Remembrance Rising: In Tribute to the World War II Comfort Women

Join us at University of San Francisco Thursday, 4/20 – Saturday 4/22

for an evening of incredible dance works by Jennifer Polyocan, Marie Hamel, Sebastian Le, Grace Shaver, Mirage Witzer, and Lenora Lee, as part of “Making Ground” the USF Dance Ensemble Spring Concert! 

“In Visibility” (excerpt)

A meditation on reconciliation and restorative justice, speaking to the power of individuals and communities to transcend. 

Conceived & Directed by Lenora Lee

Choreography by Lenora Lee in collaboration with Dance Collaborators / Performers: Mary Jane Agnew, Genna Bolino, Erica Edberg, Natalia Garcia Moreno, Chisa Kobayashi, Zoë-Elise Quon, David Robinson

Music directed by Tatsu Aoki, with Kioto Aoki, JoVia Armstrong, Mwata Bowden, Suwan Choi, Coco Elysses, Jamie Kempkers, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Michael Zerang. Courtesy of Asian Improv Records

Interviewee Voiceover by Serafin Andrade

Media Design, Video & Soundscore Editing by Lenora Lee (if projection works on the floor of the theater)

Costumes by Lenora Lee and the Dance Collaborators / Performers

This excerpt is part of a larger work being created for Lenora Lee Dance’s 15th Anniversary Performances 2/2 – 2/4/24 at Dance Mission Theater.

David Robinson, Photo by Cheshire Issacs

WITHIN THESE WALLS
Conversations with creative collaborators and dancers of the next generation

by Lenora Lee Dance in association with Lenora Lee Productions, Asian Improv aRts, Innocent Eyes and Lenses Films, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, powered by Asian Improv Nation

Directed by Lenora Lee & Francis Wong

Edited by Joel Wanek

Cinematography by Ben Estabrook, Edward Kaikea Goo, Lenora Lee, Olivia Ting, Rebecca Tsai, Joel Wanek

Production and rehearsal assistance by Lynn Huang, SanSan Kwan, Keanu Marquez, Johnny Huy Nguyen, Lucy Tafler

Featuring interviewees (in order of audio): Genny Lim, Lenora Lee, Olivia Ting, Francis Wong, SanSan Kwan, Crystal Song, Eika Tokunaga, Emma Lowe, Kimberly Fong, Tatianna Steiner, Teo Lin-Bianco

Additional film, performance, and rehearsal footage taken from the 2023 experimental dance film directed by Tatsu Aoki, edited by Kishino Takagishi, the 2017 and 2019 performances at the U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island, and 2022 rehearsal footage for the Berkeley Dance Project, a production of the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies at U.C. Berkeley.

COPYRIGHT 2023 Lenora Lee Productions, LLC
www.LenoraLeeDance.com
@LenoraLeeDance

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WITHIN THESE WALLS re-staging

the award-winning multimedia work by Lenora Lee Dance
re-staged with UC Berkeley students as part of Berkeley Dance Project 2023
February 23 – 26, 2023 at Zellerbach Playhouse
Info

CLICK HERE to see a video of performance excerpts 

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WITHIN THESE WALLS experimental dance film

directed by Tatsu Aoki
screenings begin Spring 2023
CLICK HERE to see the film trailer 

WITHIN THESE WALLS

by Lenora Lee Dance

Re-staged with UC Berkeley Students for Berkeley Dance Project 2023

Presented by the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS)

February 23–26 at Zellerbach Playhouse

Conceived, Produced & Directed by Lenora Lee

Choreographed by Lenora Lee in collaboration with
The Lenora Lee Dance Cast (2017/ 2019) and The Berkeley Dance Project Cast (2022/2023)

Stage Manager Keanu Marquez 

Production Coordinator SanSan Kwan

Costume Designer Wendy Sparks

Lighting Designer Ray Oppenheimer

Scenic Designer Peet Cocke

Projection Designer Olivia Ting

Original Score Francis Wong & Tatsu Aoki
with Kioto Aoki, JoVia Armstrong, Rami Atassi, Mwata Bowden, Jonathan Chen, Suwan Choi, Deszon X. Claiborne, Coco Elysses, Jason Kao Hwang, Michael Jamanis, Jamie Kempkers, Chad Taylor, Edward Wilkerson Jr, and Michael Zerang

Poetry & Text Genny Lim & Wong Gung Jue

Voiceovers Lynn Huang, Hien Huynh, Johnny Huy Nguyen, Shannon Preto

Berkeley Dance Project Cast

Cristopher Avila (Law Oy Hup), Kimberly Fong (Lang Jing), Jingwen “Caitlin” Han (Ling Ha), Teo Lin-Bianco (Wong Gung Jue), Emma Lowe (Hieu Yieu), Noah Ryang (Yieu Yun), Jiho Seo (Huey Hung Gay), Eika Tokunaga (Lei Wai), Erin Yoon (Lee Ping To), Victoria Amador (Missionary Gwan), Verena Lee (Interpreter Chan), Gilberto Martinez Martinez (Inspector Bennington), Liam Quinn (Dr. John Williams), Tatianna Steiner (Interpreter Wong)

2019 Cast (Lenora Lee Dance)

George Cheng, Derek Harris, Yi-Ting (Gama) Hsu, Lynn Huang, Hien Huynh, Carl Irons, SanSan Kwan, Wei-Shan Lai, Chloe Luo, Johnny Nguyen, Dalmacio Payomo, Alley Wilde

with contributions from Original 2017 cast members Yao Dang. Timothy Huey, Eric Koziol, Wayne Tai Lee, Kevin Lo, Shannon Preto, Stacey Yuen

Collaborators

Rehearsal Assistants Lynn Huang, SanSan Kwan, Johnny Huy Nguyen, Lucy Tafler

Dramaturg Crystal Song

Assistant Stage Manager & Production Coordinator Hazel Horton

Assistant Scenic Designer & Calligrapher Shin Yang

Assistant Costume Designers Ace Chen, Abhiraj Muhar

Light Board Operators Audrey Lee-Gardner, Riley Richardson

Sound Technician Emily Fassler

Sound & Video Board Operators Gibran Mustafa, Amelia Patterson, Nick Reulbach

Deck Crew Sohel Bagai, Callista Crabtree, Eugeniu Cuznetov, Kimi Galang Villegas

Wardrobe Crew Hannah Barukh, Jasmine Cevallos, Leonora Sanchez

Scenic Work-Study Assistant Lev Collins 

Costume Work-Study Assistants Amanda Hayami, Jennifer Hernandez, Cara Maccianti, Autumn Peak, Tessa Schaap, Tiffany Stratton

Electrics Installation & Focus Students of Theater 175B

Camera Operator & Editor Ben Estabrook

Second Camera Operator Joel Wanek

Photographer Robbie Sweeny

Front of House & Box Office Staff Provided by Cal Performances

TDPS Staff & Faculty Advisors

Production Manager Jamila Cobham

Assistant Production Manager Emily Fassler

Technical Director Joshua Frachiseur

Scene Shop Supervisor Timothy Kopra

Scenic Artist Zoë Gopnik-McManus

Properties Director & Carpenter Peet Cocke

Theater Supervisor Eugene Palmer

Costume Director Wendy Sparks

Head Costumer Jane Boggess

Assistant Costumer & Costume Curator Miyuki Bierlein

Lighting Design Advisor Ray Oppenheimer

Scenic & Costume Design Advisor Annie Smart

Stage Management Advisor Laxmi Kumaran

Administrative Staff Myriam Cotton, Ben Dillon,  Jean-Paul Gressieux, Megan Lowe, Michael Mansfield, Avy Valladares

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This production of Within These Walls was presented as part of

A YEAR ON ANGEL ISLAND:
IMMIGRATION HISTORIES & FUTURES

Sponsored by the Berkeley Arts + Design Initiative and Future Histories Lab

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Creation of the original Within These Walls was supported in part by Asian Improv aRts, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, API Cultural Center, Chinese Historical Society of America, California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Angel Island Company, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, Dance Mission Theater, and generous individuals.

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WITHIN THESE WALLS documentary

Conversations with creative collaborators and dancers of the next generation by Lenora Lee Dance in association with Lenora Lee Productions, Asian Improv aRts, Innocent Eyes and Lenses Films, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, powered by Asian Improv Nation Directed by Lenora Lee & Francis Wong. Edited by Joel Wanek. CLICK HERE to see the documentary 

WITHIN THESE WALLS experimental dance film

directed by Tatsu Aoki screenings begin Spring 2023. CLICK HERE to see the film trailer 

Dear Friends and Supporters,

With love, creativity, compassion, and gratitude we greet you today, and hope that 2022 has been a year full of good health, recuperation, and clarity for you and your loved ones. With the flood of over 10 projects we have had the honor to work on this year, we are in the midst of working on four of them, and excited to share a recap. Many of these projects had been on hold due to the pandemic, and we are extremely grateful to return to in-person performances this year for many of them! 

• Premiere of Convergent Waves: Boston in April 2022 at Pao Arts Center, Boston, inspired by the fight for affordable housing in Boston’s Chinatown
• Premiere of In the Shape of Their Presence by SanSan Kwan & Lenora Lee in May, Joe Goode Annex, in loving memory of Kenneth Speirs & Karina Lee Howe, as part of Dance Lovers 10
• Special preview virtual screening of the Within These Walls film final cuts in May, presented by ArtsEmerson and Boston Asian American Film Festival
• Premiere of Convergent Waves: SF in June at Asian Art Museum, focusing on experiences of residents and advocates in SF’s Tenderloin, challenges of the pandemic, and the housing crisis
• Co-presentation of Expansions // Horizons a celebration of music, dance, and film for Asian Improv aRts’ 35th Anniversary, advancing artists, activism, and culture on a national level with multiple generations of AIR artists in June at Asian Art Museum
• Premiere of In the Movement in September at ODC Theater, highlighting experiences of migration, prison to ICE detention pipeline, and organizing to stop the pipeline and deportations.
• Screenings of Convergent Waves: Boston at Boston Asian American Film Festival, and virtually through ArtsEmerson’s Projecting Connections: Chinese American Experiences Series Oct-Nov

2023 is our 15th Anniversary Season!!

• LLD will screen the And the Community Will Rise film, focusing on the advocacy for Ping Yuen housing tenants’ rights, by residents and Chinatown Community Development Center staff.
• We will screen the final version of our Within These Walls film by filmmaker Tatsu Aoki, inspired by those detained at the U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island.
• U.C. Berkeley’s Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Department invited LLD to re-stage our Within These Walls performance on Cal students, February 23-26 at Zellerbach Playhouse
• Premiere of In Visibility fall 2023, a companion piece to In the Movement, focusing on mass detention of immigrants and refugees as a form of incarceration.
• Creation phase of Convergent Waves: NYC, a dance centered on the Asian American, Black, and Latinx intersection, community building and solidarity in NYC. 

Your support is critical during this time 

The increase in the cost of living and reduced audience capacity has made for a particularly hard year for the Arts. In an increasingly segregated society, artists hold a key to building bridges and creating the foundation for transformation. It is appreciation of diversity, and uplifting voices of collaboration that will bring our society together, allow us to dissolve barriers of discrimination, and witness our collective abilities to grow and unify.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

We immensely appreciate your generosity and invite you to contribute today! 

Your gift will directly support our collaborating artists, designers, filmmakers, performances, films, interviews, and discussions. With the intensity and productivity of this year, and the myriad of adjustments we’ve all had to make in our lives due to the pandemic, we are ever so grateful for your continued support. Wishing you grace, compassion, and love,

Lenora Lee, Artistic Director      

Lucy Tafler, Project Consultant

Sawako Ogo, Marketing Consultant