Maida Withers Receives John Muir Award

TUK I / Maida Withers , GW Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance

Received the John Muir Award - Environment Film Competition

In Recognition of Excellence in Filmmaking

At the 2009 Yosemite International Film Festival

Photographer - Bruce Hucko – Moab, Utah


Event:

Maida Withers received a John Muir Award at the 2009 Yosemite International Film Festival's Closing Night Awards Ceremony for her film, TUK I. The award was in the Environment Film Competition. The Festival took place in the beautiful, world-renowned Yosemite National Park, California.

John Muir, co-founder of the Sierra Club, naturalist and writer, was an important figure in the protection of Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon, and Mt. Rainier as National Parks. He is often referred to as the "Father of the National Park Service."

Date: Award Ceremony - Saturday, October 24, 2009.

Description:

Tukuhnikivatz (TUK I) is a fusion of dance and the environment filmed in the spectacular wilderness lands of the Four Corners Area of the U.S. Southwest. Dancers, in a ritual of passage, create a metaphor for our time on the earth while capturing the ancestral voice that resides there. This captivating work, conceived and directed by Maida Withers, features music composed by Brent Michael Davids, Mohican Nation, with Blue Butterfly musicians, cinematography by James Byrne, and performed by dancers Tim Harling, Cristy Lamb, Emily Ogala, Will Goins, and Maida Withers.

Tukuhnikivatz (I and II) was selected for showing by the DC Independent Film Festival (DCIFF) in Washington, DC, 2008; Get Reel in Moab Film Festival Moab, Utah, 2008; and Wollumbin Dreaming Festival, Australia, 2007.

http://www.maidadance.com