Dana Tai Soon Burgess
Messenger Eagle
Dana Tai Soon Burgess, dancer, performed with Maida Withers and the Dance Construction Company in Dance for the Earth, an evening-length performance that included Sky Cloud, Prologue, Messenger Eagle, Still Rush, Rolling Thunder “Transformation.” Dance for the Earth premiered at Thomas Jefferson Community Theater in Arlington, Virginia, February 7 & 8, 1992.
Dana traveled with Maida Withers Dance Construction Company as part of an International group, 100 Artists for Ecology, to participate in a 5-week residency in Brazil that featured performances related to the world’s first Earth Summit, Eco ’92 in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, Brazil. Dana performed Rolling Thunder with MWDCCO dancers from the USA and Brazilian dancers, on a stage on the beach sponsored by the City of Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil, Dana performed in Stone Garden a new site specific work conceived and directed by Maida Withers for three Dance Construction Company dancers and 2 Brazilian dancers. This dramatic work with dancers crawling on rugged rocks at dusk was commissioned by Museao de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro.
Dancers with MWDCCo participated in dance improvisation projects, education in public schools, protests on the beach, and other opportunities related to Eco ’92. Of special interest were the improvisations and creations of music and dance on Sugarloaf Mountain.
In addition to Dance for the Earth in Washington, DC, Dana performed, Still Rush, a fast-passed dance based on “immigrants and migration,” a personal story created by Maida for MWDCCo.
Dana established Dance Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company in 1992 in Washington, DC.
Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Sky Cloud