Portraits of the Moon
This dancework weaves contemporary dance form, text, and sound to explore and celebrate the moon's rich symbolism in Chinese heritage and celebrate Asian immigrant stories.
Oct 18-19, 2024
Portraits of the Moon
as a part of Take Root at Green Space
When: 8:00pm, Fri-Sat, Oct 18-19, 2024
Location: Green Space 37-24 24th St Suites 211 (2nd Fl),
Long Island City, NY 11101
CREATIVE TEAM
Artistic Director & Choreographer & Producer
Jiemin Yang
Jiemin is a Chinese-American choreographer and performer based in Queens. He holds a MA in Contemporary Dance from the London Contemporary Dance School and a BS from Macaulay Honors College. Jiemin's work has been recognized with the Redtail Artist Residencies ’23 at Jamaica Center for the Arts & Learning and multiple grants from the Queens Council on the Arts. His short dance film Wo/我 has won awards from the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon ’22 and the Queens World Film Festival ’22. Jiemin was honored as Artist of Exceptional Merit ’22 by the Asian American Arts Alliance and has been a resident artist of the CUNY Dance Initiative at Queens College/Kupferberg Center for the Arts from 2021-2022. He has received Artists in Queens Grant 2024 from Flushing Town Hall and Queens Arts Funds ’24 from NYFA4.
Dancer/Performer
Tsubasa Nishioka
Born in Japan, He is trained in ballet, modern and contemporary. In 2017 he was accepted to The Ailey School and got a scholarship in 2018. He performed at “Ailey Spirit Gala” with Alvin Aileyʼs “Battlefield” at Lincoln Center. He has also worked with Fumihito Shimizu, Omar Roman de Jesus, Darshan Bhuller and Marcus Jarrell Wills. He is currently a member of i KADA Contemporary Dance Company, HT Chen Dance and Valerie Green Dance Entropy. He has won awards including 1st place in the Chiba Select Young Dancerʼs Performance, 3rd place in the Saitama Dance Competition, 3rd place in the Dance Competition in Sendai, and 2nd place in the NBA National Ballet Competition.
Dancer/Performer
Mayu
Mayu Yamashita (she/her) is a dancer/performer based in New York and originally from Tokyo, Japan. She graduated IISP of Steps on Broadway (NY) and has gained experiences at the Beacon Theater, the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, and overseas. Also, she has worked and performed for numerous choreographers, especially Richard Pierlon, Max Stone, Al Blackstone, Abraham Lulu, Angel Kaba, and Jiemin Yang. Based on experience as a Japanese martial artist/taiko performer at COBU Inc., Mayu has expanded her activities.
Dancer/Performer
Maya Lam
Maya Lam is an Asian-American dancer, choreographer, and interdisciplinary artist. She is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, where she earned a BFA in Dance with a concentration in Ballet, a BA in Business with a concentration in Media & Arts Management, and a minor in Biology. At Marymount, Maya performed works by Sidra Bell, Jessica Lang, Jenn Freeman, Michael Waldrop, Yin Yue, and Nancy Lushington. Maya has also created and shared works through Marymount's Dancers at Work Performance Series and Marymount's screenPLAY. Maya is interested in investigative processes that challenge societal ideals and power structures. She strives to comment on these concepts with a multifaceted approach.
Dancer/Performer
Richard Sayama
Originally from Honolulu, Hawai’i, Richard Sayama graduated early from Marymount Manhattan College with a double major in B.F.A Modern Dance and B.A Business Arts & Management. Upon graduation, Sayama joined Jon Lehrer Dance Company where he has toured domestically and internationally over 5 years. Sayama recently performed with the Limón Dance Company as a guest artist at New York City Center's 2023 Fall for Dance Festival.
Dancer/Performer
Kathy Chen
Born in Beijing, China, Kathy is a New York based dancer and choreographer. At NYU and post graduation, she worked with student organizations to choreograph and performed at Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, PlayStation Theater, and Irving Plaza. She also has a passion for dance education. Currently, she is a lead teacher and staff at Dance to Unite, a nonprofit organization that utilizes dance as a vehicle to teach cultural diversity and social emotional learning at New York public schools.
Actress/Dancer/Performer
Carl Ponce Cubero
Carl Ponce Cubero (they/siya) is a Filipinx American movement artist/creative based in New York City. They studied at the University of California, Irvine earning a BFA in Dance Performance and had the blessing to perform under the direction of the late Donald McKayle. They have performed with Ailey II and as a guest artist with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. They have also danced works by Aszure Barton, Lar Lubovitch, Andrea Miller, Jessica Lang, Rena Butler, and Omar Román De Jesús.
Dancer/Performer
Chieh Hsiung
Chieh Hsiung is an NYC-based dancer, choreographer, and educator. Her work
showcases a diverse range of skills and training, collaborating with visual artists and musicians to create engaging experiences. Chieh has showcased her choreography extensively across NYC and achieved recognition, including winning the Breaking Glass Project 2015. She also served as the choreographer for the Netflix fantasy-comedy drama "The Magician on the Skywalk," which won at the 2022 Golden Bell Awards. Chieh graduated from the National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sports with a major in Modern Dance/Choreography and a minor in Ballet, Folk Dance, Ballroom Dance, and Street Dance.
IG: @chieh___19
Composer
James Acampora
James Acampora is primarily a cellist, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist, and composer for film. His music has been featured in multiple films and web series, including the Huntington film festival where his score for “Breathe” won first prize. James studied with multiple classical teachers and theorists while in school and also studied architecture and design at New York Institute of Technology. James uses his well rounded experience in the arts to understand his audience and move those who listen. James is inspired by music ranging from Bach to Japanese folk music, fusion Jazz, R&B and classic rock. James has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Voelker Orth Heritage Museum, The Triad NYC, The NYC Subway, Central Park, The Greene Room, The Tilles Center, countless catering halls throughout NYC and Long Island, and is a frequent busker in NYC. James is an active session musician, scoring and performing music for video games, rock bands, singer-songwriters, and much more. In his spare time he enjoys graphic design and coding on his computer, as well as painting and drawing at different beautiful locations in NYC and Long Island.
Composer
Yen-Nien Hsu
Yen-Nien Hsu is a versatile NYC-based musician involved in musical theater as a composer, orchestrator/arranger, guitarist, and mixing engineer. She has worked on productions in both New York and Taiwan, including the award-winning Three Lost Kids. As a guitarist, she played in Bloom, the musical at She NYC Arts, the Loud And With Feeling concert at Parkside Lounge, and several showcases and concerts. Current musical projects: Vincent, the new musical, "Things Will Be Okay!" The song from Vincent has been selected as a finalist in the 2024 Write Out Loud Contest and also selected for the Spark Festival in 2024.
Composer
Maulana Malik Ibrahim
Maulana Malik Ibrahim is the stage name of an artist from Sukabumi, West Java, who focuses on traditional Sundanese experimental music, although he graduated from the Informatics Engineering Department at Amik CBI Sukabumi and Stimik Pasim Sukabumi, his love for traditional Sundanese music has led him to become a music artist. Since 2021, Kang Iyansunda, his nickname, has released 2 music albums and 5 singles. In his first album "guling gasah", in the song "gumincrak", kang iyan successfully collaborated with 24 international dancers, released to coincide with world peace day, "world peace day", kang iyan gave a message that with music can unite all artists with different tribes, ethnicities, religions and nationalities. Until now, kang iyan has consistently brought traditional Sundanese values in every musical work, and has also collaborated with musicians and artists from various music genres, and musicians across countries. As the founder of a community called Sayang iwung, kang iyan dedicates himself to educating the younger generation to continue to preserve traditional sundanese bamboo music.
IG @iyansunda; Youtube
Composer
Da Xu
Da Xu is a multi-faceted artist and creative technologist. Sound Design credits: Salesman 之死 (Yangtze Rep), All the Stars We Cannot See (Smith & Gao, University of British Columbia), PERIOD. & "Pleased" (co-creator with Mandarin Wu, Pan Asian NuWorks 2023 & 2022), Memorial (Pan Asian), Brothers Paranormal (East West Players), Within X Minutes (Mandarin Wu, NYU Tisch). Live Visuals credits: Eye Eye Eye (Lydia Jialu Li, Mabou Mines), Xie Zi Long Photography Museum Opening (Changsha, China), Lululemon(Beijing, China), Alienware (ChinaJoy Expo, Shanghai, China). Da toured and collaborated extensively with the seminal Chinese Rock Band 舌头乐队 (SheTou), as photographer and live visual performer.
Guzheng / Chinese Zither
Wei Sun
Wei Sun (she/her), Guzheng Artist from China. Principal Guzheng player in Chinese music ensemble of New York. She was born in a musical family .Wei is also a certified senior teacher of Guzheng, a member of China National Instrumental Association and the International Guzheng Association. In 2016, She came to the United States as a guzheng performer and teacher at the CBA Cultural and Art Center.Since Mar. 2022, Wei has joined and played Guzheng in the Broadway Musical show 《Noble family 》She‘s been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln center, Jazz Center, united Nations.. Highly praised by professional music industry. @wei_guzheng
Voice Over
Shan Y. Chuang
Shan Y. Chuang, a talented queer artist from Taiwan, excels in acting, singing, dancing, and choreography. She proudly graduated from Circle in the Square’s Musical Theater program. Shan was awarded a City Artist Corps Grant and created “10 Years In The Making, 10 Years Of Me”. With over a decade of performances in NYC, Shan's work explores themes of LGBTQIA+ identity, social justice, and self-discovery through the language of dance. She has also collaborated with MOCA on several productions. IG @shanychuang
Voice Over
Timmy Ong
Timmy Ong (he/him) is a Malaysian actor, singer, musician, dancer, and theatre artist based in NYC. Timmy enjoys working on new material, and has originated leading roles in new works. Credits include: Lamont in Mr. Holland's Opus: A New Musical (world premiere), Procopio in The Sacrifice of Cassamba Becker (Off-Broadway), Steve Hadley in Project: Library, Harriet in Isabel, and Yuan Fan-Shen in Dress in Code. He also writes/creates theatrically, often under his writing partnership, The Green-Eyed Monster Project. Commissioned works include: Second Chances, Soul Food, and En Route to Flowww. MFA: The New School.
Costume Designer
Hao-Yun Emily Hsieh
Hao-Yun Emily Hsieh is a Taiwanese multi-disciplinary artist with BFAs in Art and Design from YUAN-ZE University, and Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Her recent works focus on the theater space exploring queer and Asian narratives. She has designed costumes for Little Cinema’s rendition of The Never Ending Story at House of Yes, and Tiananmen Requiem at The Players Theatre.
Special Thanks
Heartfelt thanks to all my collaborators for their incredible creative contributions.
A special acknowledgment to Kathy Chen for her generous dedication to this project
&
All individual supporters and
interviewees who participated and shared
their stories in the research process
&
Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li for the opportunity
to perform at Washington Square Park.
Valerie Green for the opportunity
to be part of Take Root at Green Space
This project is supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program (formerly the Decentralization program) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and administered by Flushing Town Hall. This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts. This work was created with the support of the Redtail Artist Residencies in association with the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning. This project is also supported by the Mertz Gilmore Late Stage Stipend facilitated by Green Space, and the generosity of individual donors.
Make a donation
We need your support to make dance! I want to compensate my collaborators fairly and continue to create more projects inspired by the culture and people of Asian American diaspora. All donations will go toward rehearsal space rental, artists fees, and production expenses. Please consider supporting my creation! No gift is too small. You may make donation via the below methods: