Joanna Chan, Artistic Director
Business office:
22 Howard Street, Suite 3B
New York, NY 10013
Phone: 914-941-7575
Fax: 914-923-0733
joannawychan@juno.com

Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America was founded in 1992 to produce works for and by Asian artists. Since then, it has become New York's most significant entry point for dramatic works from Chinese-speaking countries and a place of collaboration for artists from various parts of Asia.

UPCOMING EVENTS | YANGTZE IN THE NEWS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America presents
"BUBBLES: Variations In A Foreign Land #11"
and accompanying exhibition, 18th Exhibit of Asian Artists

Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America presents
"BUBBLES: Variations In A Foreign Land #11"
New dance works by three Korean choreographers:
Eun Jung Choi, Eun Hee Lee and Jung Woong Kim

WHERE AND WHEN:
Three performances only: Sept. 17 at 8:00 pm, Sept. 18 at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm
Flushing Town Hall 137-35 Northern Blvd. Flushing, New York
Presented by Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America
TRANSIT DIRECTIONS: from Manhattan take 7 train to Main St.-Flushing (last Stop)
TICKETS $15/tdf; 10% discount for groups of 10 or more.
Ticket info and reservations: www.yangtze-rep-theatre.org. Audience members may also reserve tickets by calling 347-759-2937 or writing office@yangtze-rep-theatre.org.

The Program:
 
"Mothers," choreographed by Eunhee Lee questions and looks at multiple perspectives on the women's role as "Mothers" and the representation of the mother figure.  Collaborating with her own daughter, the work reflects her life experiences as her own mother, her daughter and herself as mother.  

"All My Socks Have Holes," created by Eun Jung Choi, is a short disjointed narrative dance that offers a glimpse into the memories of two people who have spent their formative majority of years in their different homelands.  The parts of the story gets fragmented and deformed through revealing "memory collapse", holes in remembering past events.  The piece unravels, starting with the holes found on the female's socks with and the myth in her homeland that possessing long second toe signifies that mother lives longer than father.  "All My Socks Have Holes" will be accompanied by the music of Alban Bailly and video projection of Oscar J. Molina.

In "My Son and a Smile," choreographer Jung Woong Kim invites the audience to imagine the world inside the mind of expecting parents. His choreography explores the passage of time during these ten months episode. This dance theater work is inspired by movements from inside the womb to out in the ocean. Dancers bring out their own experience to explore repetition, stillness, and complex contact work between their bodies and their environment. It will be accompanied by the sound of live bass of composer and musician Joshua Morris.

About the Choreographers

A native of Korea, Eun Jung Choi grew up learning Korean traditional dance before she moved to the US in 1991.  Since graduating from the North Carolina School of the Arts, her choreography has been seen at various places, including Danspace Project's City/Dans, Global Exchange, Mexico Now Festival, Danceworks (Milwaukee), Daegue International Festival (Korea), Sexto Encuentro de Nueva Danza (Mexico City), and nEW Festival (Philadelphia).  Since 2008, she has co-directed Da·Da·Dance Project, a dada-inspired, duet repertory company, performing at numerous festivals in New York, Philadelphia, and Mexico.  In 2010, she was commissioned to set a new work, "Entre Manos ,"on a dance company, tumàka't-danza contemporánea in Merida, Mexico.  Apart from her career in dance, Eun Jung is an interdisciplinary video/interactive installation artist, and graphic designer. Since receiving her Master's Degree from New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program in 2003, her works have been presented at various theaters, galleries and commercial venues/parties in both Mexico and the United States.  http://www.dadadanceproject.org and http://www.mutednarrative.com
 
Eunhee Lee is a choreographer, dancer and teacher. She taught at Universities in Seoul before she moved to the states in 2006. As a choreographer, Lee was invited to present her work in Japan and Germany in addition to her presentation at the Aoyama Theater, Japan in '06. In '03, she was chosen by Korean dance critics to be granted to present her work at one of the most prestigious theater in Seoul, Korea. Also, she was chosen as the Chorographer of Seoul International Dance Festival in '02. Since moving to New York City Lee as a dancer, she has performed with Lori Belilove, Bernier Dance, and Artichoke Dance Company. Her work has been seen at Bergen Community College, DUMBO Festival, Wave Rising Series (collaborative work with Dean Moss), '08 Dixon Place under Exposed, '09 Movement Research at the Judson church, Dance Conversation @ The Flea, Movement Research Open Performance. In 2010 her work has been presented at Newsteps Choreographers Series at HT Chen, La MaMa Moves and '10 June NY International and Dixon Place.
 
Jung Woong Kim is a Korean dance artist. From a young age he trained in different kinds of martial arts. He graduated from the Korea National University of the Arts with a BA mayor in choreography.  As a dancer, he was a member of the Korea, Japan, China Dance Exchange Project 2002, with whom he toured in Asia. In Seoul he performed extensively with award winning Trust Dance Company. Following his interest in improvisation, he had the opportunity to work and perform with other international artists such as Kurt Koegel, Michel Kelemenis in Lyon, Nam Jung Ho in Hawaii, Kathy Duck (Magpie) in Amsterdam and Elaine Summers and Merian Soto in New York. He taught improvisation at Gong Guk University,at KNUA for acting students, Trust Dance Company and Park Avenue Armory.

Jung Woong's choreographic work has been supported by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and the Arts Council Korea. During 2006 he formed U Turn Dance Company with Marion Ramirez; they made work for site specific, film and the stage. Their full length piece, 'SAI,' was commissioned by The Nation Theater of Korea, Pusan International Performing Arts Festival and Seoul International Marginal Theater Festival. Other pieces were presented at Democracy Park Theater in Korea, Miami Contemporary Dance Company, Ithaca's Love Shoe Festival 2008, Movement Research Open Performance at DTW and at Judson Church and New Dance Alliance's Performance Mix 2009 at Joyce Soho. He recently collaborated with Fred Hatt in the dance film "November."

About the Variations in a Foreign Land series:

Although Yangtze Rep, under the artistic direction of Joanna Chan, is more prolific in producing plays, it is also firmly committed to its dance program, which makes the organization well-rounded and offers an opportunity to present non language-based works to its polyglot (multi-Asian and American) audience. Yantgtze's second production after its founding was a dance work presented at Pace Downtown Theater, "4 Makes 5," featuring the work of four choreographers, one Chinese (Yung Yung Tsui) and three non-Asian choreographers (who were associates of the Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey Dance Companies). This concert set a high standard for succeeding work and was extremely successful. It led to the presentation of another work of similar format, "Among Us" (1996), with all Asian choreographers. Realizing it had an affinity for these group works, Yangtze coined the title "Variations in a Foreign Land" in 1997 and began a series of dance productions in that name. Over the years, the "Variations in a Foreign Land" series has presented a succession of well-received dance concerts featuring both new and established artists from Japan, Korea, China, The Philippines, the U.S., Guatemala, India and Hong Kong. There is a chronological production history online at: www.yangtze-rep-theatre.org/whoweare.htm.

Accompanying exhibition:
18th Exhibit of Asian Artists
Oil paintings by Chin-Ta Lin
and photography by Po Chun Chu
Sept. 17 and 18

PO CHUN CHU was born in China and moved to New York at the age of 12. From a young age, Po has developed an interest in drawing and painting. In his school days, his works were often compared to those of his teachers by fellow classmates. Like many youngsters of his generation, Po pursued a post-secondary education at the university level. While he was attending college, he had developed a strong interest in photography . He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from St. John’s University in May 2000. After working several years in a pharmacy, Po decided to finally fully express himself creatively and concentrate more of his efforts on his art work. He scaled back on his formal occupation of being a pharmacist working just part time while taking photography classes at night to pursue his creative career.

Fueled by the new environment of artistry and creativity that his new education domain provides, Po’s passion for photography grew and his skill flourished. He worked with many dance companies as a photographer to build his portfolio. These include the Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, David Shen Dance Group, East-West School of Dance and others. Beside working for dance companies, he also enjoys being a landscape, portrait, and wedding photographer.

Po's career enjoyed a promising albeit modest start, he won a photography contest for M-weekly
in 2010. His work was the cover page for the publication in February.

CHIN-TA LIN, a native Taiwanese, graduated from FuXing Arts Academy in 1986, and received his masters degree in fine arts from Fontbonne University in Missouri in the U.S. in 1998. His works began to appear in solo exhibitions in 1993, and have since been in over ten solo exhibits in various parts of Taiwan and the U.S. Between 1989 and 2008, he also took part in scores of group exhibitions in Japan and Taiwan, where he had won various regional and national awards. His works have been collected by art galleries, colleges and regional ministries of cultures. At present, he is an assistant professor at NanKai Technical Institute and a lecturer at the NanTao Community College, besides serving on various Artists Guilds and organization.

YANGTZE IN THE NEWS:

NY TIMES ARTICLE on Joanna Chan's production of "Oedipus Rex" at Sing-Sing prison, Ossining, NY

NY TIMES REVIEW of "Luna," an evening of dance, choreographed by Max Luna III (September 22-23, 2006)

NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW of our production of "Teahouse," performed in NYC by Beijing People's Art Theatre (November 27-December 1, 2005)

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NEW YORK TIMES
Read the article on NYTimes.com

November 16, 2006
Editorial Observer

Oedipus Max: Four Nights of Anguish and Applause in Sing Sing
By LAWRENCE DOWNES
OSSINING, N.Y.

To enter a maximum-security prison to see inmates put on a Greek tragedy, in this case Oedipus Rex, at Sing Sing is to descend into an echo chamber of ironies. An ancient story of murder and banishment brought to life by banished murderers. Imaginary horrors summoned in solid flesh by men whose own stories are horrifying and real.

It’s a lot to ponder as you hand over wallet, keys, watch and train schedule at the prison entrance. As for your illusions and misperceptions about inmates and prison life, those you surrender inside.

I went to Sing Sing with the play’s director, Sister Joanna Chan of the Maryknoll order, whose headquarters is not far from the Hudson River bluffs on which Sing Sing has hunkered since the 1820s. Sister Joanna, who is petite, Chinese and in her 60s, had been working with the inmates since June, and Friday’s performance was the last in a four-night run. The cast and crew, serving time for murder, rape, robbery, assault and other crimes, called her Grandma.

We walked through long, low corridors to the auditorium, called the Chapel, with a high ceiling of exposed steel beams and the grimy yellow light of bare bulbs. Nuns and other visitors from town nibbled cheese cubes and drank coffee from paper cups. A few mingled with inmates, easy to pick out not by their air of menace but by their green pants.

There were jitters in the room, not in the audience but in the cast and crew, the bustling nerves of any amateur production. Previous nights had gone well, I was told. The play had even won over B-block, a brutal crowd. Tonight’s show was for guests, and the final chance to shine.

I met the assistant director, an inmate with a white skullcap and deep-set eyes who went by his Muslim name, Bilal. He told me how faith helped him to face his guilt in murder, and how theater polished the tarnished gem inside. Like other inmates I met, he had the taut intensity of someone gripping his beliefs tightly, so as not to let them get away.

Sing Sing, the former home of Old Sparky, is not widely known as a progressive place. But its theater program is a rarity in New York prisons. It relies on a nonprofit group, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, and the savvy benevolence of Sing Sing’s superintendent, Brian Fischer, who considers its virtues self-evident.

The inmates chose Oedipus Rex because they had done more than a dozen productions, including Jitney, by August Wilson, and wanted something really difficult. Sister Joanna persuaded them to choose Sophocles over Shakespeare, since it was more accessible and would fit in the maximum allowed two hours.

She took me backstage before the curtain rose. The cast and crew held hands in a circle and prayed for a good show. Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife and mother, was an actress from New York City and the cast’s only non-inmate. She told everyone how proud she was. Oedipus, with tongue-in-cheek pomposity, demanded silence and offered encouragement. Please, let’s kill them all," he said. We all knew what he meant.

Then everyone came in close to lay hands on Bilal’s head and to give the program shout: R.T.A.!

The room went dark, gloomy music rumbled, and the lights came up on the temple pillars and plague-wracked citizens of Thebes, who wore bedsheet togas over T-shirts and green pants. Oedipus entered, his raised arms N.F.L.-thick, his dreadlocks wrapped in regal gold ribbons. The cast was almost all black or Hispanic, except for the Priest, a lanky bearded Shepherd and a dark-haired fireplug of a Messenger No. 1.

This production went to Greece by way of the five boroughs, as the ancients were summoned to be asked important questions about a foretold murder. But the men hit their marks precisely, and moved and spoke with elegance and conviction. If they were haunted by the play’s resonance in their lives, they didn’t show it. They seemed like people trying to produce art, and in so doing to somehow assert an identity better than the one of murderer, rapist, robber, that had overwhelmed all others.

As I watched, I wondered what it would be like to be defined by my own worst sins. It struck me that when people are locked up for horrible crimes, a lot of goodness and beauty necessarily get locked up too. It also seemed that the Theban society onstage, though afflicted by plague, vengeance and divine cruelty, was probably gentler and saner than the one the inmates knew. Its members clearly cared for one another, and were not numb to grief.

When Oedipus made his final entrance, blinded and lurching, from stage left, the Chorus trembled, and shock and sorrow rose on cue in the hushed auditorium, just as it has for the last 2,500 years.

Sister Joanna told me later that chorus members had been reluctant in rehearsal to touch one another, though they eventually got past it. Oedipus, a man of conspicuous self-control, had particular trouble losing it for his final breakdown, when he collapses into the arms of Creon, his uncle and brother-in-law. He didn’t pull it off until Monday’s dress rehearsal. On Friday, Sister Joanna thought she saw real tears.

After the curtain fell and the cheers and applause finally died, the crew joined the cast onstage, with officers quickly posted on the left and right steps. The inmates crowded the footlights, straining for the hands of audience members who filed slowly past to say thank you, great job, wonderful show. Clearing the room of visitors in small escorted groups took nearly an hour. The inmates never stopped chattering and hugging, their faces shining with relief, and with the yearning to savor every moment before the spell was broken and they were taken to their cells.

NEW YORK TIMES
Read the article on NYTimes.com

Dance Review | Luna
Inspired by the Miracle and the Vagaries of Love

By JENNIFER DUNNING
Published: September 25, 2006

Max Luna III took his audience on a winding ride on Friday night in choreography presented by the Yangtze Repertory Theater of America at the Schimmel Center at Pace University. The evening opened with two dances so blandly generic — though one, “Cold Song," featured a powerful performance by Jason Jordan — that you wondered not where the real Mr. Luna was hiding, but if he indeed existed.

Performers in an evening of dance choreographed by Max Luna III, a former Alvin Ailey dancer. Photo by Ruby Washington/The New York Times

Mr. Luna, a former Alvin Ailey dancer, emerged in two pieces that made it plain that he had something of his own to say and the skill to say it. He works in a modern-dance idiom colored by the traditional dancing of his native Philippines, represented in “Tinig Ng Lupa," the evening’s closing dance.

“The Hurt We Embrace," to music by Jan Kaczmarek, was a traditional wrecked-relationship duet, but the vagaries of love were observed and communicated with extra shrewdness in choreography performed with affecting intensity by Joseph Watson II and Roberta Sorrenti. Everything came together in Mr. Luna’s new “Mga Awit (A Love Cycle for Voice, Cello & Piano)," danced to music full of dramatic incident, composed by Michael Dadap and performed live by Sal Malaki (tenor), Marc Tagle (cello) and Cynthia Guerrero DeLeon (piano).

Mr. Luna’s program notes describe the piece as “dedicated to my partner, Alan, who has shown me that the miracle of love renews and grows through the cycles of life." The suite brims with cycles of growth and renewals, particularly in two group segments that stand out for their unexpected thrusts and patterns. Mr. Luna knows how to move his dancers and juxtapose them and his onstage musicians. The bright opening solo by Matt Anctil and a lush duet for Mr. Jordan and Mica Bernas are as authoritative, and feel as personal. Good dancers all, so why no program biographies?

NEW YORK TIMES
Review of our presentation of:

LAO SHE'S "TEAHOUSE" BY BEIJING PEOPLE'S ART THEATRE
China's most prestigious theater company in its New York debut.
November 27 to December 1, 2005
Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University
3 Spruce Street, New York City

Read the article on NYTimes.com

Photo by Beijing People's Art Theatre. (Not from published review.)

Steeped in 50 Years of China's Subjugation

By WILBORN HAMPTON, NEW YORK TIMES
Published: December 1, 2005

There is nothing in Western culture that quite corresponds with the traditional teahouse in China. The corner pub or Old West saloon come to mind, but as the captivating and beautifully acted production of Lao She's "Teahouse" by the Beijing People's Art Theater makes clear, there is no place that offers as broad a panorama of its society.

First performed in 1958, "Teahouse" has been a favorite work of one of China's favorite writers, before and after the Cultural Revolution. The current revival, which is performed in Mandarin with English supertitles and sponsored in New York by the Yangtze Repertory Theater, is playing a limited run that ends tonight at Pace Downtown Theater, 3 Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan.

Photo by Nan Melville for the New York Times

The play covers 50 years of Chinese history, and a unifying theme that runs through it is the subjugation, often willing, of China to foreign interests and powers through the first half of the 20th century. Spending an evening at the Yutai teahouse with the Beijing Theater helps explain the excesses of Maoism.

All of the action takes place in the teahouse, owned by Wang Lifa. The cross section of its customers range from pimps, gangsters and opium addicts to rich idlers who bring songbirds in their cages for entertainment, government spies, secret policemen and rebels. Tea is not the only commodity sold there.

The first act takes place in 1898, on the eve of the Boxer Uprising, as the Qing dynasty is in its death throes and although the Yutai denizens still wear their hair in pigtails, British influence is paramount. Poverty in the countryside is rampant, and peasants go to the teahouse to sell their children to wealthy mandarins.

The second act jumps forward 20 years to the time just after the death of Yuan Shih-kai, the successor to Sun Yat-sen as head of the Chinese republic. Warlords, each backed by a foreign power, have split China apart and the country is in a state of perpetual civil war. Wang has tried to keep his teahouse intact by taking in students as boarders and adding entertainment by way of a gramophone. Many of his old customers still appear, but in vastly altered circumstances.

The final act takes place in 1948. The Japanese occupiers have left, but the Kuomintang, also under foreign influence, has again turned the tables on the teahouse's customers, many of them bynow the sons and daughters of those in Act I and some of whom want to tear down the teahouse and replace it with shops full of foreign goods.

If at one level "Teahouse" seems like a primer on pre-Communist Chinese history, it is Lao She's development of his characters over two generations that makes it exciting theater. A stellar cast of about 30 give a brilliant master class in ensemble acting, led by Liang Guanhua as Wang, Pu Cunxin as Master Chang and Yang Lixin as Master Qin. This is the first visit to New York by the Beijing People's Art Theater, and I hope it returns again soon.

Photo by Beijing People's Art Theatre (Not from published review.)

Yangtze Rep was the subject of one of the the very first podcasts for theater! Tune in to hear a conversation among the creative staff on two previous productions of our 2004-2005 season. No special equipment is required--you will download a .mp3 file that will play through your computer. This audio track may also be saved for later listening in Ipod devices. When you have listened to this pilot project, would you please email your thoughts to the podcast's production team?

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