Maureen Fleming, is an American dancer, performance artist, and choreographer from New York City. She studied butoh dance in Japan and is known for her meditative, dreamlike solo dances. The New Yorker magazine has called her "perhaps the foremost American practitioner of Butoh." The Boston Globe said: "As earth goddesses go, she's the real black madonna." The NEW YORK TIMES states: "Fleming... seemed to transcend the material world and enter the realm of pure spirit... wondrous choreographic metamorphosis". However, Fleming describes herself instead as a creator of 'archetypal moments', revealing a dimension beyond the pairs of opposites, which evolve throughout her art. She directs Maureen Fleming Company, an internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary performance ensemble, creating evening length works including 'Eros', 'After Eros', 'Decay of the Angel', 'Waters of Immortality' and 'B. Madonna'. Maureen Fleming began creating photography installations in conjunction with her live performances in NYC in 2009. Connecting cultures and art forms she is known for her original form of visual theater.
Early life
She was born in Japan and grew up in Yokohama, the daughter of parents in the United States Navy. She was injured in an automobile accident at the age of two, following which she lost the disc between her fourth and fifth vertebrae. Only learning of this accident many years later, she believes this experience to have shaped her career in dance, particularly her affinity for moving her body in a slow, deliberate fashion. She moved with her parents to the United States when she was three years old, and began dancing at approximately age seven.
Dance studies and first exposure to butoh
Fleming studied ballet with Cecchetti method master Margaret Craske, and performed briefly with several New York City-based dance companies. She was first exposed to butoh in 1984 when she met butoh dancer Min Tanaka in New York City, joining his company, Maijuku, for a time. Following this, she studied butoh in Japan with Tanaka, and later with one of the art form's founders, Kazuo Ohno, with whom she remains in contact.
Artistic outlook and process of creation
Fleming has stated that she attempts to create archetypes in her dances, and believes the female nude to be a universal artistic image. She has stated that "the flesh is the costume of the soul." About her work, she has said the following: She has stated that it often takes her ten years to create a new dance.
Works and performances
Fleming has performed in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and collaborated in her multimedia works with playwright David Henry Hwang, composer Philip Glass, photographer Lois Greenfield, ikebana artist Gaho Taniguchi and the eclectic artist Christopher Odo. She has toured with Min Tanaka and pianists Peter Phillips and Bruce Brubaker. She has also performed with the dancer Jean Erdman, and knew her husband, Joseph Campbell. Directed by Fleming, Maureen Fleming Company has collaborated in the original and touring presentations: 'AFTER EROS' , 'DECAY OF THE ANGEL' and 'WATERS OF IMMORTALITY' and 'B. MADONNA' . Crossing cultures and art forms, spanning five continents, Maureen Fleming depicts images that ask what is universal about the journey of the soul and being human. The company has received national and international acclaim in the La Mama's 2013 premiere of B. MADONNA in NYC; the National Performance Network Performing Americas 2012 tour to Colombia's International Festival of Manizales 2007, 2009, 2012, Argentina's Teatro REAL 2012, Uruguay's Teatro Verdi 2012; Italy's Spoleto Festival 2011, Cleveland Museum of Art VIVA! 1998, 2009, 2011; Cincinnati's Contemporary Dance Theater 2007, 2009, 2011; Korea's Seoul Performing Arts Festival 2004, 2007; Kaatsbaan International Dance Center 2004, 2007; Boston's Cutler Majestic Theater 2001, 2004, ICA 2007, 2017; Brazil's FILO 2005, 2014 and Mercado Cultural 2011, 2005, 2009; Jacob's Pillow Festival 2008; Fall for Dance Festival at City Center 2006; among others.
