Women’s History Month – Our Story is Our Strength – Artist Lenora Lee

March 22, 2022 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

World Premiere of Convergent Waves: Boston / April 21 – 23, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Lenora Lee

Phone: (415) 913-8725

Email: LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com

www.LenoraLeeDance.com

Pao Arts Center and Lenora Lee Dance present

World Premiere of Convergent Waves: Boston

site-specific, multimedia, immersive dance performances by Lenora Lee Dance

At Pao Arts Center in celebration of its 5th Anniversary Season!

LOCATION

Pao Arts Center, 繁體字简化字

99 Albany Street

Boston, MA 02111

ADMISSION 

$20-50 – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/convergent-waves-boston-tickets-244507136427 

For more info: https://www.paoartscenter.org,  www.LenoraLeeDance.com

For questions or high resolution images, email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com, (415) 913-8725

Convergent Waves: Boston is a new site-responsive, multimedia experience by Lenora Lee Dance celebrating the contributions of activists and non-profit leaders, reclaiming space by eliciting stories of community agency, resilience, and transformation. Inspired by rich narrative, this work represents a powerful call for community oriented development in the face of rapid change, making a collective statement for the preservation of community as neighborhoods across the country inhabited for generations face cultural erosion, loss of businesses, and displacement through gentrification. Convergent Waves: Boston highlights successes in preserving the cultural fabric and accomplishments of these communities.

Conceived, Produced & Directed by Lenora Lee

Choreography by Lenora Lee in collaboration with the performers 

Performers / Dance Collaborators: Naoko Brown, IJ Chan, Peter Cheng, Flora Hyoin Kim Han, Lynn Huang, Johnny Huy Nguyen

Media Design by Lenora Lee 

Lynn Huang by Robbie Sweeny

LENORA LEE DANCE

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, incarceration, global conflict, and its impacts, particularly on women and families. The company is directed by San Francisco native Lenora Lee, who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 23 years in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. She has been an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum, a Djerassi Resident Artist, a Visiting Scholar at New York University 2012-2016, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission Theater, a 2019 United States Artists Fellow.

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, at times crafted for the proscenium, or underwater, or in the air, and at times are site-responsive, immersive and interactive. For the last 14 years, the company has been pushing the envelope of large-scale multimedia, and immersive dance performance that connects various styles of movement and music to culture, history and 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. www.LenoraLeeDance.com

PAO ARTS CENTER

Pao Arts Center was established in 2017 as a visionary program collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) and Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC). Located at 99 Albany Street in downtown Boston, Pao Arts Center is Chinatown’s first arts and cultural center. Pao Arts Center represents the belief that investing in arts, culture, and creativity are vital to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and vibrant communities. Through its innovative approach, Pao Arts Center empowers creativity, connection, learning, and support. paoartscenter.org

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Vijay Iyer (music compositions, recordings) Described by The New York Times as a “social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway,” composer-pianist VIJAY IYER is one of the leading music-makers of his generation. His honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artist Fellowship, a Grammy nomination, and the Alpert Award in the Arts. His most recent album, a trio session with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Linda May Han Oh titled Uneasy (ECM Records, 2021), was named Best New Music in Pitchfork and was hailed by the New Yorker as “a triumph of small-group interplay and fertile invention.” https://vijay-iyer.com 

Tatsu Aoki (music) is a prolific composer, musician, filmmaker, and educator. Based in Chicago, Aoki works in a wide range of musical genres, ranging from traditional Japanese music, jazz, experimental and creative music. Aoki studied experimental filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently an adjunct Full Professor at the Film, Video and New Media Department, teaching film production and history courses. To this date, Aoki has produced and appears in more than 90 recording projects and over 30 experimental films. www.tatsuaoki.com

Francis Wong (music) was dubbed one of “the great saxophonists of his generation” by the late jazz critic Phil elwood. Few musicians are as accomplished as Wong: for over two decades he has performed his innovative brand of jazz and creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe. A prolific recording artist, Wong is featured on more than forty titles. www.franciswong.net

Olivia Ting (media & graphic design) is interested in the role of digital technology in the fabric of contemporary lives and how our perception of recorded media (film, photography, audio) as “reality” has shifted as technology becomes more sophisticated. Olivia has done design work for Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Jose Children’s Museum, and collaborated with various dance companies in the Bay Area. Her work shifts between video projection and altered 360 VR film experiences. She holds an MFA in Art Practice from U.C. Berkeley. www.olivetinge.com

Naoko Brown (dance – Boston) is a native of Nagoya, Japan. At the age of six, she was introduced to the world of classical ballet by Michiko Matsumoto. She continued her training with Barbara Banaskowski Smith in Lansing, MI. While there, she performed with the students of the National Ballet School of Gdansk in Poland, as well as students from Vaganova Ballet School in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Brown received her B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. While there, she performed works by Daniel Pelzig, Sean Curran, Lar Lubovitch and José Limón. She also attended the Boston Ballet School Summer Dance Program, Ballet Intensive from Moscow, and was a full scholarship recipient at Summer Stages Dance in 2012. She has performed with Michiko Matsumoto Ballet, Urban Nutcracker, Zoé Dance, Contrapose, Prometheus Dance and Jo-Mé Dance. She is currently a faculty member of The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Walnut Hill School for the Arts Community Dance Academy as well as Boston Ballet. 

IJ Chan (陳加恩) is a dance artist and educator from Boston, MA. She has dedicated her life to training and performing intensively in multiple dance genres and under many choreographers. In her own choreographic work, IJ is interested in intersecting and exploring the Asian-American narrative. She is committed to bringing quality performing arts instruction to low-income and minority youth populations within Boston. She also works as a freelance graphic designer,  visual artist and seamstress. 

Lynn Huang (dance – San Francisco)Trained in modern dance, ballet, and Chinese dance, Lynn has performed with Lenora Lee, Erin Malley, & Philein Wang in San Francisco, and HT Dance Company, Dance China NY & Ella Ben-Aharon/Sahar Javedani in NYC. She studied at Minzu University Dance Conservatory in Beijing, China on a Fulbright fellowship and graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University.

Flora Hyoin Kim Han (dance – Boston) is a Korean-American dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Since earning her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014, she has worked with The Click, Prometheus Dance, Jenna Pollack, Lenora Lee Dance, beheard.world, Jennifer Lin, Deborah Abel Dance Company, Lorraine Chapman, and Urbanity Dance. Flora is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, a Lecturer of Dance at Brandeis University in Fall 2021, a senior faculty at Urbanity Dance and Coastline Ballet Center. Flora’s artistic vision is to bring inclusivity, empowerment, and joy to individuals and communities through the power of dance.

Johnny Huy Nguyen (dance – San Francisco) is a second generation Vietnamese American multidisciplinary dance artist based in Yelamu (aka San Francisco). His practice is centered on the body, recognizing its power as a place of knowing, site of resistance, gateway to healing, and crucible of imagination. Drawing from fluency in multiple movement modalities rooted in a street dance foundation, he weaves together dance with text, ritual, performance art, and other mediums to navigate the intersections between the personal and the political. He has appeared in the works of Lenora Lee Dance, KULARTS, and Embodiment Project and has performed nationally in Oregon, Boston, and NYC. His work has been presented by APAture Festival, the United States of Asian America Festival, and SOMArts, and his most recent solo work, Minority Without A Model, premiered in 2021. www.johnnyhuynguyen.com IG: @johnny.huy.nguyen

Convergent Waves: Boston is supported by ArtsEmerson, Pao Arts Center, and by generous individuals. The creation, presentation of and production residency for Convergent Waves: Boston was also made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

Special Thanks to: Asian Community Development Corporation, Carmen Chan, Chinatown Community Land Trust, Chinese Historical Society of New England, Susan Chinsen, Ken Eng, Stephanie Fan, Amy Guen, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Harry Lee, Paul Lee, Tunney Lee, Angie Liou, Lydia Lowe, Cynthia Soo Hoo, Cynthia Woo, and Cynthia Yee.

Pao Arts Center is a program collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and Bunker Hill Community College.

January 27, 2022 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

World Premiere of “In the Movement” September 1-11, 2022

Johnny Huy Nguyễn by Robbie Sweeny

Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center and Lenora Lee Dance present 

the World Premiere of In the Movement

by the award-winning company, Lenora Lee Dance

Thursday – Saturdays, 9/1, 9/2, 9/3, 9/8, 9/9, 9/10 at 8pm

And Sundays, 9/4, 9/11 at 2pm

Performances will begin on time, please arrive early. Post performance discussions after both Sunday shows

“In the Movement” is a heartfelt and explosive dance piece focusing on separation of families and mass detention of immigrants as forms of incarceration. It serves as a meditation on reconciliation and restorative justice, speaking to the power of individuals and communities to transcend.

CLICK HERE to view the video teaser https://vimeo.com/728134716

LOCATION

ODC Theater

3153 17th Street (between South Van Ness & Folsom), San Francisco, CA 94110

https://odc.dance/theaterseason 

Street parking or local garages are available. Please plan ahead regarding parking.

ADMISSION 

Link to ticket site

$20 – $50

For more info: www.LenoraLeeDance.com, https://odc.dance/theaterseason 

For questions or high resolution images, email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com, (415) 913-8725

LINK TO ARTIST PHOTOS

Audience Responses from LLD’s award-winning Within These Walls production:

“I thought about ICE jails, people who fear deportation, and refugees overseas. It was heavy….and so beautiful.”

“It was a truly unique and powerful experience, and I feel fortunate to have witnessed it. It snuck into my dreams last night.”

“Moving and beautifully rendered, so timely given the global dialogue around immigration. I was there with my seven year old son, and the piece made a big impression on him.”

“I was deeply affected and moved by the performance. I left in tears, and literally cried every time I replayed the performance in my head for 4 days afterward.”

“It was brilliant and emotionally powerful.”

Keanu Brady & Felicitas Fischer by Robbie Sweeny

Conceived, Produced & Directed by Lenora Lee

Choreography by Lenora Lee in collaboration with the performers / dance collaborators

Performers / Dance Collaborators: Johnny Cox, Felicitas Fischer, Miguel Forbes, Lynn Huang, SanSan Kwan, Johnny Huy Nguyen, Sawako Ogo, Moyra Silva Rodriguez

Recorded music directed by Francis Wong & Tatsu Aoki

Vocals by Helen Palma

Media Design by Lenora Lee & Olivia Ting

Videography by Edward Kaikea Goo & Lenora Lee, filmed on Alcatraz Island

Light Design by Jack Beuttler

Interviewee Voiceover: Borey Ai, Ericson Amaya Bonilla, Enrique Cristobal Meneses, Guisela Ramos Guardado, Rhummanee Hang, Melanie Kim, Cindy Liou, Jessica S. Yamane, Anonymous

Resource Partners: Asian Prisoner Support Committee, 67 Sueños

Project Consultant: Lucy Tafler

Production Assistant: Edward Kaikea Goo

Photos by Robbie Sweeny

LENORA LEE DANCE

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, incarceration, global conflict, and its impacts, particularly on women and families. The company 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, at times crafted for the proscenium, or underwater, or in the air, and at times are site-responsive, immersive and interactive. For the last 14 years LLD has been pushing the envelope of large-scale multimedia, and immersive dance performance that connects various styles of movement and music to culture, history and 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. www.LenoraLeeDance.com

ODC THEATER

ODC Theater exists to empower and develop innovative artists. It participates in the creation of new works through commissioning, presenting, mentorship and space access; it develops informed, engaged and committed audiences; and advocates for the performing arts as an essential component to the economic and cultural development of our community. Since 1976, ODC Theater, founded by Brenda Way, has been the mobilizing force behind countless San Francisco artists and the foothold for national and international touring artists seeking debut in the Bay Area. ODC Theater is currently under the creative direction of Chloë L. Zimberg.

ASIAN PRISONER SUPPORT COMMITTEE

Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC) provides direct support to Asian and Pacific Islander (API) prisoners and raises awareness about the growing number of APIs being imprisoned, detained, and deported. Since 2002, APSC has led programs in prisons, organized anti-deportation campaigns, provided resources to “lifers,” and developed culturally relevant reentry programs. APSC facilitates Ethnic Studies programs in prisons, provides community-based reentry services, and organizes deportation defense campaigns. https://www.asianprisonersupport.com 

67 SUEÑOS

67 Sueños is an Oakland-based youth organizing program with political education, artivism, and trauma-healing work at the center. It works primarily with Latinx undocumented youth and youth from mixed status families (ages 14-24) through a leadership development program that engages them in local campaigns fighting towards ending youth incarceration and militarized policing of BIPOC communities. 67 Sueños was born in 2011 out of the recognition that 67 percent of migrant youth would be excluded from the DREAM Act, a federal bill aimed at providing a path to citizenship for migrants who arrived in the U.S. at an early age.  http://67suenos.org

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Tatsu Aoki (music) is a prolific composer, musician, filmmaker, and educator. Based in Chicago, Aoki works in a wide range of musical genres, ranging from traditional Japanese music, jazz, experimental and creative music. Aoki studied experimental filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently an adjunct Full Professor at the Film, Video and New Media Department, teaching film production and history courses. To this date, Aoki has produced and appears in more than 90 recording projects and over 30 experimental films. www.tatsuaoki.com

Jack Beuttler (light design) is an Oakland based producer and designer. He’s the Director of Production for ODC and the Production Manager for the Sun Valley Music Festival in Idaho. He’s toured nationally and internationally with Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Van Anh Vo, and Flyaway Productions among many others, and is thrilled to have been a part of bringing The Forgotten Empress to Pakistan in 2017. Jack is honored to have received a 2019 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design for Flyaway’s The Wait Room. Most recently Jack produced the critically acclaimed opera film Goodbye, Mr Chips. www.jackb.info

Johnny Cox (dance) is a gay, Guatemalan American performing artist who graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a B.F.A in Dance in 2019. After college, he ventured to Portland, Oregon where he was an apprentice with the LGBTQ+ affirming Shaun Keylock Company. He recently moved to the Bay Area where he has been working with Shawl Anderson Dance Center and the East Bay Tutu Schools as their only male ballet teacher. Johnny feels joyful to be launching his dance career as an apprentice with Nancy Karp and Dancers and with Lenora Lee Dance for In the Movement. Connect with Johnny on Instagram @johnnycdancing or at vimeo.com/jcdancing 

Felicitas Fischer (dance) is a contemporary dance artist whose practice and interest is rooted in exploring diverse movement forms  that reflect her own polyethnic-cultural background. A graduate of the University of San Francisco with a B.A in Performing Arts & Social Justice in Dance (2019), she has had the honor of working with Simpson/Stulberg Collaborations, Dazaun Soleyn, Megan Nicely, Nicole Klaymoon, Amber Julian, Eli Nelson, Amie Dowling, Jennifer Polyocan, Kinetech Arts, and Lenora Lee Dance. She works actively in the community on staff with Bridge Live Arts, contributes annually to the online dance journal Stance on Dance, and runs Artists For Justice, an artistic collective dedicated to supporting diverse emerging artists and local social-justice initiatives. Her latest choreographic work, Lungs of the Earth, was selected for the Bay Area Shorts Film Festival and featured in USF’s Thacher Gallery Art Exhibition: All That You Touch.

Miguel F. Forbes (dance) discovered the passion for dance while attending high school. Began his formal training in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern Techniques at Anti – Gravity School of Dance in Roseville, California. Forbes then attended the Bachelor’s of Art Program in Dance at CSUS (Sac State) where he obtained knowledge in movement, history, philosophy, performance, and artist creation processes. A perpetual learner, Forbes is pursuing many educational and professional pursuits including graduate school to become a Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Instructor of Katherine Dunham Technique, study in Butoh, Talawa, and Silvestre techniques.

Lynn Huang (dance)  Trained in modern dance, ballet, and Chinese dance, Lynn has performed with Lenora Lee, Cynthia Ling Lee, and Philein Wang, among others in San Francisco, and HT Chen and Dancers, Dance China NY and Ella Ben-Aharon/Sahar Javedani in NYC. She studied at Minzu University Dance Conservatory in Beijing, China on a Fulbright fellowship and graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University. She also teaches GYROTONIC​​® and GYROKINESIS®. IG: @lynnxspirals

SanSan Kwan (dance) is Professor and Chair in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, where she teaches  dance and dance studies..  She has performed with Jonathon Appels, Joanna Mendl Shaw, Chen and Dancers, Scott Rubin, and Maura Nguyen Donohue/In Mixed Company, among others.

Lenora Lee (artistic direction) The company is directed by San Francisco native Lenora Lee, who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 23 years in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. She has been an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum, a Djerassi Resident Artist, a Visiting Scholar at New York University 2012-2016, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission Theater, a 2019 United States Artists Fellow, and is the recipient of a New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project grant award. Lenora is currently artist in residence at Pao Arts Center and ArtsEmerson.

Johnny Huy Nguyen (dance) is a second generation Vietnamese American multidisciplinary dance artist based in Yelamu (aka San Francisco). His practice is centered on the body, recognizing its power as a place of knowing, site of resistance, gateway to healing, and crucible of imagination. Drawing from fluency in multiple movement modalities rooted in a street dance foundation, he weaves together dance with text, ritual, performance art, and other mediums to navigate the intersections between the personal and the political. He has appeared in the works of Lenora Lee Dance, KULARTS, and Embodiment Project and has performed nationally in Oregon, Boston, and NYC. His work has been presented by APAture Festival, the United States of Asian America Festival, and SOMArts, and his most recent solo work, Minority Without A Model, premiered in 2021. www.johnnyhuynguyen.com IG: @johnny.huy.nguyen

Sawako Ogo (dance) is a freelance dancer based in the San Francisco Bay area, originally from Tokyo, Japan. Upon graduating from San Francisco State University with a BA in Dance, Sawako had the privilege to work with choreographers and directors, such as David Herrera, Natasha Adorlee, Erin Yen, Christian Burns, Joe Landini, Jennifer Gerry, Kristin Damrow, as well as numerous others. https://www.sawako.dance, IG @sawako_horsemackerel

Helen Palma (music) is a graduate of San Francisco State University, where she received her  Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music with an emphasis on Vocal and Jazz Studies. Her vocal styles range from Brazilian to Latin Jazz, Salsa, Swing, Blues, R&B and Pop. During Helen’s time at SF State, she studied with John Calloway in the Afro Cuban Ensemble and later performed professionally with his latin jazz septet at the Redwood City Salsa Festival in 2017 and 2019. She was also a part of the 2020 Hispanic Heritage Concert under Calloway’s direction. Helen’s own group, The Helen Palma Trio, performs in venues throughout the Bay Area with an emphasis on Latin and Brazilian jazz, R&B and pop. She is also pursuing a certificate in audio engineering and video editing. https://helenentertains.wordpress.com/, https://www.instagram.com/helen_palma_cantante/, linkedin.com/in/helen-palma

Moyra Silva Rodriguez (dance – Lima) is a Peruvian interdisciplinary and performing artist with a background in contemporary dance and theatre. Her artistic research explores the intersections between public space, dance community, hybrid identities and ancestry, through an interdisciplinary approach (film, dance, installation). Her academic study focussed on the overseas Chinese community in Europe and the Americas, as fourth generation Tusan (Chinese-Peruvian). Her work has been supported by the Instituto Cultural Peruano NorteAmericano (PE), El Centro Cultural de España (PE), Performing Arts Festival of Lima (PE), German Federal Foreign Office and Goethe Institut (DE), Trondheim Municipal Council (NO), and NOoSPHERE Arts (USA). www.moyrasilva.com, IG @moyra_silva

Olivia Ting (media & graphic design) is interested in the role of digital technology in the fabric of contemporary lives and how our perception of recorded media (film, photography, audio) as “reality” has shifted as technology becomes more sophisticated. Olivia has done design work for Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Jose Children’s Museum, and collaborated with various dance companies in the Bay Area. Her work shifts between video projection and altered 360 VR film experiences. She holds an MFA in Art Practice from U.C. Berkeley. www.olivetinge.com

Francis Wong (music) was dubbed one of “the great saxophonists of his generation” by the late jazz critic Phil elwood. Few musicians are as accomplished as Wong: for over two decades he has performed his innovative brand of jazz and creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe. A prolific recording artist, Wong is featured on more than forty titles. www.franciswong.net

INTERVIEWEE BIOGRAPHIES

Borey “Peejay” Ai is the Community Advocate for Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC) and a former juvenile lifer. He was incarcerated at the age of fifteen and served 20 years in prison. After his parole, Peejay spent 18 months incarcerated in ICE jails, while fighting his deportation case. Peejay was released from ICE jail in May 2018 after a grassroots campaign, #BringPJHome. Peejay’s work includes serving as APSC organizational representative in meetings, coalition spaces, lobby visits, and events related to reentry, in-prison programs, and anti-deportation defenses. Peejay also conducts workshops around APSC programs and missions to youth, students, and community organizations.

Enrique Cristobal Meneses was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and lived in Los Angeles California since the age of 14. He is an advocate, artist, counselor and organizer. Enrique was detained at Golden State Annex (GSA) for 15 months as he fought his immigration case. After a long fight, and thanks to his resilience and community support, Enrique won his case in February 2022 and returned home after 18 years away. He got involved in the organizing and advocacy inside of GSA because of the injustices he saw happening inside. People were not being treated with humanity. Enrique is motivated, by his daughter and by his own journey through the criminal system, to keep on standing up to injustices and inequality. This is why he used his voice to stand up to the inhumane treatment inside of Golden State Annex. Enrique is currently working as a substance abuse counselor and is excited to continue to work alongside our communities to bring the change we need. 

Rhummanee Hang is a poet, dancer, and community organizer from Oakland. Rhummanee’s experience with racial equity work, culturally specific programming, youth leadership development, and community organizing has spanned two decades. Rhummanee is Co-Director of AYPAL, an API youth leadership development and movement-building organization based in Oakland Chinatown. She is also a consultant and facilitator with World Trust Educational Services. She earned a BA in Sociology at UC Davis and an MA in International & Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. Rhummanee is an Aquarian dragon, earring maker and collector, and most importantly, Mommy to the amazing kid, Noreak!

Melanie Kim is the State Policy Director at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. Melanie is a leader in ICE out of California, the statewide coalition moving the VISION Act (AB 937) authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, which would stop all ICE transfers from local jails and state prisons. Before venturing into policy work, Melanie worked as an deportation defense attorney providing direct legal service in private practice and, most recently, at the Asian Law Caucus where she focused on representing individuals who faced deportation due to criminal convictions. At the Caucus, Melanie represented the first and second Cambodian refugees to ever return to the United States from deportation. 

Cindy Liou, the daughter of Chinese-Taiwanese immigrants, is currently the State and Local Policy Director at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), advocating for unaccompanied immigrant children. Previously, she was the Director of the Human Trafficking Project at Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, where she practiced immigration, family, and victims’ rights law for survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, elder and child abuse. She is currently on the Advisory Board of Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare (TEACH) and the Steering Committee of the Freedom Network to Empower Trafficked and Enslaved Persons (USA).

Jessica S. Yamane is a co-director at Pangea Legal Services. At Pangea, Jessica’s goal is to support directly impacted community members who are developing alternatives to deportation and detention. As a person of both Chinese and Japanese ancestry, Jessica has been to enough memorials to recognize that the US immigration regime we live under has always been inherently racist. This country once recognized its errors in shuttering all concentration camps of Japanese Americans during WWII, and it can do so again. She firmly believes that we should be working towards that day when all immigration detention centers—today’s concentration camps—are permanently and forever closed.  

In the Movement  is supported by Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center, ODC Theater, Cal Humanities, California Arts Council, Fleishhacker Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Phyllis Wattis Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, and by Generous Individuals. Special thanks to Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, 67 Sueños, Golden Gate National Recreation Center.

January 20, 2022 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Asian Improv aRts’ 35th Anniversary Celebration: Expansions // Horizons June 30th, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Lenora Lee

Phone: (415) 913-8725

Email: Lenora@asianimprov.org 

https://www.asianimprov.org 

Asian Art Museum in collaboration with 

Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center & Lenora Lee Dance present 

Asian Improv aRts’ 35th Anniversary Celebration

Expansions // Horizons

For 35 years, Asian Improv aRts (AIR) has been at the forefront of the Asian and Asian American movement – advancing artists, activism, and culture on a national level. Come join us for two unique programs of music, dance, and film, bringing together multiple generations of AIR artists, as we celebrate this historic milestone and look forward to the future with radical imagination.

Featuring performances and work by:

• Kioto Aoki (taiko / percussion), Chicago
• Tatsu Aoki (taiko / shamisen), Chicago
• Karl Evangelista (guitar), Bay Area 
• Marina Fukushima (dance), Bay Area 
• Ben Goldberg (clarinet), Bay Area 
• YiTing (Gama) Hsu (dance), Taiwan / Bay Area 
• Hien Huynh (dance), Bay Area
• Christopher Lam (Vietnamese Monochord – Đàn Bầu), Bay Area 
• Jacqueline Lam (Vietnamese zither – Đàn Tranh), Bay Area 
• William Roper (tuba), Los Angeles 
• Karen Stackpole (multiple percussion), Bay Area
• Melody Takata (taiko), Bay Area  
• Francis Wong (saxophone), Bay Area
• And additional artists TBA

At Asian Art Museum

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Program A: 6-7pm, and 

Program B: 7:30-8:30pm

Performances will begin on time, please arrive early.

LOCATION

Asian Art Museum

200 Larkin Street (at McAllister St)

San Francisco, CA  94102

https://asianart.org or (415) 581-3500

Click here for parking & transportation

ADMISSION 

$10 plus museum admission

All attendees are required to wear masks following current CDC, city and state guidelines.

For more info: https://www.asianimprov.org, https://asianart.org  

For questions or high resolution images, email Lenora@asianimprov.org , (415) 913-8725

The Asian Art Museum strives to be welcoming and accessible to all. Please visit our Accessibility page to see a full list of accommodations, including complimentary assistive listening devices, ASL interpretation, and wheelchairs. Please note that for some accommodations, we require at least two weeks advance notice. 

Asian Improv aRts

Since 1987, Asian Improv aRts (AIR) has built a national cross-cultural, interdisciplinary community rooted in social justice and equity, advancing artists who create innovative works representing Asian and Asian American experiences. AIR’s impact has been far-reaching; building the strength, sustainability and national visibility of Asian American arts and culture, embedded in community-based work with an authentic Asian American voice and grounded in a social justice approach that has deep connections to BIPOC communities. Over its 35 years, AIR has produced more than 100 recordings of Asian American artists, chronicling a legacy of Asian artistic excellence in the U.S. and mentored many artists in their early stages, some of whom are now luminaries in their field, such as Vijay Iyer and Jen Shyu.

(Work in network, co-commission, fellow, record label)

__________________________________

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Kioto Aoki // 青木希音

Kioto Aoki is an artist, educator and musician who descends from the Toyoakimoto performing arts family in Tokyo with roots dating back to the Edo period. Studying under her Tokyo-born father, she carries on the artistic family lineage as a taiko artist in Chicago, also playing shamisen and tsuzumi. Musical projects include Yoko Ono’s SKYLANDING, Tatsu Aoki’s The MIYUMI Project, Experimental Sound Studio’s Sonic Pavilion Festival, and Soundtrack at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. https://kiotoaoki.com 

Tatsu Aoki 

Tatsu Aoki is a community advocate, filmmaker, educator, and prolific composer and performer of traditional and experimental music forms. As Executive Director of Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW), Aoki has initiated several programs to advance the understanding of traditional arts. He is also a founder of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival. In 2019, he received the Community Service award from the Asian American Coalition of Chicago and was recently awarded the 2020 United States Artist Fellowship and Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for his work as a musician, composer, and educator. https://tatsuaoki.com 

Ben Goldberg

Clarinetist / composer Ben Goldberg grew up in Denver. He was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano. Since 1992, when his group New Klezmer Trio “kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music” (SF Chronicle), Ben has shaped a career through curiosity and experimentation. The New York Times says Ben’s music “conveys a feeling of joyous research into the basics of polyphony and collective improvising, the constant usefulness of musicians intuitively coming together and pulling apart.” http://www.bengoldberg.net

Karl Evangelista

Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista (b.1986) ranks among a new wave of musicians pushing the traditions of jazz, experimentalism, and political music into the 21st century. Evangelista has performed with the likes of Andrew Cyrille, Fred Frith, Oliver Lake, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Bobby Bradford, Ben Goldberg, and Francis Wong. Signal to Noise magazine hails Evangelista as “one of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation,” and as the creative force behind boundary-breaking group Grex, Evangelista’s music has been called an “otherworldly experience” (Eugene Weekly). https://www.karlevangelista.com

Marina Fukushima

Marina Fukushima is a dancer and choreographer based in San Francisco. Born in Tokyo, Japan, she immigrated to the US in 1992. From a cross-cultural perspective, her creative focus is on the themes of silence, family, and intergenerational relationships. Amongst her projects, she created “Family Seasons” and “Zoom Dinner” in collaboration with her parents (both visual artists). Also, in collaboration with Isak Immanuel, a series of intergenerational dance works like “Festival of Shadows” was developed. Additionally, she has performed with numerous dance companies including KUNST-STOFF, ODC, Lenora Lee Dance, and Tableau Stations and toured across the US and internationally.  

YiTing (Gama) Hsu

Trained in contemporary, ballet, modern, Chinese martial art, Chinese folk dance, Tai-chi initiation, composition, choreography and improvisation, Yi-Ting is a graduate of Tsoying High School, and received her BFA from University of Taipei of the Arts. She has danced with Hsu Chen Wei Productions, Les Petites Choses Productions, David Herrera Performance Company, Alyssandra Katherine Dance Project, Kinetech Arts, and Epiphany Dance Theater. www.gamahsu.com 

Hien Huynh

Hien Huynh was born in Da Nang, Vietnam. Through the sacrifices, courage, and resiliency of his parents’ refugee passage, Hien dedicates his artistic and living practices to share, move, and dance in honor of their story alongside the oceanic journeys of ancestors. His movement practices stem from the spirit of improvisation. He recognizes improvisation as an ancestral form of survival, navigation, clarity, and expression. As a performing artist, Hien was nominated and received an Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Individual Performance (Within These Walls, Lenora Lee Dance 2019). He is a 2020 San Francisco Arts Commission IAC recipient. He is honored to have performed in the works of Lenora Lee Dance, Kim Epifano, Robert Moses’ Kin, Kinetech Arts, Christy Funch & Nol Simonse, PUSH, DSDT, and punkkiCO. www.hien-huynh.com 

Christopher Lam

Studying Vietnamese Monochord (Dan Bau) for over a decade under Emmy Award winning master Vanessa Van Anh Vo, he has performed with Asian Improv aRts, Lenora Lee Dance, and Jimi Nakagawa. at venues such as the Legion of Honors, Asian Art Museum, and Kennedy Center. He takes his influences from both traditional and contemporary Vietnamese music alongside improvisational methods. Within Au Co Center, he is a teacher apprentice for beginner students and stage logistics coordinator for performances within the Vietnamese community’s arts and culture. 

Jacqueline Lam

For over a decade, Jacqueline has learned and performed the Vietnamese zither (Dan Tranh) and has been trained by Emmy Award winner master artist, Vanessa Van Anh Vo. Over time, Jacqueline has developed her musical knowledge and skills, from traditional and contemporary Vietnamese music to improvisation. She has collaborated and performed with various ensembles/artists – Asian Improv aRts, Lenora Lee Dance – and has performed for various venues – Asian Art Museum, Legion of Honors, and the Kennedy Center. She is currently a teacher apprentice for beginner students and the Su Viet Ensemble coordinator at the Au Co Center. 

William Roper

William Roper is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist concentrating his efforts in music composition/performance, painting, digital and video art. His primary instrument is the tuba. He also specializes in primitive and ethnic aerophones extemporaneous and spoken word performance. He has appeared as soloist and ensemble member in the Americas, Europe and Japan. His visual work has been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. Roper heads the record label and arts organization Tomato Sage Consortium. Though he has lived in the same place for three decades, he is always looking for home. 

Karen Stackpole

Drummer/percussionist Karen Stackpole has a long-standing passion for gongs. In her exploration of metals, she has cultivated some distinctive techniques for drawing harmonics out of tam tams with various implements. She specializes in dynamic soundscapes and textures and has contributed gong sounds to more conventional musical genres as well as contributing source material for film soundtracks. In addition to solo work, she performs and records with various projects including Machine Shop: Live Amplified Gong Experience (a duo with electronics master, Drew Webster), Sabbaticus Rex, Ghost in the House, Vorticella, the Francis Wong Unit, and the rock band Steel Hotcakes. https://www.facebook.com/Machine-Shop-Live-Amplified-Gong-Experience-137078913044811 

Melody Takata

Founder and artistic director of GenRyu Arts, Melody Takata is a Japanese Diaspora artist. Takata is a taiko (Japanese drums) composer/arranger, and dancer/choreographer. Takata is trained in classical Japanese dance, and from the Kineya School of shamisen. In her 25+ year career she has engaged in creating new works in these traditions. She has been a recipient of Creative Work Fund, Alliance of California Traditional Arts: Living Culture, Master/Apprentice program, California Arts Council Local Impact, and National Endowment for the Arts to name a few. https://www.melodytakata.com 

Francis Wong

Francis Wong co-founded Asian Improv aRts with Jon Jang in 1987. Wong is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and community worker, with roots in the Asian American Consciousness Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. https://www.franciswong.net  

Supported in part by Asian Art Museum, Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Lenora Lee Dance, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and by Generous Individuals

January 20, 2022 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

World Premiere of “Convergent Waves: SF” Thursday, June 9, 2022

Lynn Huang & Johnny Nguyễn by Robbie Sweeny

IJ Chan, Naoko Brown, Johnny Nguyễn, photo by LeeDaniel Tran

My name is Amalia Avendando. And I’ve lived in the Tenderloin for 20 years. Yes I’ve been an instructor for Zumba for Ladies for many many years. 

Fui víctima de violencia doméstica y no me gustaría que ninguna mujer pasara eso. Es difícil para mí hablar de esto, pero estoy me entero cuando algunas de mis amigas me comentan lo que están viviendo en casa o cuando están siendo abusadas físicamente lo que sea. Yo les recomiendo La Casa de las Madres y les recomiendo alternativas. Para salir de este problema en el que ellas viven.  Que cuando alguien me comenta que busca vivienda, les recomendio que busquen en el edificio las habitaciones como no se, hay muchas cosas que  quisiera hacer por la gente y especialmente para las mujeres y los niños. Porque hay veces que cuando una madre sufre violencia, los niños también sufren violencia, y no son escuchados.

She is a victim of domestic violence and from experiencing this she knows that she wants no other woman to experience the same thing. And she tries to be really involved in this movement whenever someone shares to them that they stay at home or have been abused at home. She always tries to recommend them to an organization called casa de madres, and just other alternatives that are there for them. He has a huge focus of helping women and kids specifically, that a lot of times when a woman is suffering from domestic violence that the children are also suffering. And there’s a lot of times no way for the kids or the woman to be heard.

_____________________

Mi nombre es Martha Jaime.

She is a mother of four children. She has three boys and one girl. She’s been living in Tenderloin for 17 years now.

Yo camino a mi niño el más pequeño este a la escuela, nosotros veníamos caminando de aquí del Tenderloin hasta la Bryant entonces cuando vamos caminando por esta área del Tenderloin hay muchas personas indigentes que se están usando drogas están picando a veces están como muy agresivos Entonces este pues están peleando entre ellos y cuando lo va pasando pues a veces le toca a uno es que lo ofendan a uno también decirles cosas. 

Entonces  este mi hijo el más pequeño tiene mucho trauma de vivir acá en el Tenderloin porque le tiene mucho miedo a las personas que esté están en la calle Entonces es una es una preocupación para mí también porque este yo lo veo a él como que él les tiene bastante miedo cuando nosotros vamos caminando el tiempo me trata como de proteger y proteger sea a el mismo. Pues es muy preocupante. He tratado de buscar otra solución de otro lugar donde ir a vivir con mi familia pero la verdad la renta son bastante cara si es dinero que no podemos pagar y es la razón que seguimos viviendo en esta área.

She walks her youngest son to school and she walks from tenderloin, her building to Bryant they’ve witnessed people using drugs in the streets, whether it be injecting themselves in front of her and her child on their walks, or just being aggressive towards each other, seeing that escalation happen between themselves and the people in the streets. And she notices that her youngest has been affected a lot with his mental health and that he has trauma and he’s very much on alert when he’s on the streets. She notices that he makes an effort not only to protect himself, but also to protect her and being very concerned over her well being this is a really big worry for her to see his response to this. It’s been very difficult to find a solution to this other than to leave the space, but she hasn’t been able to find something that works for her. Because the rents are so expensive. So it’s just not something that they’re able to financially do for themselves.

_________________

Martha Spanish

Okay este pues yo mi niñez prácticamente toda la tuve en México en un lugar de donde esté como provincia puede decir como un pueblito pequeño y pues la verdad la vida de allá es mucho muy bonita Entonces este pues la verdad fui muy feliz todo el tiempo que estuve en México, después llegó el momento de que me casé y me esposo se vino para Estados Unidos, entonces yo salí embarazada de mi primer hijo y me esposo estuvo ese tiempo aquí, entonces cuando mi primer hijo nació me esposo regresó a México a conocerlo. El se tenia que regresar otra vez para Estados Unidos y me decía que me tenía que venir con él porque no quería dejarme sola México con mi bebé, verdad?eso me ponía nerviosa porque yo no me quería venir porque yo sentía que no iba a poder estar aquí porque aquí es muy diferente la vida,Verdad? Entonces siempre me animé Y me tuve que venir para acá y entonces cuando yo llegué aquí pues sentí un cambio muy diferente  mucho muy diferente que me empecé como a enfermar, me empezó a dar depresión y todas esas cosas verdad. Entonces es que yo tenía mucho miedo salir a la calle porque sentía como que estaba en una jaula y este y sí estuve bastante tiempo en tratamiento de depresión a causa de eso también y el encerramiento, porque yo era una persona muy libre. Entonces mi hermana me dijo que si quería ayudar a trabajar para que yo no estuviera pensando que estaba encerrada, entonces yo por las mañanas  trabajaba y cuando regresaba mi esposo se iba a trabajar y yo me quedaba con el niño Entonces ya mis amistades que yo tenía que ellos me empezaban a sacar a qué conociera un poco y con ayuda de la terapia y psicóloga y todo eso me fui como adaptado hasta que vinieron mis otros hijos y pues ya me convertí una persona bastante ocupada y pues he tratado de dejar todo eso atrás, la depresión y esas cosas, y mantener mi mente siempre ocupada y esa es una de las maneras que me ha mantenido estar un poco más adaptada aquí.

Martha English

She used to live in Mexico. And she explains her childhood as being something very beautiful, very open and freeing. She was very happy. And then came the time when she got married and had her family. She ended up coming out pregnant and her husband was already living in the US and working here. He didn’t want to leave them behind. He didn’t want to leave her or their son over there while he was in the US. So they ended up coming over as a family. And she explains that it was a very hard change for her. She was very reluctant to it at first, but she ended up deciding that she wanted to do this. She got her things and she came over. She ended up getting very sick. She got very depressed. She saw a lot of her health go down. And it was a very hard stage. She says she explained it as feeling caged, in that, she was living here and she wasn’t really going out. She was scared to be in the street to see the things that were going on outside and she explained it as feeling very enclosed and ended up getting treated for this depression and with help the psychologist and therapist and her sister, who also was noticing and helping her through this, she was able to kind of pull herself out of this dark phase. Her sister would insist for her to come and help her with her work just to bring her back out into the world. And she started going to work with her sister. What she has done best to keep her mental spirit up is staying busy. She’s a very busy woman now compared to her past where she could just just stay home that she finds herself keeping her mind busy always, busy always having something to do, busy working, cleaning houses not only physically busy but also mentally busy like keeping things in order. And her brain is always working.

_____________________

Mr. Jack (Junjie) Lin 林俊杰

你好,我叫林俊杰。我来自中国,广东新会。我目前是个全职学生。我来到美国没多久,大概九个月,就通过“经济适用房”(Affordable Housing)等候名单,被选中。我觉得非常幸运得到这个机会成为这里的租户。在这里认识了很多员工,其中是员工凯特罗宾逊。这里还有中文服务,所以我也得到了很多帮助。我当时在这里参加了社区义工活动,并且成为了这里的租户委员会成员,以及代表我们租户提出关于住社问题和建议。

我来到的时候,租户委员会和“食品储藏室”(Food Pantry)还没建立。后来,是由于凯特提出以及组织的。也在这个时候,我意识到了通过参与式投票。这个方式让每个租户者参与选出他们认为最合适代表他们的人,并且投票关于社会或其他的需求。比如为了租户的需求,“食品储藏室”(Food Pantry)也是这个时候开始举办的。每个星期由自愿者帮忙派发。最后 ,华协中心是我们大楼的业主,以及组织了租户领导力培训和交流。

So my name is Jack Lin, I was born in China. Guangdong Xinhui. And right now I am a full time student. I’ve moved into the tenderloin after nine months of immigrating to the United States. Tenderloin Family Housing we were selected through, you know, an affordable housing waiting list. And at that time, I also got to, you know, meet the staff. For example, Kate Robinson, this is also a time where the staff here would have Chinese speaking support too, that was one that I started volunteering with our community, and was even elected as a tenant council member to represent all the neighbors in our building to come forward with different issues around our property and neighborhood.

I’d like to share, for example, some projects staff, for example, Kate had organized us to create a tenant council. And I was familiar then with, you know how participatory voting worked, where neighbors would elect, nominate different neighbors and then you know, elect them for them to represent the needs of the community. Another thing was a food pantry, which is all volunteer run by the residents here, staffed every week by them. That wasn’t in existence. And, you know, that was created here for our building, Chinatown Community Development Center, which is the owner manager of our building, also organized tenant leadership trainings and exchanges.

Mr. Lin 林俊杰

另外一件事情得到了我们租户委员会会长Norma,以及三藩市市长的注意和参与。这件事关于到了一位学生上学的时候被（袭击）而导致了去医院。因为发生了这件事,我们在市政府进行了一个社区游行，并与市长和市参事开会。后来,三藩市举办了一个紧急计划,而这个计划让每一个Tenderloin街头有了几个工作人员来看管地区清洁和人们的安全。这对Tenderloin的环境和治安得到改善。

除了在租户委员会参与的这些事情,作为父母,我在这个疫情期间与其他家长，学校的孩子们，和监事会也做了很多组织工作。很多家长担心他们的孩子回学校上学的安全,我也不例外,毕竟我们还在疫情时期。我于其他家长都希望可以让孩子们继续远程学习。最初,孩子们要回去学校里上学,否则他们会失去在学校的名额。或者说他们可以继续远程学习,但学位也会被取消。通过我们的坚持,最终远程学习被保留了,以及学位也不会被取消。

Tenderloin区任然有社区安全和无家可归者的问题。在这个疫情期间,从二零二零年三月到现在我差点被突击了三次。第一次,是在学校附近。虽然现在街头有了些看管人,安全方面提供了,但还是小心为好。我们大楼也请了保安。以前我会带我的孩子们去Eddy街玩儿,但现在不去那边了,因为我确实还是担心他们的安全。对于社区安全,改进是有的,但还是存在了很多未解决的问题。

Another another piece that happened recently was that along with our president of the Tenant Council, Miss Norma, really tried to address the community safety piece at large and the impetus was because there was a young girl who was in a hijab and she was recently an immigrant from Yemen, who was attacked and assaulted to the point where she had to go to urgent care in the hospital while going to school. And so this was really a crystallizing point for many people. And so we had a community March at City Hall. That then led to some wins. We even met with the mayor and now there’s a Tenderloin Emergency Plan where she had shared that before she had publicly declared the plan. And we were as residents able to give our proposals and have her listen to our experiences. And even you know, those ambassadors called Urban alchemy practitioners on the street corners, was something that I think we had contributed to. Lastly, I want to also recognise, you know, I did a lot of organizing as a parent, with kids in the school district during COVID that had organized with other parents to, you know, demonstrate at this San Francisco Unified School District and also the board of supervisors on retaining distance learning classes. While schools were reopening, a lot of our parents were really concerned about the return to school, I wasn’t comfortable and many parents weren’t in doing so I wanted to retain distance learning as an option. And we were fearful that they would change the district policy where the original policy was you have to return to school or you’ll lose your spot if you want to do the web zoom version. When we eventually want to return you’ll lose your spot. So that was changed where you can still do online learning while keeping your spot for your school.

Mr  Lin  shared some examples of some of the issues around the Tenderloin that still need work. I think primarily around homelessness, and community safety, even anti-Asian hate. So he shared several examples, you know, right around COVID, he’s actually been assaulted physically or verbally assaulted three times since COVID. So I do think that community safety are really big issues that we do need to as a community continue to tackle and the progress is there. But it’s not an overnight solution. We did meet with the mayor, I can see some changes where there are more community ambassadors. So the progress is there. But again, I now no longer bring my kids over to the park that we got the free Wi Fi at, which is a couple of blocks away on Eddy Street, because I’m not confident that my children and I will be safe in our neighborhood.

___________________

Amalia 

En los 20 años que yo había vivido en Turk street estaba lleno de homeless, afuera en la calle por el tema de la pandemia se limpio, el proyecto que organizaron para poner un parque afuera, por eso la calle se ha limpiado los nuevos edificios y no he tenido problemas. Para mi Tenderloin es muy bonito, a mucha gente no le gusta, pero a mi me encanta Tenderloin

More recently, they’ve started some projects where they’re cleaning up the space and creating a park space outside. That’s been positive. She thinks it’s beautiful. And she loves tenderloin.

____________________

Martha

Estoy bien agradecida y muy contenta es que los últimos meses bueno el año pasado creo que comenzó he visto poco más de vigilancia en las calles del Tenderloin de cuando los niños salen de la escuela y la hora de las mañanas de los que los niños empiezan a ir a la escuela hay muchas personas que están cómo esté como no sé cómo decirlo pero están como protegiendo la salida de los niños a  la hora de la entrada y a la hora de la salida por todo ese barrio del Tenderloin. La verdad ver eso, me hace muy feliz y muy contenta. Y es una experiencia muy y la verdad es lo que necesitamos aquí y es lo que me hace sentir feliz porque al igual que yo, hay muchas mamás que están pasando lo mismo que yo.

It started happening last last year, that she noticed that there’s more care for the community that we have ambassadors and the walking school bus which comes out during school hours is sort of like an extra set of eyes that provides vigilance for the kids who are coming out of school. She’s seeing something positive coming out of the community, it makes her happier, because she knows that there’s other moms that have the same fears as her and it’s very relieving that herself and other moms are getting the service this help.

____________________

January 17, 2022 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Lenora Lee Dance, Reflection & Gratitude

(Back Row) Wayne Tai Lee, Lynn Huang, Johnny Nguyen, Gama Hsu, Q. Quan, Lenora Lee,

(Front Row) Amber Julian, SanSan Kwan, Melissa Lewis, Jacinta Wu, Ethan, Elsie & Edward Kaikea Goo, Hien Huynh by Robbie Sweeny

Dear Community,

• LLD worked with Chinatown Community Development Center to perform excerpts and complete the filming of And the Community Will Rise, inspired by the fight for tenants’ rights by current and former residents of Ping Yuen housing complex. We shared in the “Peaceful Garden Summer Block Party”, promoting unity and solidarity within our communities, with an emphasis on our Black and Asian communities.
• LLD traveled to Boston to create and screen the short film Meditations on the Power of Community illuminating stories of their Chinatown community alongside Shen Wei’s paintings.
• Online presentations, convenings, podcasts, small performances, and articles rounded out our 2021. See www.LenoraLeeDance.com for film and video of these presentations.

Going forward into our 14th Season

Moving into a full 2022, we seek opportunities to screen our film And the Community Will Rise, continue to work in Boston to premiere Convergent Waves: Boston at Pao Arts Center April 21-24, 2022, celebrating the contributions of activists and non-profit leaders in the fight for affordable housing, eliciting stories of community agency and resilience.

On June 9, 2022, LLD will premiere Convergent Waves: SF at the Asian Art Museum, featuring dancers from Boston & SF. We will finalize and screen our Within These Walls film by filmmaker Tatsu Aoki, inspired by those detained and interrogated at the U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island.

In September 1st -11th, 2022, LLD will premiere In the Movement in SF, focusing on separation of families, deportation, and mass detention of immigrants as a form of incarceration.

Your support is critical during this time of recovery

Contemporary segregation exists along color, class, geographic, economic, and material lines. We need to clear the divide, the fear of indifference, and the resistance to change with risk-taking vulnerability. It is appreciation of diversity, and power in uplifting voices of collaboration into leadership roles that will bring facets of American society together, allow us to dissolve barriers of discrimination & control, and bear witness to our collective abilities to grow, unify, and transform. 

We deeply appreciate your generosity and invite you to make a contribution today! 

Your gift will directly support the above programs: performances, tours, film screenings, interviews and discussions. With the intensity of this year, and the myriad of adjustments we’ve all had to make in our lives, we are ever so grateful for your continued support. Wishing you grace and love,

Lenora Lee      Hien Huynh    Lucy Tafler

Artistic Director Marketing & Outreach Project Consultant

We are grateful for the support of ArtsEmerson, Asian Art Museum, Asian Improv aRts, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, API Cultural Center, Boston Asian American Film Festival, California Arts Council, Cal Humanities, Chinatown Community Development Center, Fleishhacker Foundation, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, Pao Arts Center, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, SF Arts Commission, SF Grants for the Arts, The Creative Work Fund a program of Walter and Elise Haas Fund also supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and you.

Photo Credits: SanSan Kwan, Lynn Huang, Lenora Lee, Johnny Nguyen, Hien Huynh, Chloe Luo, Gama Hsu, Amber Julian, Megan Lowe, Clarissa Dyas, Melissa Lewis, Jacinta Wu, Edward Kaikea Goo, Wayne Tai Lee

Photos by Robbie Sweeny 

November 12, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

CALL FOR ASIAN MALE & LATINX DANCERS!

CALL FOR ASIAN MALE & LATINX DANCERS!

Lenora Lee Dance (LLD), based in San Francisco, is seeking Asian/Asian American male and Latinx dancers for performances in Spring and Fall 2022. 

LLD is looking for dancers with experience in choreography, improvisation, collaboration, modern / contemporary dance, and or other dance styles, for the following two projects in 2022.

“Convergent Waves” in Boston April 21-24, 2022 & SF June 9, 2022

“Convergent Waves” will be a series of 6 site-specific, multimedia performances in Boston in and around Pao Arts Center, April 21-24, 2022, and in San Francisco June 9, 2022 at the Asian Art Museum, with the possibility of touring Los Angeles and NYC in 2023. This opportunity is for Asian/Asian American male dancers.

Rehearsals will begin in SF & Boston January 2022, with Boston rehearsals occurring one week per month almost every month, for approximately 20 hours each time through April 2022 shows. All flights, lodging, rehearsal and performance time is paid.

This work celebrates the contributions of residents, activists and non-profit leaders towards the preservation of community, as neighborhoods across the country inhabited for generations face displacement through gentrification.

_________________________

“In the Movement” in San Francisco – September or October 2022

“In the Movement” will be a new multimedia dance project: 6 in person and virtual performances with community dialogues September or October 2022. Comment end It will focus on the separation of families and mass detention of immigrants as a form of incarceration, and will serve as a meditation on reconciliation and restorative justice, speaking to the power of individuals and communities to transcend. This opportunity is for Asian/Asian American male & Latinx dancers.

We’re looking at rehearsals in SF twice per week starting in May, with 2 weeks of performances somewhere in the 9/1 – 10/9/22 time frame, depending on everyone’s availability. Preference is for 9/1 – 9/11/22, but is TBD. All rehearsal and performance time is paid.

______________________

Those interested in either opportunity can email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com 

• your contact number, 
• a resume, 
• your website or social media handle
• up to four video links of dance pieces you have choreographed or are featured dancing in by Monday, October 18, 2021

Video call backs / Auditions will be between October 25 – November 4, 2021, with notifications sent by November 12, 2021.

Call (‪415) 913-8725‬ for more information.

http://www.lenoraleedance.com

Image credits: Hien Huynh & Johnny Nguyen by Kate Fim 

Image credits: Macio Payomo, Johnny Nguyen, SanSan Kwan & YiTing (Gama) Hsu by Kate Fim

These projects are supported in part by Pao Arts Center, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project and Expeditions Tour Planning Grant, ArtsEmerson, California Arts Council, Cal Humanities, San Francisco Arts Commission, and San Francisco Grants for the Arts and Generous Individuals.

About the Company

For the last 13 years Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) has been pushing the envelope of intimate and large-scale multimedia dance performance that connects various styles of movement/dance, film, text, research and music to culture, history, and human rights issues. LLD creates works that are both set in public and private spaces, inspired by individual stories as well as community strength. At times crafted for the proscenium, or underwater, and at times the pieces are site-responsive, immersive and interactive. Its work has grown to encompass the creation, presentation and screening of films, museum and gallery installations, civic engagement, and educational programming. 

LLD is directed by San Francisco native Lenora Lee, who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 23. She has been an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum, a Djerassi Resident Artist, a Visiting Scholar at New York University, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission, a 2019 United States Artists Fellow, and is currently an Artist in Residence at Pao Arts Center and ArtsEmerson.

Lenora Lee Dance creates multimedia and immersive dance performances connecting various styles of movement, music, and film to culture, history and human rights issues. www.LenoraLeeDance.com

October 4, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

LLD performs during Night Watch at Fort Mason, 9/17/2021

YiTing (Gama) Hsu & Hien Huynh photo by Robbie Sweeny

LLD Performs as part of Night Watch events this Friday, 9/17, 6:30pm inside the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason!

 

YiTing (Gama) Hsu & Hien Huynh photo by Robbie Sweeny

 

August 27, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation: Art and Social Justice

Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation (ticketed)

• Wednesday, September 1, 2021
• 6:30 PM  7:30 PM

• Saint Joseph’s Art Society1401 Howard StreetSan Francisco, CA, 94103United States (map)

• Google Calendar  ICS

Evening | Speaker presentation for Shimon Attie’s Night Watch, featuring panelists in conversation about the role of art as an amplifier for social justice issues.  Pre-registration required. This event is open to the public, but with limited admittance! Address: 1401 Howard Street, San Francisco

St. Joseph’s Art Society is a supporter of and contributor to the SF premiere of Night Watch.

Panelists at this event:

Charith Premawardhana, Classical Revolution https://www.classicalrevolution.org/

Ana Teresa Fernandez, artist https://anateresafernandez.com/

Lenora Lee, Lenora Lee Dance http://www.lenoraleedance.com/

Judy Flannery (or) Randall Heath from Dance Film SF https://sfdancefilmfest.org/

Clark Suprynowicz (Immersive Arts Alliance)

Moderator, Catharine Clark (BOXBLUR)

Photograph of St. Joseph’s Art Society by Elizabeth Pianta.

August 27, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

CALL FOR BOSTON DANCERS – 2021 – 2022!

CALL FOR BOSTON 

DANCERS – 2021 – 2022!

Lenora Lee Dance (LLD), based in San Francisco, is seeking Boston based Male Asian/Asian American modern / contemporary dancers for “Convergent Waves” a series of 6 site-specific, immersive, multimedia performances in Boston in and around Pao Arts Center, April 21-24, 2022, with the possibility of touring in San Francisco June 1 – 9, 2022, Los Angeles and NYC in 2023.

LLD is looking for dancers with experience in choreography, improvisation, and collaboration. Rehearsals will begin in Boston January 2022, occurring one week per month almost every month, for approximately 20 hours each time through April 2022 shows. Below is a tentative draft of the schedule. All rehearsal and performance time is paid.

Those interested can email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com 

• your cell phone number, 
• a resume, 
• your website, and 
• up to four video links of dance pieces you have choreographed or are featured dancing in by August 21, 2021

Video call backs / Auditions will be in September 2021.

Call (‪415) 913-8725‬ for more information.

www.LenoraLeeDance.com

Potential Rehearsal & Performance Dates:

• Rehearsals, approximately one week per month in January, February and March
• April 8 – 20 – Rehearsals, Tech and Dress Rehearsals
• April 21 – 24, 2022 – Boston premiere
• May 31 – June 9, 2022 – San Francisco Rehearsals
• June 9 2022 – tour – San Francisco Performance (Asian Art Museum)
• Spring 2023 – LA tour
• Fall 2023 – NYC tour

Background

“Convergent Waves” is a site-responsive, immersive, multimedia experience premiering in and around Pao Arts Center (Pao) in Boston April 21-24, 2022, with potential touring June 2022 – November 2023. LLD will transform Pao into an immersive site where the audience follows performers on an interactive journey that will feature 6 dancers, multimedia design, recorded original music, research, and voiceover interviews with activists and residents. 

Audiences are reoriented for a unique perspective that merges memory, contemporary reality, and social commentary. Walking through the building will be like walking through the interior of someone’s body with the idea of memory housed in the architectural blueprint of the building. 

Pao sits on a historically significant piece of land, Parcel 24, where hundreds of residents were displaced in the 1960s in order to build a highway on-ramp. The reclamation of this land by Pao represents a powerful call for community oriented development in the face of rapid change. The work, which celebrates the contributions of activists and non-profit leaders, will make a collective statement for the preservation of community as neighborhoods across the country inhabited for generations face displacement through gentrification. 

Supported in part by Pao Arts Center, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project and Expeditions Tour Planning Grant, ArtsEmerson and Generous Individuals. San Francisco performances supported in part by California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, and San Francisco Grants for the Arts

About the Company

For the last 13 years Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) has been pushing the envelope of intimate and large-scale multimedia dance performance that connects various styles of movement/dance, film, text, research and music to culture, history, and human rights issues. LLD creates works that are both set in public and private spaces, inspired by individual stories as well as community strength. At times crafted for the proscenium, or underwater, or in the air, and at times the pieces are site-responsive, immersive and interactive. Its work has grown to encompass the creation, presentation and screening of films, museum and gallery installations, civic engagement, and educational programming. 

LLD is directed by San Francisco native Lenora Lee, who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 23. She has been an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum, a Djerassi Resident Artist, a Visiting Scholar at New York University, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission, a 2019 United States Artists Fellow, and is currently an Artist in Residence at Pao Arts Center and ArtsEmerson.

Lenora Lee Dance creates multimedia and immersive dance performances connecting various styles of movement, music, and film to culture, history and human rights issues. www.LenoraLeeDance.com

dancers in photo: Johnny Nguyen, I.J. Chan, Naoko Brown, Flora Hyoin Kim 

August 8, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

SF’s Chinatown Block Party Aims to Bring Community Together

Performance of “And the Community Will Rise” excerpts 

as part of the “Ping Yuen-Peaceful Garden Summer Block Party”

July 20, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM), Pao Arts Center & Lenora Lee Dance present “MEDITATIONS ON THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

Video still Meditations on the Power of Community, dancer Naoko Brown at Shen Wei: Painting in Motion Exhibition (Hostetter Gallery), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, December 3, 2020 – June 20, 2021, courtesy Weiying Olivia Huang.

ISGM, Pao Arts Center & Lenora Lee Dance present 

Meditations on the Power of Community

In response to the  Shen Wei: Painting in Motion  exhibition,  Pao Arts Center  2021 Artist in Residence  Lenora Lee Dance  presents a new commissioned work,  illuminating stories of the Chinatown community against the backdrop of Wei’s large-scale, immersive paintings. Interviews and contemporary dance choreographed by Lee in collaboration with Lenora Lee Dance and Boston-based dancers, provide a meditation on the experiences of Boston’s Chinatown community.  Filmed  by local filmmaker Weiying Olivia Huang. 

More information (Shen Wei | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) 

Language: English with Chinese Subtitles 

Age: All-ages

Screenings and panel discussions

Meditations on the Power of Community will also be screened in Projecting Connections: Chinese American Experiences, presented by ArtsEmerson and the Boston Asian American Film Festival from May 6- 10.

About the 5/11/21 Panelists 

Lenora Lee is a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of Lenora Lee Dance. She pushes the envelope of large-scale multimedia dance performance crafted for the proscenium, underwater, or in the air, and at times is site-responsive, immersive and interactive. Lenora’s work integrates contemporary dance, film, music, and research related to immigration, global conflict, and human rights.

photo by Hien Huynh

Paul W. Lee is a retired Partner of Goodwin Procter LLP.  Mr. Lee grew up in the Boston Chinatown and Brookline, Mass.  His Chinese immigrant parents worked in restaurants and garment factories.  After earning a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, he became a lawyer and was a partner at Goodwin Procter specializing in corporate law from 1984-2013. Mr. Lee serves on the boards of The Boston Foundation Board, Conservation Law Foundation, and WGBH, Chair of the Asian Community Fund, and Board President of the Asian Community Development Corporation, which has built over 600 units of housing in Boston Chinatown. In 2019 he received the Sojourner Award from the Chinese Historical Society of New England.

Cynthia Woo,  has been the Director of Pao Arts Center, at Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center since Jan 2017. She has fifteen years of experience in the non-profit arts, and arts education sector. She has worked at the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, LynnArts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Boston Center for the Arts.

 photo by Ashley Yung

Filmmaker Weiying Olivia Huang 

Weiying Olivia Huang (https://oliviahuang.yolasite.com) is an award winning documentary filmmaker. Her documentary ‘City as Canvas’ won the Best Human Interest Documentary at the World Premiere Film Awards in 2020. The film, funded by a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council, was also nominated for ‘Best New England Film’ at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival.

Moderator:

Susan Chinsen is a Creative Producer at ArtsEmerson. She established the annual Boston Asian American Film Festival in 2008, where she continues as the Festival Director. Previously, she managed the Chinese Historical Society of New England, and was an engagement consultant for the PBS documentary “The Chinese Exclusion Act,” building upon her community work and past experience working at WGBH. She is on the Board of Directors at South Cove Community Health Center, MASS Creative and a Steering Committee member of the API Arts Network. Susan is also an alumna of the American Chinese Art Society’s traditional dance troupe and Tufts University. 

Photo Credit: Sampan/Yiyan Zheng 鄭怡嫣

About the Partner:  

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It is originally the home of Isabella Stewart Gardner, whose will called for her art collection be permanently exhibited “for the education and enjoyment of the public forever”.

ISGM Community programs created in partnership with Pao Arts Center are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and Barr Foundation ArtsAmplified initiative. 

Education and community programs receive support from the Vertex Foundation, the Rowland Foundation, The Lubin Family Foundation, The Beker Foundation, Liberty Mutual Foundation, The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation, Thomas Anthony Pappas Charitable Foundation, and the Janet Burke Mann Foundation.

The Gardner Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Pao Arts Center was established in 2017 as a visionary program collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) and Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC). Located at 99 Albany Street in downtown Boston, Pao Arts Center is Chinatown’s first arts and cultural center.

Pao Arts Center represents the belief that investing in arts, culture, and creativity are vital to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and vibrant communities. Through its innovative approach, Pao Arts Center empowers creativity, connection, learning, and support.

@paoartscenter, #paoartscenter, www.paoartscenter.org

April 24, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

2021 Sacramento Dance Sampler – in Memory of Jory Horn

April 10, 16 & 18

This 10th Anniversary Season is dedicated to the memory of Jory Horn (1991-2019). Jory may have left too soon but his abundance of creativity and dedication to the art of dance continues to inspire us all. Fifty percent of the ticket price will help establish the Jory Horn Memorial Scholarship for aspiring dancers at Sacramento State.

The mission of the Sacramento Dance Sampler is to foster community growth by providing a platform to showcase the works of emerging and established professional dance artists and to expose audiences to the growing dance culture in our region. Founded by Lorelei Bayne in Sacramento in 2011, this annual event is modeled after New York City’s, Symphony Space Dance Sampler. The goal this year is to bring together acclaimed professional area dance companies for a virtual celebration of dance!

Sacramento Dance Sampler is scheduled to showcase April 10th, 16th and 18th (Showtimes TBD) as part of the Sacramento State, College of Arts and Letters, Festival of the Arts (FOTA) week-long celebration April 5th-11th, 2021.

One “ticket” purchased gives access for all 3 Dance Sampler programs, available to view through the end of April.

Purchase Dance Sampler virtual ticket here

Jory Horn Scholarship Fund

We, at Sacramento State University, would like to continue Jory’s joy of helping those in need.  With the Dance & Theatre Department at Sacramento State University, we would like to set up a one-time scholarship or an endowed scholarship for aspiring dancers. The endowed scholarship will provide funding on an annual basis.

$2,500 -> Minimum for Scholarship

$10,000 -> Minimum for Endowed Scholarship

Please click here to view the scholarship fund

April 11, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Our Statement as Lenora Lee Dance

photo by Robbie Sweeny

Dearest Friends, Colleagues, Community, and Beyond,

We, at Lenora Lee Dance, believe that hate, racism, discrimination, injustice, silence, and apathy have no place in society. We, as artists, activists, community builders, creatives, and forward thinkers, are part of the tapestry of the over 21 million Asian Americans who live here in the United States.

With a history dating back some 200 years, Asians / Asian Americans have played an integral part of building the United States of America, through agriculture, farming, fishing, manufacturing, working on the front lines of the health field in hospitals and nursing homes, and as business owners, scholars, educators, artists, community leaders, lawyers, entrepreneurs, etc.

We, as many other underrepresented communities, have felt the brunt of injustice and discrimination consistently from the beginning, particularly with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act with other racist policies enacted around the same time, in hopes to prevent the immigration, naturalization, and inclusion of Asians in America.

Our contributions and experiences have been minimized and omitted from the American history books. The model minority has been used to invisibilize the struggles of our communities, while also undermining the fight for justice in other communities of color. At the same time, we are treated as perpetual foreigners and in times of crisis, time and time again, our communities have been conveniently used as scapegoats.

The levels of disregard Asian Americans have continually endured over the decades, has come back again into public attention, because of the racist and xenophobic rhetoric running rampant during this COVID-19 pandemic and fueling the rise in hate crimes of harassment, violence, and murder against our communities.

We stand united in voice, community, solidarity, and action with our sisters, brothers, and siblings, fighting in support of justice, equal rights, and safety for ALL Asian Americans. We will not be silent while our mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, neighbors, and community members across the country are under attack. And we will say the names of those who were killed in Atlanta, all of their names:

Daoyou Feng

Hyun Jung Grant

Suncha Kim 

Paul Andre Michels

Soon Chung Park

Xiaojie Tan

Yong Ae Yue

Delaina Ashley Yaun

We, as a nation of all people must move forward embracing our country’s diversity, knowing there is broader power and vision to collaborate across communities to support one another in healing from our traumas and that our fight for justice is not mutually exclusive to justice for other communities, but part of the whole.

Let’s celebrate our partnerships, and work together with the experiences of our many communities and generations.

March 25, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

dual upcoming events with artistic director Lenora Lee!

Women’s History Panel – Shawl Anderson program

eventbrite link: here

_________________________________________________________________________

KSW  “We Won’t Move: A Living Archive” Podcast 

KSW  “We Won’t Move: A Living Archive” Podcast Update

Lenora Lee podcast with Kearny Street Workshop set to be released on April 13!

For website TBD click here

About the Podcast:

“We Won’t Move: A Living Archive” is a new podcast series by Kazumi Chin, Dara Del Rosario, and Michelle Lin about APA artists of the past, present, and future, whose stories shape the movements and dreams of San Francisco. Each episode is guided by research and oral histories, featuring intimate conversations with local artists about their art, activism, and the issues that motivate their work. 

“We Won’t Move” was once the rallying cry of an intergenerational group of protestors fighting to protect the elders of the International Hotel, the first home of Kearny Street Workshop. With this in the podcast title, we commit ourselves to uplifting stories of radical Asian American art history, organizing, and dreaming. “We Won’t Move: A Living Archive” is a project of both remembering our roots and building toward a liberatory future.

Where do we remain firmly rooted in across generations, in our spaces, histories, and hearts? What will we refuse to move from?

March 20, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Pao Arts Center & Lenora Lee Dance present “MEDITATIONS ON THE POWER OF COMMUNITY”

Video still Meditations on the Power of Community, dancer Naoko Brown at Shen Wei: Painting in Motion Exhibition (Hostetter Gallery), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, December 3, 2020 – June 20, 2021, courtesy Weiying Olivia Huang.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM), Pao Arts Center & Lenora Lee Dance present “MEDITATIONS ON THE POWER OF COMMUNITY”

Meditations on the Power of Community will also be screened in Projecting Connections: Chinese American Experiences, presented by ArtsEmerson and the Boston Asian American Film Festival. 

Weiying Olivia Huang is an award winning documentary filmmaker. Her documentary ‘City as Canvas’ won the Best Human Interest Documentary at the World Premiere Film Awards in 2020. The film, funded by a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council, was also nominated for ‘Best New England Film’ at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival.

Education and community programs receive support from the Vertex Foundation, Rowland Foundation, the Liberty Mutual Foundation, and Janet Burke Mann Foundation. 

The Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council

Pao Arts Center was established in 2017 as a visionary program collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) and Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC). Located at 99 Albany Street in downtown Boston, Pao Arts Center is Chinatown’s first arts and cultural center. 

Pao Arts Center mission is to celebrate and strengthen the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community of Chinatown and Greater Boston through access to culturally relevant art, education, and creative programs. Pao Arts Center functions in service of BCNC’s and BHCC’s goals to support the social well-being, economic success, and education of their constituents.

Pao Arts Center represents the belief that investing in arts, culture, and creativity are vital to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and vibrant communities. Through its innovative approach, Pao Arts Center empowers creativity, connection, learning, and support.

.

Video still Meditations on the Power of Community, dancer I.J. Brown at Shen Wei: Painting in Motion Exhibition (Hostetter Gallery), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, December 3, 2020 – June 20, 2021, courtesy Weiying Olivia Huang.

Behind the scenes interviews during the creative on the process.

SHEN WEI

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION TOUR AND EVENTSVideo still Meditations on the Power of Community, dancer Flora Hyoin Kim at Shen Wei: Painting in Motion Exhibition (Hostetter Gallery), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, December 3, 2020 – June 20, 2021, courtesy Weiying Olivia Huang.

March 7, 2021 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Words of Gratitude

Chloe Luo & Johnny Nguyen photo by KateFim

Dear Community, Friends, 

• Letting go of our 945 ArtSpace, a Chinatown storefront space under the auspices of Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), which was a project of Asian Improv aRts SF in collaboration with Lenora Lee Dance (LLD), API Cultural Center, and CCDC. 
• All five of LLD’s 2020 projects were postponed due to the catastrophic effects of the pandemic on our artists, collaborators, and organization. We postponed large group rehearsals due to city regulations and health risks facing our 11 dancers. 
• The pandemic hit LLD artists and administrators extremely hard, with the loss of some or all performing art, arts education, and non-art related jobs. We feel the devastating effects: loss of work, uncertainty about artistic livelihoods and health, being forced to reinvent ways to survive, and moving multiple times or away from the Bay Area temporarily. Much of LLD’s grant income is project-related, earmarked for when the projects start up again.

Hien Huynh & Johnny Nguyen photo by KateFim

Going forward into our 13th Season

Gama Hsu photo by Robbie Sweeny

Your support is critical during this time of survival 

                                                                                            

                                                                  Artistic Director      Marketing & Outreach     Project Consultant

Derek Harris & Lynn Huang photo by Hoa Huynh

November 17, 2020 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

In Community

Asian Improv aRts and Asian Improv Arts Midwest

 

James Newton and Jon Jang in South Africa

Tatsu Aoki and Fred Anderson

 Jon Jang,  Avotcja Jiltonilro, Francis Wong, Myron Cohen, Sascha Jacobsen, Sandy Poindexter. Photo by Bob Hsiang

June 3, 2020 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

Words of Gratitude from our Artists. Dancing Remotely

“I have lost 75% of my income because of this pandemic.  My work as an artist is to make visible the invisible, to dance thoughts and images into fruition, to be a time machine, a medium, a mover of emotions, a gardener of energies, a storyteller and a light.  I hope to continue to shine my light on important issues through dance. Now more than ever the world needs us.” 

“It’s been two weeks of sheltering in place, and all in-person rehearsals, teaching gigs, events, and shows have been cancelled. Though there is much to be concerned about and I miss seeing my friends and family and I am worried about their well being-from a personal perspective, I have much to be grateful for. And I am grateful for Lenora Lee Dance, who keeps all collaborators connected and continues to find creative work opportunities to support us financially, emotionally, and artistically.” 

“My whole sense of who I am as an artist, creator and collaborator has frozen mid-air. All of my artistic projects for 2020 have been postponed or cancelled-which has deeply challenged me to put my creativity towards imagining how I can still have an artistic practice in my home and in physical isolation. While most of my work as an administrator supporting other artists remains stable, I see my friends and peers completely at a loss – scrambling to adapt and learn how to make a living in this unprecedented time.”

“What COVID is teaching me is about the pivot as a choreography of resilience. I lost the majority of my income for the next four months, potentially further, a total of about $3000-4000 lost in a flash as if flood. This money directly would have covered rent, utilities, and food, simply put. However, my creative spirit has found some solace in dialogue, virtual collaboration and home videos. This is where the resilience lives, where seeds are planted again as spring returns.” 

March 30, 2020 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

CALL FOR BOSTON DANCERS – 2020 – 2021!

CALL FOR BOSTON DANCERS – 2020 – 2021!

Lenora Lee Dance (LLD), based in San Francisco, is seeking Boston based Asian/Asian American modern / contemporary dancers for “Convergent Waves” a series of 3 site-specific, immersive, multimedia performances in Boston at the Pao Arts Center, April 23 – 25, 2021. 

LLD is looking for dancers with experience in choreography, improvisation, and collaboration. Rehearsals will begin in Boston April or May 2020, occurring one week per month almost every month, for approximately 20 hours each time. Below is a tentative draft of the schedule. All rehearsal and performance time is paid.

Those interested can email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com your cell phone number, a resume, your website, and up to four video links of dance pieces you have choreographed or are featured dancing in by Sunday, 3/8/20. Call (‪415) 913-8725‬ for more information.

www.LenoraLeeDance.com

Potential Rehearsal & Performance Dates:

– 4/23 – 4/29/20 or 5/18 – 5/24/20

– 6/22 – 7/1/20 for a week

– 10/15 – 10/25 (with performance excerpts at Arts Emerson 10/24 or 10/25)

– 11/30 – 12/5/20 (with performances excerpts at Gardner Museum 12/3/20)

– one week per month January and February, dates TBD

– 3/26 – 4/2/21 (with performance excerpts at Gardner Museum 4/1/21)

– 4/16 – 4/25/21 (tech & 3 shows)

Background

“Convergent Waves” is a site-responsive, immersive, multimedia experience premiering at Pao Arts Center (Pao) in Boston April 23 – 25, 2021, with potential touring May 2021-November 2022. LLD will transform Pao into an immersive site where the audience follows performers on an interactive journey, that will feature 6 dancers, multimedia design, recorded original music, research, and voiceover interviews with activists and residents. 

Audience are reoriented for a unique perspective that merges memory, contemporary reality, and social commentary. Walking through the building will be like walking through the interior of someone’s body with the idea of memory housed in the architectural blueprint of the building. 

Pao sits on a historically significant piece of land, Parcel 24, where hundreds of residents were displaced in the 1960s in order to build a highway on-ramp. The reclamation of this land by Pao represents a powerful call for community oriented development in the face of rapid change. The work, which celebrates the contributions of activists and non-profit leaders, will make a collective statement for the preservation of community as neighborhoods across the country inhabited for generations face displacement through gentrification. 

Supported in part by Pao Arts Center, Isabella Sewart Gardner Museum, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts Expeditions Tour Planning Grant, Arts Emerson, and Generous Individuals

About the Company

For the last 13 years Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) has been pushing the envelope of intimate and large-scale multimedia dance performance that connects various styles of movement/dance, film, text, research and music to culture, history, and human rights issues. LLD creates works that are both set in public and private spaces, inspired by individual stories as well as community strength. At times crafted for the proscenium, or underwater, or in the air, and at times the pieces are site-responsive immersive and interactive. Its work has grown to encompass the creation, presentation and screening of films, museum and gallery installations, civic engagement, and educational programming. LLD is directed by San Francisco native Lenora Lee, who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 22. She has been an Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum, a Djerassi Resident Artist, a Visiting Scholar at New York University, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission, and a 2019 United States Artists Fellow.

Photo: Lynn Huang by Robbie Sweeny

February 19, 2020 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

INAUGURAL CONCERT: Vijay Iyer with Hafez Modirzadeh – 1/23/20

Asian Improv aRts, Lenora Lee Dance, and API Cultural Center are pleased to present:

Vijay Iyer (piano) with Hafez Modirzadeh (saxophone)

Thursday, January 23, 2020
7:30 pm – 8:45 pm
At 945 ArtSpace

945 Clay St., San Francisco, CA 94108
Tickets: https://vijay-iyer-with-hafez-modirzadeh.eventbrite.com

$25 adv./ $35 at the door

Doors open at 7pm. VERY LIMITED SEATING

If driving, the Portsmouth Square Parking Garage is recommended, with entrance on Kearny at Clay http://www.sfpsg.com/index.html
Contact: Lenora@asianimprov.org

This is the INAUGURAL CONCERT for 945 ArtSpace, a project of Asian Improv aRts, Lenora Lee Dance, API Cultural Center, and the Chinatown Community Development Center. The purpose of 945 ArtSpace is to provide a dedicated venue for artists and cultural activists to work in the intimate setting of a community-based storefront.

Composer-pianist VIJAY IYER has carved out a unique path as an influential, prolific, shape-shifting presence in modern music. He was described by the New York Times as a “social conscience, multi-media collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinking, and multicultural gateway.” A winner of multiple awards including a 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, he holds a lifetime appointment as the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts at Harvard University. Visit: https://vijay-iyer.com/about/

Composer-saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh is active in the realms of performing, teaching, recording, publishing, and presenting cross-cultural perspectives regarding musical culture, tradition, and innovation. He has been instrumental in the ImprovisAsians annual festival held at San Francisco State University for the past 15 years. He is a Professor of Music and advisor for Jazz and Creative/World Music Studies at San Francisco State University. visit: https://music.sfsu.edu/ethnomusicology

Both Vijay and Hafez are valued contributors to Asian Improv’s work and legacy over the decades. 945 ArtSpace is extremely proud to present these extraordinary artists and community members as part of our first season here at 945 ArtSpace.

Top photo: Vijay Iyer, by Monica Jane Frisell

Bottom photo: Hafez Modirzadeh

January 10, 2020 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

CALL FOR “Through Fire & Water” PARTICIPANTS

“Through Fire & Water” is a series of performance events featuring 24 artists and arts groups on 6/13 at Joe Goode Anex. This series of events is in dedication to Jory Horn (April 21, 1991 – November 19, 2019), a profound dance artist and choreographer. Jory combined Cambodian culture and dance with contemporary dance as a means of advocacy to address challenges and celebrations of the Cambodian-American community. His guidance and mentorship of the Cambodian art form is a true testament of the strength and resilience of his people and survived through living dance masters Chayra Burt, Chey Chankethya, and Prumsodun Ok.

*** update of event for safety and wellness ***

Hi everyone, wishing you all much love, health, safety, and clarity. As we remember our beloved Jory with his recent 4/21 birthday, we wanted to reach out to share our plans for this 6/13 event in dedication to him. We are planning to postpone the event until public gathering restrictions are lifted, it is safe for groups to rehearse/prepare their pieces, and precautions for artists and audience members can be established in accordance with health and safety standards. Unfortunately we are not able to determine a date at this time but will make an announcement when it becomes clearer. Thank you for your care and involvement.

Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) is seeking participants of all artistic disciplines to submit proposals for 5-8 minute performance works, writings, or visual / media art dedicated to Jory Horn. 24 artists and arts groups will be split up into 2 programs set to take place 6/13, at the Joe Goode Anex. There may be an artist fee / honorarium available for participation, however we cannot guarantee it at this time.

The following 20 artists and arts groups from the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, and Stockton will support or perform dance, music, text and poetry, with four additional ones to join. Artists will be split into 2 programs, each with receptions to follow.

– 5pm – Opening Greeting
– 5:30pm – Program A + reception
– 7:30pm – Program B + reception

Lauren Bedal
Christine Cali / CALI & CO dance
Zackary Forcum
Miguel Forbes / Ogún Ayé Project
Rhummanee Hang
Meegan Hertensteiner
Hien Huynh
Lenora Lee / Lenora Lee Dance
Lynn Huang
Megan Lowe / Megan Lowe Dances
Alyssa Mitchel
Morodok Khmer Performing Arts
Johnny Nguyen
Alleluia Panis
Monica Sok
Riley Taylor
Janine Trinidad
Alyssandra Wu / Alyssandra Katherine Dance
Alan Yip
Jamie Nakama
Kristen Rulifson
Windy Kahana

Please email the following by Monday, 1/20/20 to LenoraLeeDance2@gmail.com and LenoraLeeDanceManager@gmail.com

• your name / group name
• your phone number
• city you / your group are based in
• name and description of the piece
• genre (dance, music, poetry, visual or media art, etc)
• length of piece (between 5-8 minutes)
• your availability for 6/13
• a short biography
• 2-3 performance photos, with photo credits (doesn’t have to be related to the proposed piece)
• sample videos of your artistic works, (proposed work preferred, but not required)
• your website

“Forgiveness stems from something greater and is related to a greater ancestral memory and feeling. Before we are ever born, it is in us. A destiny and a pattern, but there are lots of things that fall under our own immediate control, the fact that I have freedom and the choices to be able to just choose is a privilege.” – Jory Horn

There is a need for people to act in the face of loss, and celebrate the meaning of the work. For LLD, the loss of Jory brings more meaning to our work in general, with the bonds we share in solidarity and collective community, with heightened awareness we can hold to care for one another.

Please also consider donating towards a new scholarship in dedication of Jory Horn alumni that supports aspiring dancers at Sacramento State University.
https://fundly.com/scholarship-in-memory-of-jory-horn?fbclid=IwAR2zXeap-ex5RUaL9ZJzr0IXBSvD7WBiGmQ7WIEz5X1SB4U7Q9EQTMbQSl0

Photo Credits:
Photo 2 Jory Horn by Robbie Sweeny
Photo 3 Jory Horn by Tony Nguyen

January 10, 2020 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »

JOB POSTING: LLD PROJECT CONSULTANT

***Thank you for your interest! Position has been filled. We are in gratitude. Please stay tuned for future inquiry and openings later this 2020!***

LENORA LEE DANCE
JOB: PROJECT CONSULTANT

Reports to: Artistic Director
Location: San Francisco/Bay Area
Position type: Independent Contractor
Compensation: $22-24/hr depending on experience
Start Date: Immediately

ABOUT LENORA LEE DANCE (LLD)

For the last 12 years Lenora Lee Dance has been pushing the envelope of intimate and large-scale multimedia dance performance that connects various styles of movement/dance, film, text, research and music to culture, history, and human rights issues. At times crafted for the proscenium, or underwater, or in the air, and at times the pieces are site-responsive immersive and interactive. Our work has grown to encompass the creation, presentation, and screening of films, museum and gallery installations, civic engagement and educational programming.

POSITION SUMMARY

Entering its 13th anniversary season, LLD, an award winning company, is looking for a part-time administrative staff person to join its team, as LLD is gaining regional and national attention for its cutting edge, socially conscious immersive performance making. Hours needed fluctuate depending on the production schedule. Flexibility and communication are key components to keeping all staff, collaborators, vendors, and performers on the same page and moving forward.

We are looking for support with:

– Project coordination of home season performances, presentations featuring local and guest artists, touring
– Coordinate weekly administrative meetings which includes producing an agenda, taking notes, and inviting the necessary participants
– Coordinate and organize cloud-based files and databases
– Maintain internal calendar by setting up reminders and invites to events including grant deadlines, production schedule, weekly meetings, and touring
– Communicate through email and phone with performers, technical crew, and the public
– Recruit, communicate, and coordinate volunteers for performances and events
– Assist with organizing and running fundraising and community events
– Coordinate and follow up with communication between the company and its vendors, presenters, and venues
– Assist in long term planning for future projects related to LLD and its community partners
– Be able to work remotely through video and telephone conferencing

The following skills are a plus but not required:

– Grant writing and fundraising experience
– Organizing documents, photos and videos for archival purposes

We typically work remotely with one weekly in-person work session in San Francisco.

Please email a resume and cover letter explaining your interest in the position and LLD, including names and contact information for two or more references (name, phone number, email, name of the organization) to LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com, subject line: Project Consultant.

For more info or questions, call (415) 570-8615.

www.LenoraLeeDance.com

Megan Lowe & Johnny Nguyen, photo by Robbie Sweeny

December 24, 2019 | Categories: Community Events, Latest Updates | Leave A Comment »