In Winds of Sand – the earth and the act of being – an installation performance
Washington, DC – January 29 & 30, 1993  – World Premiere

In Winds of Sand, Aula Magna Theater, Central University – Caracas, Venezuela (Nov 1, 1997)

Film – Sands Cycles (1992)  Verabel Call Cluff, Video & Maida Withers, Dancer

(1993) January 29 & 30  “The act of being…creating for the Earth.”  Evening-length epoch performance and installation created and danced by Maida Withers.  The installation features visuals by Verabel Call Cluff, SandS CycleS.

In Winds of Sand reveals the act of being in the challenging environment of moving earth/dunes (film).  Withers dances with large scale projected images of herself dancing on White Sands, New Mexico and Coral Dunes, Utah (the town of her birth).  This visual poem captures the beauty and magic of the sand dunes coupled with the harsh realities of surviving in this stark wilderness environment … the mysteries of change and survival.  In Winds of Sand is related to and influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell on myth, is the “heroes journey” where images of the Innocent, the Orphan, the Martyr, the Caretaker, the Warrior, the Destroyer, the Magician and the Ruler come forth as Withers becomes the ruler, the Divine self.”

SandS CycleS (1993) an art film of Withers improvising at Coral Dunes, Utah and White Sands, New Mexico is projected on an elaborate stage set;  slides of sand dune formations projected on the floor with 8 slide projectors, technology available at the time.  The stage dance work parallels the structure of SandS CycleS film which is based on the Hero’s Journey* mammoth concept  by Joseph Campbell, psychologist and mythological researcher, writer, and scholar.  Hero’s Journey:  innocent, martyr, orphan, caretaker, warrior, destroyer, magician, and the ruler. The decision to edit the film based on Campbell’s Hero’s Journey came after all site work films was completed.

Dance:  Maida Withers
Music:  Alex Caldiero (bendir drum and vocals)
Film:  Verabel Call Cluff

Withers “Statement to the Earth” – Program Notes
“Maida Withers began exploring land sites as a place for healing and to develop artistic work. The Coral Dunes of Utah and the White Sands of New Mexico are the Earth site sources for In Winds of Sand. For Withers, the Coral Sand Dunes represenst a deep connection to her place of birth in Kanab, Utah. In 1987, Withers began the first of her land site process creations with “Moving Earth/Dunes.” In 1990, Withers and Verabel Call Cluff,  studying the life and rituals of Pueblo Native American peoples in New Mexico, initiated the White Sands project, shooting many of the photographs included in the production In Winds of Sand.  Withers and Cluff returned to the White Sands and the Coral Dunes in 1991 for almost a month to engage in a “daily” shoot for the dance video. The performance installation of In Winds of Sand is a large painting, a subtle and shifting space much like the sands, that captures Withers’ experience of working and living with nature.”

*The Hero with a Thousand Faces, book by Joseph Campbell. “In his lifelong research, Campbell discovered many common patterns running through hero myths and stories from around the world. Years of research lead Campbell to discover several basic stages that almost every hero-quest goes through (no matter what culture the myth is a part of).  He calls this common structure “the monomyth.”

View DUNE In Winds of Sand:  https://vimeo.com/101621322 (00:00:00 to 0:05:58); Also view Moving Earth/ DUNE in Earth Spirit Rising:  https://vimeo.com/9360613 9  (0:09:13 to 0:16:53

In Winds of Sand performance:  January 21/22, 1994 in  GWU Marvin Center Theatre, in concert with Je Young Kim performing Monalisa (Music by Meredith Monk) Virtuous Woman, music by Chang Seok Joon, and Fascination (Improvised duet by Jey and Maida).

In Winds of Sand was also performed in Theatre Dunois, Paris, France July 8 and 9, 1997.  along with Stirrings performed by Sarah Slifer and Giselle Ruzany.

1994  (May 4)  Early version performed in Seoul, Korea with noted Korean saxophone artist, Kang Tae Hwan.

In Winds of Sand was performed in Washington, DC and internationally in Korea, Venezuela  (1997 (Nov 1)and The Netherlands.
Maida, Coral Dunes, Utah; Photo by Collaborator/Filmmaker, Belle Cluff

Maida performing in Korea




Korean Dance Magazine Editor_Shaman Family Healing 

Jooksan Teachers_Korea