In Search of Air

Created and Performed by Lida Winfield
Co-directed by Matt Wohl

In this dance and theater performance based on her experience growing up with a learning disability, Vermont dancer, choreographer and spoken word artist Lida Winfield shares the gifts and heartache that accompanied her struggle to learn to read – which did not occur until her early twenties. This show is a mixture of funny, sad and ironic moments strung together in a creative and captivating format. Lida’s presence on stage expresses her life so clearly that it brings us closer to our own.

“…In middle school there were more of us, a lot more of us.  Every child with a behavioral, social, physical, or learning disability was tucked in the same room.  We were angry children.  And there were enough of us that we were actually a very powerful force.  There were multiple teachers who cared much about each one of us; however, there was not enough money, time or energy to actually teach us in the ways we needed. So we were just separate. Our anger took on the form of cigarette smoking, cursing loudly, chair tossing, table turning and a general disrespect to authorities and adults…”

Excerpts from In Search of Air from Lida Winfield on Vimeo.
Video by Rob Koier http://www.robkoier.com/

I am currently touring In Search of Air to many theaters, schools and universities around the country. Check out upcoming performances. I often perform In Search of Air in partnership with workshops and or a residency. 
For more information or for booking please contact me.

Pantyhose and Combat Boots

This is not only a performance about coming of age but about the human experience of finding one’s spot…place…home, the challenge of what we want and hope for versus what actually happens. “Sometimes life gets in the way of what we imagine it should be.”  
The hour one-woman performance is an interesting mixture of theater, dance and storytelling. Performed and written by Lida Winfield, with the co - direction of Matt Wohl, Winfield tells personal stories about growing up. “Let’s be honest, it is hard to navigate through the adult world when your tool set is still incomplete.” 

The show is broken into clips of flashbacks from age five to the present day with movement and music linking them together. Though the stories are personal, the themes are universal. The show is humorous as well as insightful, as Winfield takes the audience back to her need for lipstick and direction.

The visual beauty of the performance is equally as captivating as the stories themselves. Winfield is a dancer who uses movement to complement her words.  Her unique style pours through the performance and is welcoming and accessible to both the dancer and the non-dancer eye.  With two chairs, a large amount of white fabric and layers and layers of black clothing, the performance is artistically creative, funny and poignant.

Two video excerpts

Video by Rob Koier http://www.robkoier.com/

Video by Rob Koier http://www.robkoier.com/

Photos: Top-Left by Derrick Senior
Top-right by Gene Parulis
Above by Gene Parulis

"Lida Winfield has breathed life into our Educational Programs! Her performances bring students to tears through empathy and inspiration."
Susan Crowther
Director of Educational Programs
Landmark College

"My 13-year old son saw Lida Winfield’s show today. Even though I have been ‘dragging’ him to dance and performances for years, he never really ‘connected’ with any of it. Not so now. Just wanted you to know that this show affected a school-hating, movement-hating 13-year-old boy. THANKS."
Audience Member

"In Search of Air', has deeply touched every teacher who has seen it. We all know the child that Lida remembers being. We're inspired by Lida's triumph and heartened by the power of the arts."
Joan Robinson
Associate Director for School Programs
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts