The Enchantress of Bioluminosity has always been captivated by synesthesia,
a phenomenon where one type of artistic stimulation evokes another. The
Enchantress (aka Andrea Beeman) received her BA from Georgetown University,
where she immersed herself in art historical studies of the Renaissance
as well as the fundamentals of painting and sculpture. Lured to New York
City, the capitol of contemporary art, her paintings became three dimensional,
but she was still searching for more. At New York University, she found
the ephemeral medium of film and began to make Super 8mm shorts while
continuing to paint, sculpt and create performance art. During her last
semester at New York University, Andrea took an internship with artist
William Wegman.
While learning more about photography and video at the Wegman studio, Andrea
continued her studies of movement, first exploring Japanese butoh dance.
Yokio Waguri of Nakajima influenced her profoundly by comparing her
instinctual movement to that of Salome, a suggestion that led her to the
discovery of Middle Eastern (belly) dance. She began to study with Anahid
Sofian, and then discovered Jajouka, Ibrahim Farrah, Yousry Sharif, Gamila el
Masri, Ghassan Fadlallah and Elena Lentini as well. Although her focus had
now shifted to Middle Eastern dance, Andrea continued to supplement her
training with flamenco, ballet, yoga, and classical Indian Odissi dance
studies.
Andrea began making short dance related films in 1987. Her films have
been screened in New York at Anthology Film Archives, Millennium, P.S.
122, and in France at the Grand Prix International Video Danse. She
worked as Ibrahim Farrah's videographer from 1993-94, and finally embraced
video as a means for her own personal expression during its recent digital
revolution. While working with William Wegman, she has helped create
his videos for children which have aired on Sesame Street, Nickelodeon,
and the Comedy Channel, as well as in galleries and museums worldwide.
Andrea (aka Andrea Anwar) began performing Middle Eastern
dance at New York's cabarets, clubs and cultural events in 1990. She
has taught weekly dance classes since 1993, and has performed Middle
Eastern dance as a soloist and company member with Elena Lentini's Caravanserai,
Anahid Sofian & Dancers, Jehan Kamal's Ballet Exotiqa, and SaZ Dance
Theatre. In 1997 Andrea opened for Ricky Lee Jones' GHoSTYhead tour
in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.
Andrea's choreography has been most recently presented at New York
City's Town Hall, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and at Buffalo's Pfeifer
and Flickinger Theaters. Andrea also performs in the public schools
as part of the New York Performing Artist Company.
Christened the Enchantress of Bioluminosity by the Minister of Lamination
to the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland, Andrea is now working on projects
which express dance's spirit, the body's luminance and projected images'
ephemerality.