Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples
(1994)  May Tour:  Ancient Lands and Ancient Peoples was a solo performed by Maida in Seoul, Korea (May 2) followed by performance and teaching in Guangzhou, China and finishing the tour in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   In Winds of Sand was performed at the Hong Kong Academy.

(1995) May 16 – July 17  During the second Asian tour, Maida performed Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples for the Jooksan Festival, one hour from Seoul, Korea, a festival directed by Hong Sin Cha, historic figure in post modernism in Korea.  Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples was performed on a large natural man-made earth stage in the beautiful Korean mountains.   Maida thinks of this work as part of her SHAMAN series.

View “red earth performance” at Jooksan Festival : https://vimeo.com/540160659 
Note:  This vimeo needs to be changed to allow the transfer here.

Notes:  1994 (Korea) and 1995  (Guangzhou) – Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples was an important early part of the development of MWDCCo environment initiatives. The specific concept of Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples for solo expression emerged for Withers individual  (solo) explorations on land sites in the Four Corner’s area with video artist, Verabel Call Cluff – several trips in the Southwest over a six/seven year period starting in 1988-1996, referred to as “the Utah Project.”   Dancing on site during the Utah Project, Maida explored and improvised while Verabel Call Cluff, filmmaker, documented on a video camera.  Living and working under the Sun in harsh, yet spectacular lands, lands with a deep indigenous history, allowed for work to develop an association with shamanic powers and their role in more ancient cultures.  Maida’s tours in Asia coincided with these notions.  Several performances emerged.  Parallel to this was the filming of SandS CycleS on the Coral Dunes, Kanab, Utah, and the White Sands, National Park in New Mexico.  Each solo performance of Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples was unique but embodied similar style and phrases along with vocals and chants.

The earliest ideas developed around research related to the Utah Project (1988-1996).  Path, 1989 during the two-week Yellow Springs residency in Philadelphia, Spirit Path / Migration duet by Withers and Mark Thompson, and Spirit Path / Migration / Remains, quartet generated the movement style and primal intention. In 1993, Maida’s monumental solo, In Winds of Sand further revealed Withers interest in dance and shamanic ideas and practice.   The work was developed as a male/female ritual duet and then became a solo.

In this dramatic work, grounded by the association with the Earth, Maida performs as a primal figure sometimes with painted white face while employing rocks and even plastic tubes flowering from her head as a shaman figure – the power of female creativity emerging from the hole in her head.

The early performance was in 1994 Seoul, Korea for the 13th International Korean Dance Festival, Munye Theatre.  Music was by Kang Tae Hyun, Saxophone (on the video above), and Marilia (extreme, experimental vocals recording and live) with projection of Utah Project film footage of the earth shot by James Byrne and earth photos by Bruce Hucko.

Variations of the  work, Ancient Lands – Ancient Peoples were  performed in Tokyo, Japan, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; and the spectacular performance at the Jooksan Festival, Ansung, Korea (Asia Tour, 1995) on a red earth stage.

The family of Maida Rust Withers lived in southern Utah for six generations.  Withers explores her discovery, over a period of the past five years, of her ancient self.  Through living and working at wilderness earth site with artists and others, Withers has developed her keen interest and devotion to indigenous peoples and to our planet earth. 

Tubes did not actually make it into the performance but the white painted face was present and important.

What the press is saying

In the rehearsal hall of Guangdong Modern Dance Company, I met 57-year-old Ms. Maida Withers from the United States ... with her golden hair, the graceful outline of her face, her big-boned frame and her forceful and brilliant dancing posture... God gave her a perfect figure to be a dancer. Xu Ling, Guangzhou Youth Daily, Guangdong, China Xu Ling