-creativity.

Photos, Maida Withers:  FareWelll to the End of the World as We Know It!

Below:  Maida Withers, Washington, DC Premiere
Maida Withers – Nairobi, Kenya – Cultural Envoy US EmbassyMaida Withers –  Washington,DC  Below:  Ayo Okunseinde, New Media Artist
Above:  Steve Hilmy – Electronic Music Composer/Musician

Below:  Maida Withers;   Projection – Ayo Okunseinde, New Media Artist



Above:  Maida Withers; Ayo Okunsende visual instsallation
Phoro:  Steve Hilmy, Composer/Musician; Maida Withers, Choreography/Performer; Ayo Okenseinde, Visual Media 

is this the third or fourth Festival??Amazing Earthfest – Kanab, Utah:  May 16 to 22, 2010
Fourth Annual Celebration of National and State Parks, National Forests, Monuments, and United States Public Lands, Colordo Plateau:

3rd Amazing Earthfest – Friday, May 22, 2009, Crescent Moon Theatre, Kanab, Utah, 7 to 9 pm
Note: Maida serves on the Board of Directors for the Amazing EarthFest – 2009 – present
Maida was born in Kanab, Utah – 1936)

What the press is saying

"Fare Well is a modern Greek-style tragedy, delivered by a warrior goddess." Carmel Morgan

"Washington has its own grande dame of modern and post-modern dance: 74-year-old Maida Withers, who founded her Dance Construction Company in 1974. Continuing to make and tour new works, Withers, still a professor at George Washington University, brought her current piece, the excessively titled “Fare Well -– The End of the World As We Know It OR Dance Your Way To Paradise!” to Washington after touring to New York, Kenya, Utah and Brazil. A lengthy solo featuring Steven Hilmy’s electronic sound score performed live, as well as poems by David McAleavey and Alex Caldiero, the work is an unrestrained call to action. Never one to shy away from hot-button issues, here Withers, swathed in a white tunic over bright red undergarments, her shock of matching white hair, becomes Gaia, a literal mother earth, a crone warning all to heed the environmental chaos. The videobackdrop by Ayodamola Okunseinde features a moving landscape of dried earth, cracked ice, mountains, deserts, smoke and fire along with wildlife. First carrying an empty water jug. Withers, still lanky and fearless, engulfs the Dance Place black box stage. She's all sharp elbows, wide lunges, expansive low leaps and crashes to the ground. At one oint from a stooped position, she arises to a tremor, fists vibrating as drums beat a warning. At another, her draw drops open, face contorted in a silent scream. Withers remains tireless and
"Fare Well" proves to be a tour de force." Lisa Traiger

:A FareWell to arms: "The Cold War and the green wars inflect Maida Withers' choreography.
(Story and photos) Karanjeet Kaur

"Three best shows this fortnight: International Center: Maida Withers Dance Construction Company presents two contemporary performances, Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Cirtic's Choice

Your Friendly Weekly Guide. Event: Festival of Dance and Music. Maida Withers Dance Construction Company. FareWell - The End of the World As We Know It OR Dancing Your Way to Paradise; Thresholds Crossed Part 2: Delhi Diary

Your Friendly Weekly Guide. Event: DanzLenz. Screening of 8 dance films by Maida Withers; Page 30; Habitat Center, Kri Foundation; New Delhi, India
" Delhi Diary

30 minute interview for national radio braodcast and 30 minute interiew with national television stations. Television interview included excerpts of Withers dance film shorts.
"Is end-time, absolute finality, merely the product of fevered brains? Or is there more to it? .....Maida Withers, the veteran choreographer-cum-dancer of George Washington University took the view that there might be a final closure in her modern dance creation." End time is symbolic of extreme weather conditions. Fires rage uncontrolled, volcanoes revive, the Arctic melts, the parched earth is barren and seas rise." (see photos) Arshia Sethi, National Media Specialist

"Friday May 22, is an evening dane performance by Maida Withers at the Crescent Moon Theater. Maida Rust Withers was born in Kanab where her pioneer roots reach back toher family's ownership of the Kaibab Lodge.....Withers will perform her original work for stage and multimedia titled, "FareWell," Kathleen Salter

May 13, 2009 "The third Annual Amazing Earthfest is proud to present Maida Withers, a living, national treasure in performance art. This dance extravaganza brings insight and critique to the contemporary issue of "end time." Bobbi Chaney

Photo and Story

“Live, on stage multimedia/modern dance performance featuring Maida Rust Withers, and members of the award-winning Maida Dance Construction Company from Washington, DC. Opening with live acts by local dancers. A presentation of extraordinary choreography, talent and grace by Maida Rust Withers, a native of Kanab that you will not want to miss! Emotionally powerful, and beautiful.” Amazing Earthfest/2009. Amazing EarthFest Flyer