Interdisciplinary dance works giving artistic voice to Asian Americans

World Premiere of “Fire of Freedom” 9/10-9/20/15 at Fort Mason Center!

Fire of Freedom excerpts from Lenora Lee on Vimeo.

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Fort Mason Center Presents in association with Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center, and the Chinese Historical Society of America
present the World Premiere of

Fire of Freedom

a new site-specific multimedia immersive dance piece by Lenora Lee Dance

CLICK TO SEE FIRE OF FREEDOM PHOTOS, VIDEO, ARTICLES, REFLECTIONS, AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Thursdays-Sundays, September 10-13 and 17-20, 2015, 8pm

Location: Fort Mason Center’s General’s Residence in the Upper Fort Mason area —
Enter at Franklin & Bay Streets. Turn right after the first Stop sign. Click here for a map.

Arts Patron: $30 includes reserved seating
General Admission: $16 in advance online, $20 at the door (fees apply)
Student rate: $12 in advance online, $16 at the door (fees apply) Valid student ID required
Group rate for 8 or more people: $10 each, must be purchased all together (in advance only)
Tickets: www.fortmason.org/boxoffice, (415) 345-7575
For questions, email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com

LLD celebrates its 8th Anniversary Season with the World Premiere of Fire of Freedom, a new multimedia immersive dance piece that explores cycles of violence and healing in the context of our increasingly challenging world. The work of Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) integrates contemporary dance, film, music, and research and has gained increasing attention for its sustained pursuit of issues related to immigration, global conflict, and its impacts, particularly on women and families. Audiences will travel through a labyrinth of rooms throughout the three story General’s Residence in an intimate interactive environment, a tapestry of movement, sound and visual collage throughout the interior and exterior of the building.

“We strive to generate artistic work that engages deeply the connections between individuals and their experiences, and community and collective memory, through creative processes, research, and public involvement.” – Lenora Lee

“Fire of Freedom’s intrigue lies in its multi-modal exploration of violence and regeneration”, said Rich Hillis, Executive Director of the Fort Mason Center.  “The immersive experience created by Lenora Lee Dance is a powerful and moving journey through the lives of the unrepresented.”

conceived & directed by Lenora Lee
music by Francis Wong with Deszon Claiborne, Karen Stackpole, Tatsu Aoki
cinematography directed & editing by Tatsu Aoki, filmed by Ben Estabrook, Joel Wanek, Zhuoyun Chen
media design & editing by Olivia Ting
media programming by Ian Winters
set design by Lenora Lee, Olivia Ting, Karl Gillick
lighting design by Patty-Ann Farrell
text excerpts taken from Katinka Hooyer’s “Surplus Data”
sound engineers: Karen Stackpole, Caleb Willitz, Lenora Lee, Timmy Leong & Sound Innovations

choreography by Lenora Lee in collaboration with the following artists:
performing live: Nick Brentley, Christian Felix, Larissa Fong, Marina Fukushima, Chin-chin Hsu, Yi-Ting Hsu, Lynn Huang, SanSan Kwan, Wei-Shan Lai, Wayne Tai Lee, Tim Rubel, David Silpa
on video: Kelly Del Rosario, Raymond Fong, Mike Garabato, Jorge Hernandez, Jon Iiyama, Eric Jacobus, Rafael Janania, Ed Kahana, Yukihiko Noda, Lucas Okuma, Bo Speirs

Please Note:

  • Comfortable footwear is encouraged.
  • Coat, purse and bag check service is available for $2 and is highly recommended.
  • Guests may encounter situations in close proximity with performers.
  • We encourage guests with special needs to contact us prior to arrival at Boxoffice@fortmason.org or 415.345.7575.

• Parking for handicapped visitors displaying valid credentials is available near the General’s Residence or in any marked space at Fort Mason or Fort Mason Center at regular parking rates

• Event patrons arriving Monday through Friday after 6:00pm or any time on Saturday, Sunday or a holiday may park in appropriately marked parking spaces adjacent to the General’s Residence or Chapel per posted regulations.

• Under no circumstances may visitors use any parking adjacent to Fort Mason residences.

• Visitors are encouraged to park in the Fort Mason Center lot (space permitting and at prevailing rates) or on adjacent city streets per posted regulations. The Fort Mason Center lot is entered at Marina Blvd and Buchanan Streets (see link to map above). Visitors may walk back to the General’s Residence or Chapel either up the stairs or through the paths on the Great Meadow. The walking distance is about 1,800 feet and the elevation change is approximately 55 feet.

• Visitors who carpool may drop off patrons at the General’s Residence or Chapel and then remove vehicle to alternate parking site.

For the last eight years, LLD has been pushing the envelope of large-scale multimedia dance performance that connects various styles of movement and music to culture, history & human rights issues. Its work has grown to encompass the creation, presentation, and screening of films, museum and gallery installations, civic engagement and educational programming.

The company is directed by San Francisco native Lenora Lee, who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 17 years in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. In 2013 she was an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum and a Djerassi Resident Artist. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University and an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission Theater. LLD creates works that are both set in public and private spaces, intimate and at the same time large-scale, inspired by individual stories as well as community strength.

For more than 35 years Fort Mason Center has served as a unique destination in San Francisco, hosting arts and cultural events, organizations, and programs in a historic campus along San Francisco’s scenic northern waterfront. It is an extraordinary example of repurposing former military land and buildings for contemporary uses, including museums, performance spaces, and a vibrant schedule of art and cultural exhibitions and events. Each year the Fort Mason Center provides more than $2.2 million in grants to local arts groups like Embark Gallery.  With more than 1 million annual visitors, the Fort Mason Center is one of the highest attended arts and cultural organizations in the Bay Area. For more information, visit www.FortMason.org or call (415) 345-7530

Special thanks to the California Arts Council, Dance Mission Theater, Enshin Karate San Mateo Dojo, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and Generous Individuals.

Arts Patron Corporate Sponsors: DAE Advertising, Portsmouth Square Parking Corporation. Arts Patron Community Sponsors: Donaldina Cameron House, Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Community Circle Partners: Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Asian Women’s Shelter, Chinese Progressive Association, OCA San Mateo, Xavier Tsang

Photos by Robbie Sweeny. Postcard design by Olivia Ting

California Arts Council Kenneth Rainin Foundation SF Arts Commission Grants for the Arts Zellerbach

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Francis Wong & Tatsu Aoki with Lenora Lee – Wong Wei’s Gamble 5/30/15!

(Photo by Leon Sun)

Wong Wei’s Gamble is a new four movement musical work by Francis Wong that will feature the composer, shamisen performer Tatsu Aoki, dancer/choreographer Lenora Lee, bassist John-Carlos Perea, guitarist Karl Evangelista, Yangqin (hammered dulcimer) performer Yangqin Zhao, drums and gong performer Karen Stackpole, trapset drummer Deszon X. Claiborne. WWG will memorialize the story of Wong Wei, the composer’s grandfather, a professional jockey and business manager who dared to open up the International Racecourse of Tianjin in northern China during the Japanese occupation of World War II – the once active course had been closed by the occupiers – as a means to provide employment and entertainment for the city during this dark period. In a move that risked being labeled a “collaborator”.

Presented by San Francisco International Arts Festival, Asian Pacific Island Cultural Center and Asian Improv aRts

Tickets: $15-$30 General Admission and Reserved Seating

Get Tickets

About Francis Wong

Few musicians are as accomplished as Francis Wong (musical director / composer), considered one of “the great saxophonists of his generation” by the late jazz critic Phil Elwood. A prolific recording artist, Wong is featured on more than forty titles as a leader and sideman. For over two decades he has performed his innovative brand of jazz and creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe with such with such luminaries as Jon Jang, Tatsu Aoki, Genny Lim, William Roper, Bobby Bradford, James Newton, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye and the late Glenn Horiuchi, John Tchicai, and Fred Anderson.

WHEN
May 30, 2015 at 7pm – 8:30pm
WHERE
San Francisco International Arts Festival, Festival Central Bldg A Fort Mason Center
2 Marina Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94123
United States

“The Detached” film-in-progress screening & “Fire of Freedom” presentation!

CHSA is proud to present its third annual Joice Alley Celebration on May 2nd in collaboration with Cameron Carnival. This family friendly neighborhood event will feature many sights and sounds by familiar Asian American artists.

Saturday, 5/2/15 Schedule of events:

12pm dragon dance in Joice Alley by Kei Lun Martial Arts

12:30pm  Lenora Lee’s “The Detached” film-in-progress screening, with a presentation about upcoming “Fire of Freedom” at CHSA Museum

1pm Francis Wong Unit performing their first set at Cameron House Yard

1:30pm Charlie Chin will be entertaining us with songs at CHSA Museum

2pm Francis Wong Unit performing their final set at Cameron House Yard

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Much gratitude to our end-of-the 2014 year into 2015 supporters!

We are deeply grateful for all of the generosity and support from the following individuals and organizations at the end of 2014 into 2015!

Jennifer Alonso-Garzee, Joyce Ashizawa-Yee & Bradley Yee, Arlene Biala, Jeanette & Low Chan, Patricia Chan, Louisa & Arthur Chin, Philip Chin, Calvin & Sharon Chinn, Carole Chinn-Morales, Linda Lee & Harry Chuck, Marjorie Chung, David Dea, Kimberly Elliot, Larissa Fong, Raymond Fong & Enshin Karate San Mateo Dojo,  Donald & Loretta Gibbs, Rosemary Gong, Ellie Hisama, Byron & Karen Ho, Michael Holscher, Karina Lee & Perry Howe, Evelyn Huang, Catherine Hung & Michael Derkacz, Carl & Jackie Jew, Victor Clark Joe, Zak Kong, Glenna Kurisu, Benjamin Kwan, Scott Lau, Alson & JoAnn Lee, Eunice & Gilbert Lee, Gail Lee, Kenneth Lee, Larry Lee, Winnie & Jenson Lee, Christina & Leonard Lew, David & Elizabeth Lew, Nancy Lim-Yee, George Louie, Larry & May Lui, Jean & Richard Lym, Victoria Marks, Christina Ng, Nancy Ng, Gunthilde & Lewis Perin, Eliza Perkins, Jeanne & Winchell Quock, John Seto, Linda Shigio, David & Marcella SooHoo, Van Tran, Xavier Tsang, Monica Tzeng, Morrie Warshawski, Jones Wong, Sandra & Kenneth Wong, Ruth Wu, Jiro Yamamoto, Rodney Yano, Junnie Yong, Connie Young Yu, Gary Yuen, Anonymous, Asian Women’s Shelter, Blackhawk Physical Therapy, Chinese Progressive Association, CREDO Mobile, DAE Advertising, Franklin Templeton, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Portsmouth Square Parking Corporation, Presbyterian Church in Chinatown, Ruby’s Place, UTAP Printing & Packaging.

Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center, Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University, Asian Women United of Minnesota, California Arts Council, Chinese Historical Society of America, Dance Mission Theater, Donaldina Cameron House, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, New York Asian Women’s Center, Puffin Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation

If you would like to support Lenora Lee Dance, CLICK HERE.

Lynn Huang, photo by Robbie Sweeny

Our 2015 “Fire of Freedom Fund”!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

As a wonderfully productive 2014 comes to a close, we would like to thank you immensely for your generosity. We would also like to share what 2015 has in store and ask for your continued commitment in support of our ongoing research, engagement with communities, and building of innovative artistic works through performance and film – all of which beckon a call for visibility, change and action.

You have the ability to initiate this change and envision the possibilities, which happens one step at a time, with one person at a time.

We invite you to step on board for this exciting 2015 season!

 –       The 2015 premiere of the “Fire of Freedom” project, a multimedia site-specific immersive dance theater project, associated engagement activities and discussions that will take place 9/10 – 9/20 as part of the Fort Mason Presents Series.

–        3/20 & 3/21 “Fire of Freedom” film/video shoots – footage to be projected in the Fort Mason shows.

–        The expansion of our research topics to include learning about the lives, experiences, health and well-being of military veterans.
–        The deepening of existing and creation of new collaborations and activities with advocate and community organizations, and educational institutions nationwide.

 “Fire of Freedom” Video Projection Mock-ups – actual video to be used will be filmed in 2015.


Ongoing contributions will also support:

 –        The creation and 2015 premiere of the film “Light” a powerful and evocative story highlighting the lives of women, including Bessie M. Lee (-b. 1894), who were at the forefront of the early New York Chinatown community, who through the resilience and triumph over unimaginable experiences, were grounding forces in the creation of this community.

–        The continuation of our youth arts education program at Cameron House.

 Thank you so very much for your generosity and support!

In respect, compassion, and community, Lenora

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

photo of Wayne Tai Lee & Lynn Huang