Harvard Dance Center Master Class: Nejla Yatkin

Date: 

Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 7:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Dance Center, 66 Garden St, Cambridge
NY

A master class taught by award-winning choreographer and master teacher Nejla Yatkin titled In(F)inite Variations. Yatkin will guide participants in a creative process that draws on the symbol and shape of infinity. The symbol will be used as a vehicle to explore human connection to the moment, to each other, as well as to the passage of time itself within a given space. Throughout the masterclass, participants will be guided through a process harnessing multiple practices including contemporary dance, dance-theater, Reiki, Feldenkrais, and physical theater exercises to connect to their unique artistry. 

This class is open to all types and levels of movers who are age 18 +. Observers are welcome! 

RSVP HERE.

Participation is free, but due to limited class capacity, online registration is required for both participants and observers. 


This master class is supported by the Office for the Arts and the Provostial Fund for the Arts and Humanities at Harvard University.

ABOUT NEJLA YATKIN
Award–winning and internationally acclaimed choreographer and dancer, Nejla Y. Yatkin has been dancing, choreographing, and teaching internationally for more than 30 years. A native of Berlin, Germany, and with Turkish roots, she graduated with her masters in Dance and Choreography from Die Etage a Performing Arts College in Berlin, Germany. Yatkin is currently based in Chicago dancing, choreographing, and giving workshops at international and national festivals.

As a dancer, Yatkin danced as a principal with numerous companies in Germany including Fountainhead Tanz Theater, Dance Butter Tokyo, and Pyro Space Ballet as well as in the United States including Cleo Parker Robinson, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Shapiro &Smith, among others, and has worked with such leading choreographers as Donald McKayle, Eleo Pomare, Anzu Furukawa, Katherine Dunham, Diane McIntyre, and Ronald K. Brown, among many others. 

In 2000, Yatkin began choreographing full time solo works inspired by great female choreographers. To date, she has choreographed five evening-length solo works that toured nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. She has also choreographed group works for her own project-based dance company NY2Dance as well as on other companies such as the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, the Washington Ballet, River North Chicago, and the Modern American Dance Company.

Since 2001, she has been the recipient of four artist fellowships for her Excellence in Dance and Choreography from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and a three-time recipient of the Creative Performing Arts grant from the University of Maryland. Other awards include the Local Dance Commissioning Project by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, two Performing Arts Residencies from the National Performance Network, Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award, Princess Grace Special Project grant, and a 2015 Princess Grace Works in Process Award to be in residence at the Baryshnikov Art Center. For her recent choreographic commissions for the musical The Boy Who Dances On Air, she was nominated for a 2018 Drama Desk Award and A Chita Rivera Award for Outstanding Choreography. Her short documentary in collaboration with Enki Andrews entitled Dancing Around The World received the Silver Palm Award for Outstanding Short Documentary category from The Mexico International Film Festival. 

Yatkin was an artist resident at the University of Notre Dame from 2008 to 2012 and from 2001 to 2008 she was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Maryland, College Park, teaching dance and choreography. In recent years, she has been a choreographer-in-residence creating new works for Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Webster University, and Northwestern University among many others. For more information please visit www.ny2dance.com

 

Image: Nejla Yatkin.

Additional Information

Please note that your online registration will hold your space up until 10 minutes prior to the start of class. After that time, we will be admitting participants who are present on a first-come, first-served basis.

Persons with disabilities are encouraged to participate in all Harvard Dance Center programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the Dance Office at 617-495-8683 in advance of your participation or visit. The Harvard Dance Center is accessible for individuals using wheelchairs.