To Whom It May Concern
Program Notes
~ Gallery ~
Alt/ers
CREATORS: Aminata Diop aka puma*, Madison Tanguay, Ava Brock & Promise Ogunleye
"Alt/ers" is dance and music about the spaces of solitude and ritual that allow us to come into our identities and connect with our bodies.
CALL TO ACTION:
It needs to be made aware that some bodies are not awarded the right to stillness, but may need it the most.
(H)ours
CREATOR: Avielle Conn Sherman
"H(ours)" is a montage of digital clips as well as different types of dance movement. It explores the crossing of intersectional feminism and environmental justice, and the different stages this carries: from defeated and angry to hopeful and empowered.
CALL TO ACTION:
As a community, we need to care for the environment.
Famous Asian Socialite Paints On Bag
creator: Bernice Wang
As someone who is not a famous Asian socialite, dedicating my life to art is fraught with financial considerations. I remember reading about Heart Evangelista who paints on her dozens of Hermes bags, that then resell for thousands. Thus, "Famous Asian Socialite Paints On Bag" expresses the socioeconomic disparity in the art industry, performing or visual.
CALL TO ACTION:
Consider and reflect on the accessibility of and privilege behind the art you consume.
Social Distancing
CREATOR: Blaze Bautista
My work touches on social issues affecting human experiences. "Social Distancing" is about the increase in depression and anxiety among youth, brought on by feelings of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CALL TO ACTION:
Reduce stigma around mental health by educating yourself and others around you.
Love Letters to You and Me
CREATOR: Chang Zhou
COLLABORATOR: Pilar Shen-Berro
This piece is an exploration of gender inspired by photos taken by my friend Pilar Shen-Berro. I hope for the audience to continuously find intricacies in my paintings and see that there is more than what meets the eye.
CALL TO ACTION:
Express your identity. Audience members can add on to the artwork with the extra canvases and paint markers laid out for them.
Deeper Than Ink
CREATOR: Cristina Williams
I am a student, artist, and canvas. As I continue to tattoo people, the permanence of tattooing history is highlighted and brought into new spaces. This piece is about the privileges of art making and art sharing, specifically its disparity throughout time.
CALL TO ACTION:
Open space for conversations about gentrification, capitalism, and violence in relation to tattooed people and tattoo artists.
The Eyes That Surround Them
CREATOR: Nina Morasky
I began thinking about all the ways that the performance of femininity weaves itself into the lives of women due to the gaze of society. The intricacies of this experience are not often acknowledged, but in this piece I aim to empower those who feel as though they have been harmed by the eyes that surround them.
CALL TO ACTION:
Viewers of this piece are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences as well as contribute to efforts that uplift women's voices in the media.
See You Tomorrow
CREATOR: Sophia Lin
This piece is about the subtle emotions and intimate relations between two girls. Despite the feelings and details displayed in the film by my dancers, I hope that you can relate it with your own experience in life.
CALL TO ACTION:
Cherish everyone around you and all those you meet in your life, especially the ones you love.
~ Performance ~
First Act
Bryonn Bain
Bryonn Bain is a prison activist, actor, hip hop theater innovator, and spoken word poetry champion. His theater, film, and television work are critically acclaimed. After being wrongfully imprisoned in his second year at Harvard Law, Bain sued the NYPD and has since shared his story through hip hop theater, spoken word poetry, blues, and other art forms.
Bain’s production with the Lyrics on Lockdown Tour reached 25 states and spawned higher education courses to build literacy in prisons nationwide. Bain founded and currently directs the Prison Education Program at UCLA, where he has developed and taught arts and justice-based courses and programs in Los Angeles prisons. He teaches on the faculty of African American Studies in the School of the Arts' department of World Arts & Cultures/Dance, and the Law School.
It Gets Better
CREATOR: Christopher Aguirre
"It Gets Better" is one of many journeys an LGBTQIA+ individual goes through when learning to accept and acknowledge oneself. Enter the mind of endless thoughts and the fear that comes with self-acceptance. The purpose is to instill hope, empower individuals who have gone or are going through similar experiences, and celebrate who we were born to be. It gets better!
CALL TO ACTION:
Educating the public and the community about LGBTQIA+ issues and advancing pro-equality policy and litigation.
Strawberry Fields
CREATOR: Marimar Lopez Tovar
This piece is about all the farmworkers who are still underpaid or taken advantage of due to their citizenship status. My family members worked in the fields before going to school or finding better jobs. This piece celebrates their hard work and that of the thousands of people who bring food to our table.
CALL TO ACTION:
Farmers' rights affect us, as we eat what they grow for us so help fight for better laws that protect them.
The Gap Between
CREATOR: Lilah Haye
"The Gap Between" focuses on the concept of intersectionality, how social categorizations overlap to create additional levels of disempowerment. Specifically, women of color often fall in the gap between race issues and women's issues.
CALL TO ACTION:
Enter the world with a new perspective on not only the experiences of women of color, but also on any person that experiences additional levels of disempowerment due to intersectionality.
She is Her, Her is Me
CREATOR: Monique Berber
"She is Her, Her is Me" is about Black and Brown women seeking community, healing, nurturing, and solutions for generational trauma. The piece showcases a battle that is both internal and external, highlighting how often times not only are we as Black and Brown women fighting against society's expectations and stereotypes, but also fighting within our own communities. That even at times we are at battle with ourselves.
CALL TO ACTION:
Question how you view Black and Brown women, as we are more than just strong, angry, and victims. We are healers, divine, nurtures, lovers, and human.
Behind Closed Doors
CREATOR: Rian James Alcid
This piece depicts an Asian American family of a mother and her 3 children, and dissects the life they live behind closed doors. The purpose of this piece is to exhibit the reality of the relationships between each character, since they often go unnoticed and unspoken about.
CALL TO ACTION:
Learn more about the cultural and traditional values of Asians/Asian Americans to better understand the mental health stigma against Asian American individuals.
Second Act
Echoes Amplified
CREATORS: Travis Lim and Leo Flores
Our piece challenges the presence of authentic Hip Hop dance on a predominantly western and minority-excluding theater stage. Hip Hop as an art form was created out of the need for expression amongst the Black and Brown community. We now challenge this space, as a minority speaking out through Hip Hop to show that our culture is more than a trend.
CALL TO ACTION:
De-stigmatize Hip Hop and prevent its exploitation in existing systems of oppression.
W(Hole)
CREATOR: Diana Toledo
This piece attempts to explore the many faces of mental health and the ways that we can continue to support one another through the constantly evolving world of the inner city. This pandemic has brought with it so many social justice movements that have continued to evoke all sorts of experiences on the spectrum of mental health.
CALL TO ACTION:
Check in with your own mental health, and know you are not alone and it is okay to feel what you are feeling, to pause and take a breath.
Goodbye, Pupeteer
CREATOR: Audrey Lee
My piece dissects the ideals of women to be fragile and docile, being prodded to perfection through individual and collective experiences when thinking of what it means to be a woman. I urge the audience to ponder upon their views of what women “should” be and how that portrayal and resistance is explored in my choreography.
CALL TO ACTION:
Advocate for education for young girls and women.
Go Here, Stay There
CREATOR: Gurmukhi Bevli
This piece aims to explore migration as a movement quality in an attempt to understand its patterns of operation, transformation, and evolution.
CALL TO ACTION:
Begin independent research on the sociopolitical impact of global migration trends.
Am I Woman Enough?
CREATOR: Juliette Martinez
I aimed to create a work that showcases the evolution of a woman's acceptance of identity. This piece is a direct challenge to the patriarchy and the oppressive male gaze. Typically, by showcasing styles that have a lack of women representation, we are further reclaiming our place in these art forms and creating an opportunity to reclaim our identities through the exploration of gender expression through movement.
CALL TO ACTION: How can we change habits that exist because of the patriarchy and reframe them with equality in mind?
Next Stop
CREATORS: Carlos (Cayu) Mayorga Jr., Mary Polhemus
We are using public transportation, specifically the bus, as a vessel to explore the varying social, economic, and cultural inequalities seen in cities across the U.S. Our piece "Next Stop" seeks to improve representation for mislabeled communities and uplift the voices, stories, and histories that are often muted and obscured.
CALL TO ACTION:
Research and advocate for public transportation systems that are safe, affordable, reliable, and accessible to all.