PART ONE
MALIA: wowwww kim, I so appreciate this reference. It makes me realize that I grew up idolizing Melody Lacayanga-- the season 1 runner up of So You Think You Can Dance. That must have been the first time I saw an Asian, let alone Filipinx, person occupying any explicitly “American” dance space, or probably any dance space at all. I also have a memory of going to see a Shen Wei per- formance when i was in high school. It’s funny because someone i looked up to as a young dancer from the local dance community had joined the company at that point (a white person) and looking back, i was excited by this aesthetic that was distinctively not western, yet there were mostly/only white (and tall, lithe) people onstage. So i was like, “where do i fit into this…?” AIANO: I also grew up with very little Asian-American representation in dance and the representation I did have was usually within the context of an Asian dancer fitting into the white, eurocentric aesthetic of a tall, thin, cis-het, dainty feminine dancer. Moving to the bay was also my first time seeing Asian-American dancers who were addressing issues directly related to their experience as dancers, not ignoring it. However, I was always craving to see more of myself, as a queer, big bodied, non-binary person, represented. I am still craving that, which is why I’m so grateful ABG is making space for that.
I’ve noticed that Asian Babe Gang harnesses their soft power in the videos and IG posts. What are you interested in exploring? Do you also define this as soft power? Or is it something entirely different? MALIA: I love that. I definitely identify with soft power, per- sonally. I’m not sure that’s what I call it in my brain though, because I find softness inherently powerful even though it might seem like an oxymoron. there’s definitely a tenderness with which we approach this work and each other. ROSE: Agreed! There is a tenderness in the way we approach each other and any work we do. At the heart of ABG, we are all dancers with personal creative practices. For most of us, the entry point into being in relationship with each other was through movement - a rehearsal or dance class. We met each other as bodies before anything else. I’m curious in exploring how this body-first connec- tion impacts how we build strategy towards collective liberation and dismantling white supremacy. It feels like a powerful entry point and place to build foundation from.
ences. Instead of being a space to support each other and process our identities, I feel it actually reinforced some hierarchical, ableist values of beauty while trying to ‘preserve’ Chinese culture (which isn’t inherently a bad thing). I made some of my closest friendships there and learned a lot of Chinese technique, but I don’t think I got any closer to understanding myself in that space. Younger me longed to be accepted, but I was always struggling with my sense of belonging (as a biracial white and Chinese person often read as white). NINA: Somehow, my Chinese parents ended up in southwest Florida, where I was often the only Asian person anywhere I went. That led to a lot of internalized racism, resentment and shame towards my heritage, and a very strong desire to be white. (I distinctly remember wanting to look like Shirley Temple and role play the Pink Power Ranger, refusing to play the Yellow Ranger.) I remember my friends growing up “complimenting” me saying that they sometimes for- got that I was Asian (because I was so good at “playing
“I’M CURIOUS IN EXPLORING HOW THIS BODY–FIRST CONNECTION IMPACTS HOWWE BUILD STRATEGY TOWARDS COLLECTIVE LIBERATION AND DISMANTLING WHITE SUPREMACY.”— Rose
MELISSA: Yes, tenderness as an approach. And it goes so far beyond the ‘femme’ association of softness, I think. We also collectively have a mixture of martial arts train- ing, carpentry, outdoor wilderness skills, etc… and are curious about what it means to embody strength, direct- ness and power in addition to softness. Maybe it’s an ability to be flexible, fluid, and adaptable to a multitude of modes and ‘powers.’ NINA: I appreciate the naming and attribution of soft power to ABG because as Malia and Rose mentioned, it is how we tend to each other as friends and collabora- tors. I also second Melissa’s idea that we’re also trying to explore, practice, re-mix, and re-define power. I think it’s especially important work as Asian femmes where we’ve historically been seen as and expected to be soft. And while we’ve been able to claim power through soft- ness (which is a potent and radical way to be), are we also allowed to access power through more “hard” means? (or whatever soft power is opposite to; and without furthering any harmful oppression) More broadly, I like grappling with how we can continue to bring nuance and complex- ity to ideas of power.
Where did you grow up and were you involved in a cultural/arts/athletics/program?
whiteness”). Being enrolled in dance studios starting at the age of 8 and onward, I took on more white goals in my dancing (ballet, pointe, lyrical, jazz, and a season of clogging LOL) where the messages of whiteness, gender performance/roles, and body politics were only reinforced. So all the dance that I’ve pursued as an adult has come with an underlying imposter syndrome of wondering if this dance is really for me , and if I belong in that space. This is all to say that it’s been my work in adulthood to undo all that internalized white- supremacy and learn how to honor, build connection, and fall in love with being Chinese, while also challenging and undoing the oppres- sive parts of that identity (anti-Blackness, body-shaming, misogyny, homophobia, etc.). AIANO: I grew up in Portland, OR and attended Japanese Immersion school from 3rd – 8th grade. I had access to learning Japanese language and parts of Japanese history. However, while I was part of this program, I always viewed Japanese culture as “other” because the rest of my life was in white, American culture. I saw my “Asianness” as a point of shame and difference until I was in my third year of college and began to learn about systemic racism.
KIM: I grew up in Wellington, New Zealand and eventu- ally moved to Cupertino, California where I wanted to play AYSO Soccer with all the other kids, but my mum was restrictive about the activities I participated in. She wanted me to participate in more “feminine forms” of activity warning me that soccer would make my legs too muscular. So with lots of negotiating, I was finally able to take a dance class once a week and join the cross country team in Middle School. Jokes on my mum because my legs still got muscular! By high school, I moved to Honolulu, Hawai’i, and naturally as an angsty teenager, participated in theatre in High School and in Chinatown (the arts district) doing long form improv theatre and Hawai’i Shakespeare Festival. Hawai’i is unique in that Asians are the majority, so I saw represen- tation all around me in the arts. MELISSA: I grew up in Massachusetts performing with a traditional Chinese Dance group, but that space didn’t ever acknowledge the wholeness of our individual experi-
grand and something out of my reach. Then in my teens, I recall watching “The Jabbawockeez” perform and win the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV which greatly changed my perception of Asian American Dance work—realising that the dance work Asians per- formed wasn’t limited to traditional Asian dance forms. It wasn’t until college that I could tell you the names of major Asian American Dance Companies: Lenora Lee Dance here in San Francisco and Shen Wei Dance Com- pany in New York.
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
u n i f y s t r e n g t h e n amp l i f y u n i f y s t r e n g t h e n a p l i f y
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