*12-minute live performance in Bunker Fridays, Washington, DC, May 2, 2025

Artists came together at this highly charged, chaotic political time in the history of America,  to speak openly about Apocalypse Fatigue​!

Maida Withers, legendary dancer, choreographer, activist performs “live” at  Bunker Fridays, Washington, DC…. Apocalypse Fatigue – online, interactive, stunning performance, May 2, 2025, 4 to 5 pm.  Maida Withers, founder of Maida Withers and the Dance Construction Company, collaborates with Randall Packer, visual  media, composer, founder of Third Space Network / Bunker Friday’s.

  APOCALYPSE FATIGUE

We rise NOT because it is not easy
We rise because it is the ONLY thing left worth doing.
​We gather NOT because we are certain of victory.
We gather BECAUSE the act of gathering itself is a victory against the isolating
machinery of despair.  (Packer)

​In the face of a torrent of apocalyptic news and collapsing realities, Maida embodies our struggle in a defiant act of resistance: a symbol of reclaiming our dignity, our democracy, and our right to stand against despair.  Randall has assembled a dramatic visual spectacle
of images of Los Angeles fires, Elon Musk’s rants of jubilation with disturbing symbolic arm gestures, Trump and Zelensky in the White House, a belittlement moment captured on television for the world to see.     

Screen shots by Maida Withers
Flyer design by Randall Packer
*45-minute discussion with Maida about dance and the arts in DC following video.

Artistic Support
*Maida Withers, Dance Artist, Collaborator, Activist, Dance Construction Company.
*Randall Packer, Visual Media, Composer (digital music), Technical Production,
Text, Founder of Bunker Fridays & Third Space Networks
*Phyllis Hecht, Presentation Assistance, Bunker Fridays & Third Space Network

Resources:
maidadance.com/
Online collection (web page/archive): Maida Withers and the Dance Construction Company, Washington DC (founded in 1974).

Home

Fridays 2025, at 4PM ET, live from the UNDERGROUND STUDIO BUNKER IN WASHINGTON, DC, provocateurs and instigators from the arts and beyond are brought together online for a lively critique of events and situations as they unfold: through performance, music, satire, poetics and creative dialogue.

Following the performance, Maida Withers entertained questions from Randall Packer and members from the 85 patrons joining in the “live” chat, online.  Questions focused on politics and the history of performance and the arts in Washington, DC. The very interesting dialogue is not available with this video.  Maida was active on the Board of Directors as Program Director for 8 years with the famous Washington Project for the Arts, one of United States earliest interdisciplinary organizations … and continues today – over 50 years since its founding.

Bunker Fridays is a studio of technology that allows Randall Packer to broadcast weekly a program with guests.  The online location provides interactive opportunity (chat) for guests to engage in open discussion.  The original audio for the interview segment had feedback.  Corrections are being made.

Washington, DC is a world capitol for politics.  Consequently Maida has mined many locations in this amazing city for site specific performances and public engagement:  Sunday Maneuvers, Theodore Roosevelt Island National Park;  Monuments, Iwo Jima, US Marine  Corps War Memorial;  Wet and Wonderful in Washington, DC; National Plaza, Connecticut Avenue between the White House and the Capitol Building; White Mansions, Holy Rood Cemetery, Georgetown, DC.
Matrimony …. to Sink or Swim, Hilton, Capital Hill Hotel Pool; Seeing Jazz Move, Smithsonian International Museum; ICEBERGS: Glacial Drift, National Building Museum;  others.

What the press is saying

Yesterday, I was happy to attend
APOCALYPSE FATIGUE, an ONLINE performance and chat with Maida Withers
Maida, you were stunning, as always ahead of time...
So true about time running so fast nowadays, and thus, we have to respond faster making our creative / artistic stuff quite rapidly.
A few screenshots from the marvellous Maida's dance embraced within the great digital artwork.
The art-event was made by Third Space Network.
And my separate applause to the team for overcoming technical challenges.
Beautiful and powerful work. Ekaterina Zharinova

Some moments from Apocalypse Fatigue by the incomparable Maida Withers & Randall Packer (screen shosts posted) Leah Curran Moon

Wow! Maida Withers still going strong! Tom Pile

MAIDA WITHERS ONLINE PERFORMANCE & CHAT
FRIDAY MAY 2, 4PM ET, Bunker Fridays, hosted by RANDALL PACKER, presents APOCALYPSE FATIGUE, an ONLINE performance by the legendary DC dancer/choreographer Maida Withers To REGISTER click: https://lu.ma/rsojjwui?tk=EspvYp )
In the face of a torrent of apocalyptic news and collapsing realities, Maida will embody our struggle in a defiant act of resistance: a symbol of reclaiming our dignity, our democracy, and our right to stand against despair. Presented by Third Space Network Phyllis Hecht