PART ONE
What is your best group agreement?
KIM: Yayoi you and I spoke about this soft power over our video call a few weeks back—I really loved hearing that so much. I felt very comforted in knowing that you could see it in ABG and the ways in which we try to guide each other in a horizontally integrated collective. I agree with what has been said above about how we are trying to evolve what “soft power” can look like. There is strength in being adaptive and flexible but there is abso- lute power in recognising when it no longer serves you and the group; we try to treat and hear each other with softness, and recognise that this soft power is to hold an understanding for each other in our respective lives and capacities as part of ABG.
KIM: This group is important to me because it identifies a group of Asian Artists at various points in their careers who want to nurture/support artists like me. Conversely there is a lot to learn from each other as the challenges that younger generations of artists face are similar and some of the challenges are very different--one being that the econ- omy around art-making in the 90s is very different than the last 5 years in the Bay Area. AADA is an organisation that can affirm Asian American artists and support them in their pursuit of creation or supporting longevity in our careers. In the past, the momentum in my work is driven by a residency or my putting aside finances to produce work. I would like to see how our Asian Artist community can grow through affirmative spaces/support systems. MELISSA: I distinctly remember this small moment a few of us shared in a rehearsal process for Clarissa Ko’s ‘ five feet dance ’ — we all had a collective realization that NONE of us had never been in a creative process with 100% Asian Diaspora collaborators. I return to this sim- ple moment (that turned into hours of followup discus-
unending sensitivity for one another. I show up for the womxn in my family who came before me—my grand- mother who worked in the fields researching Malaria, my mother who taught me her kind of strength, and to show up for myself and understand that familial sacrifices made for me don’t direct the story of my life. AIANO: I want to show up in fullness, which to me means everyone being able to show up where they’re at. I’ve been struggling with depression and appreciate that I’m able to show up in whatever my fullness is that day. The other day, that was in bed with the blankets up to my nose. But space was still held for me and I was able to participate in that state. I want this space to be one not of perfection or professionalism, but one of authenticity and fullness at whatever state we’re in. Hearing ABG articulate their process and project makes my heart full and I am inspired to keep thinking about the legacy and future of Asian American dancers and choreog- raphers from the Bay. Next, I’ll be interviewing Claudine Naganuma about Asian American Dance Performances and how we can disrupt funding structures so we see more culturally specific groups get funding, and why re-granting doesn’t work. I’ll also be speaking with Melecio Estrella on developing an Asian American Dancers’ Affinity Group with ABG. As a third culture kid, assimilation was crucial to Yayoi Kambara’s survival. The instinct to fit in kept her quiet for many years - perhaps she started dancing to talk less. During college, a co nversation made Kambara evaluate whether she would want to be the token Asian dancer or dance with a predominantly Asian company. The reality of this was reflected in her career, where she first worked Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians and STEAMROLLER Dance Company later moving to ODC/Dance. Kambara began choreo- graphing in 2015 centering a Japanese American/POC audience creating dance experiences that cultivate a sense of belonging. Last year, she led a Community Engagement Residency for the Bridge Project, Aesthetic Shift, an exchange between dance educators, social justice activists, and choreographers to interrogate the overlap between equity values, creative practices, and organization. Kambara was in the 4th Cohort of APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals) Lead- ership Fellows Program and is a member of the collective Dancing Around Race with Gerald Casel, David Herrera, Bhumi Patel, and Raissa Simpson . Her current project IKKAI means once: a transplanted pilgrimage is commissioned by the Japanese American Citizens League of San Jose and awarded a Hewlett50 award from the William and Flora Hewlett Founda- tion. She is currently exploring ideas fo r IKKAI XR - an interactive Virtual Reality performance.
ROSE: “I am responsible for myself, my reactions, my own needs”“show up however you need, however feels best.”“crying is okay!” MELISSA: “There is no perfect moment to share. If your heart is beating fast, take it as a sign: you have something important to say that someone else needs to hear.” KIM: Our group agreement: come as you are with the parts of yourself that you are ready and/or want to share with the group. This is a space where you can ask ques- tions, make mistakes, and not worry about failing or being wrong. There is a space here for you to be held. Our group agreement is a living agreement.
Can I join Asian Babe Gang? Is it exclusive?
MALIA: We’re still figuring out this question I think but fundamentally ABG is not exclusive. There’s a clear need from the community to have spaces to be seen and heard in our Asianness and all the intersections therein and so that’s the space we aim to create and offer to who-
How do you want to show up for each other?
ROSE: With ferocious tenderness. with love. listening to our own and each others’ capacities. Asking for what we need, want, and dream of. Deep, active listening and patience. Maintaining check-ins and communication through ups, downs and inbetweens. encouraging and supporting each others’ imaginations. holding each other after a hard day or a sweaty dance class. Listening to our ancestors and those who have come before. MELISSA: I see this image of us all wrapping and eat- ing dumplings together. Nourishing each other, using our hands, in motion together, with enough abundance to spare and share with others. As a chosen family, with constant invitations to each bring our unique gifts into our work together. With joy, lightness, and deep trust. MALIA: With the capacity to really see each other in each new moment and with trust that it’s reciprocal. With lots of laughter! With the knowledge that Kim and I are probably going to start singing a 2000’s pop song. Defi- nitely with dumplings and luxurious love, and our ances- tors’ support. NINA: I love what Rose said earlier about how most of us met in a body-first way. I think that dynamic has set the tone/foundation for ABG. We listen to more than words or deliberately shared information. I really believe that we can feel each other - energetically, spiritually, and through our ancestors.
“ THERE IS NO PERFECT MOMENT TO SHARE. IF YOUR HEART IS BEATING FAST, TAKE IT AS A SIGN: YOU HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY THAT SOMEONE NEEDS TO HEAR. ” —Melissa
ever needs it (while specifically centering the experiences of queer people, femmes, women, nonbinary and trans folks, and dancers/artists). When we were deciding on our name, it was exciting to include ‘babe’ in it because then we claim babe-ness along with Asianness. So I kind of feel like if you are Asian and self identify as a babe then you’re in ABG. And that being said, it’s also important to have this container between the six of us where we’re actively deepening our relationships to our lineages and each other, because what we learn through that commitment is ultimately what we have to offer the community at large. ROSE: So far, we work from a place of attending to what is needed among the six of us and then turning focus towards our larger community. Currently, we are building our collective foundation, deepening our trust and clarify- ing our visions and dreams. We are also still in the middle of the pandemic, which has caused us to slow down and reevaluate how we can show up and how we want to be showing up for each other.
sion) often because it reminds me how important it is to build support and capacity from an internal, affinity place (i.e. with other Asian Americans)—in order to step up in coalition with others, as Malia is saying. NINA: I think you know the answer to this question the moment you’re in any affinity group/space (whether it’s by race, sexuality, gender identity, parenting status, what- ever it is. In this case, it is queer Asian femme dance art- ists). Echoing Melissa’s memory of being brought together and sharing space and process for the first time in five feet dance, the absence of feeling othered in a contemporary dance space was very striking. By removing just that one layer of whiteness, there’s a sense of release and permis- sion to let go (of performing, accommodating, proving that I belong, assimilating). And then, once you see what that’s like, you can’t unsee it and you realize how import- ant it is to nourish your self, identity, lineage, and connec- tion to ancestors. And then building and feeding into a larger AADA community feels like a natural extension, so we may see/be seen, heal, process, interrogate, challenge, build, share resources/history, and surface our connective tissue that exists within this specific slice of identity.
Why is an AADA (Asian American Dance Affinity) group important to you?
KIM: I would like to show up with space for others to take if they need, an offering—joke, story, laughter, and
A note of caution, if you Google Asian Babe Gang please spell it correctly. Search results may vary from this topic.
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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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