“Withers’ inspired  ‘State’ ”  /  THIS WEEK, The Washington Post

(1986) May 15, 16, 17 @ 8 pm – State of the Art (premiere) – Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Washington, DC.   “Dance and business: first the embrace then the death?”  State of the Art – “A victim of the forced romance between art and business, the solo artist struggles against social and economic forces that threaten artistic survival – raising the question: “What is a possible scenario and impact of arts management on the independence and innovation of the artist?”

The dramatic performance featured choreography by Maida Withers with driving music for 20 instruments on the synthesizer by Michael Willis, noted composer, Washington, DC.   The performance included the premiere of Scat, an intricate, loose-limbed dance trio reminiscent of the  Be-bop era, along with excerpts from the historic work, Laser Dance, re-titled Suite Light, Quest, Domain/Dialogue when performed without the laser installation.

Press Release:
State of the Art reveals seduction of the dance artists by the developing industry of business of dance / dance management.  The question, “Does Dance as Business pose a threat to Dance as Art?”  State of the Art is a powerful dance-drama, featuring a female soloist struggling with a quartet in white dress suits.  The drama reveals today’s artist’s struggle to survive the socio/economic demands of the 1980s.  Maida, choreographer, devised a list of statements by leading dance artists and sometime managers and asked the audience to match the statement with the artists name.  In 1986, perhaps the relationship between management and dance was more intense than today.  Often, management continues to be a challenge for the dance artist and is continually of concern to Withers when the focus shifts from questions related to art and becomes a commodity for the industry system: What model(s) work for the variety of dance artists and dance art?

State of the Art, original music:  Michael Willis – created a driving musical score for twenty instruments realized on a synthesizer, available on video and audio.

State of the Art,  Video (15:00) FCAC Cable:  Award winning dance documentary.

State of the Art Video:  National award for Independent Cable Programming:  Metro Arts Program, Fairfax, Virginia, FCAC: Linda Lewett, Producer/Director, Editor; Maria Cooper, Assistant; Camera, Judith Lowe, Matt Dibble, Jean Moran.

December 4, 1986, State of the Art performance in Dorothy Betts Marvin Theater kept the interesting political issue alive (see Alan M. Kriegsman review below).

Adam Peiperl, visual artist, created a video of Karen Serio performing the solo in State of the Art with his famous sculpture work .  The work can be viewed at https://maidadance.com/works/karen-dances-with-rings-film/.

In 2014, State of the Art gestures served as the basis for the evening-length performance Trans Action (view on http://maidadance.com/work/transaction)

State of the Art was originally created in 1985 as part of a training program in Dance at GWU sponsored by a US Aid Program.  Fifteen professional dancers, choreographers, and educators from Costa Rica attended GWU as part of the Experiment in International Living.  Maida was the Assistant Project Director and Producer of the public dance concert.  Maida taught six-week courses in Dance Kinesiology and Dance Improvisation and created State of the Art on three women and two men, professional Costa Rican Dancers.  The dance concert included five works including State of the Art, presented on two evenings in Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre to sold out houses.  The Ambassador of Costa Rica, US Government and State Department dignitaries attended.  Regrettably, there are no photographs or programs of the original Costa Rican dancers.

Note:  Maida was guest artist-in-residence for the Jovenes Festival Choreografos in San Jose, Costa Rica and returned there to perform and present workshops in 1988-89.

State of the Art Photographs: Original  and  2nd  Cast of DancersKaren  Serio (Second cast, soloist) Susan Short Bensinger, (unknown), Annetta Wade (soloist), Ben Watts, Tom Truss
Susan Short Bensinger, Ben Watts, Tom Truss

Tom Truss, Susan Short Bensinger,  Ben Watts (2 photos above)
Annetta Wade, Soloist, Center

Quartet above: Larry Graves,  Maida Withers,
Taffy Schaeffer-Merkert, Ben Watts
Soloist:  Annetta Wade, Original Cast
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Karen Serio,  soloist, second cast

Below:
Art Photos by Adam Peiperl, photographer and sculptor, engaging his polarized figures with dancers from State of the Art (see below). Polarized objects are not generated by computer but manipulating manually.

What the press is saying

"For Maida Withers, the program she and her Dance Construction Company presented at the Prince George's Publick Playhouse Thursday night seemed like chamber music compared to the operatic dimensions within which she has worked most often in the past. The leanness and concision of the works was a virtue; long-windedness has been one of Withers' less productive inclinations." State of the Art described in a note as : "A victim of the forced romance between art and business, the solo artists struggles against social and economic forces that threaten artistic survival." Alan M. Kriegsman (2nd performance; December 6, 1986)

"Listening to the participants at a recent Dance USA conference talk about management practices, corporate support and marketing surveys, local choreographer and professor Maida Withers was left with this troubling question: Does dance as business pose a threat to dance as art? That question eventually became the basis for Withers' latest work, "State of the Art." Pamela Sommer (1st performance)