tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74532479210765880992024-03-13T12:32:40.505-04:00project agent orangeA record of a movement collective investigating the ways in which war is inherited in the body.Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-64700382658841138732012-06-08T22:35:00.001-04:002012-06-08T22:35:40.382-04:00An Open Letter to USAID<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Recommendations to USAID on their Comprehensive
Multi-year Plan for </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Agent Orange-related Activities in Vietnam</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">from</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Project Agent Orange</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">June
8, 2012</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Thank
you for this welcome chance to offer input to USAID as it moves ahead with developing
a comprehensive, multi-year plan for Agent Orange-related activities in
Vietnam. Addressing the legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam presents the
opportunity for us to resolve old tensions within our society and between the
governments of the U.S. and Vietnam. This “Comprehensive Plan” is an important
step forward in realizing our responsibility to the people and places in
Vietnam affected by Agent Orange.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">My
name is Natalia Duong, and I am an artist, scholar, and choreographer, based in
New York City. In 2007, while I was in Vietnam teaching English in Saigon and
Hanoi with the ACCESS Program, I had the opportunity to visit a Peace Village
outside of Hanoi. For the first time, I came face to face with individuals
directly affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, and though the dominant forms of
media representing the issue at the time would have shown otherwise, this was a
community of vibrant individuals each with vitality unmatched by many others I
have met in my lifetime. I had the great opportunity to sing songs and share
dances with this community, and learned, at that moment, of the profound
ability for shared art practices to transcend cultural differences and language
barriers. It was lovely to share laughter, hold hands, create, and heal together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">This experience motivated me to continue to explore the ability of
art to bring advocacy and awareness to the legacy of Agent Orange. In 2011, I
founded a movement collective, interested in investigating the legacy of war in
the body, titled Project Agent Orange. The group is interested in the ways in
which individuals inherit the remnants of war physically (as exemplified by
Agent Orange), but also psychologically, culturally, and socially. For the past
16 months, a group of 9 dancers and I have worked to create an evening length
performance representing some of the challenges currently facing people who
have been affected by Agent Orange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">On May 31, June 1, and June 2, 2012, we presented this
evening-length work at Dixon Place, a theater in downtown Manhattan to over 300
people over the course of three performances. Each night, art enthusiasts and
social activists alike came together to watch the performance, ask questions,
and brainstorm potential solutions for the future. The post-show discussions
were moderated by Charles Bailey of the Aspen Institute, Dick Hughes of Loose
Cannons Inc., Susan Hammond of the War Legacies Project, and Merle Ratner and
Ngo Thanh Nhàn of the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">As is evidenced by the large turnout of audience members at our
shows, and the pervasive requests for more information about the current
effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam and the United States, there is a critical
need for more advocacy and awareness for the issue, as well as financial support
for programs that are working towards alleviating the effects of the herbicide
both here in the U.S. and in Vietnam.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Project
Agent Orange supports the recommendations presented by Former Members of
Congress Pat Schroeder, Connie Morella, and Bob Edgar, and by the U.S.-Vietnam
Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/dioxin. We believe USAID’s “Comprehensive Plan”
should include the following:</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Clean up dioxin at all the remaining
hot spots. </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">We are pleased that the Vietnamese government is
already working with USAID and other agencies to develop plans for
cleaning up the two remaining major hot spots at Bien Hoa and Phu Cat.
We understand that the remaining 25 identified hot spots may be
cleaned up or isolated with less elaborate means. </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ol>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Upgrade
integrated social services for people with disabilities. </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">We visited
impressive programs, including those that are now part of the Public-Private
Partnership in Da Nang now underway with support from the Rockefeller
Foundation and Hyatt Hotels, among others. There are enormous
opportunities for US corporations and the US government to earn good will from
the Vietnamese people and government by expanding well-designed programs like
these.</span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Advance
disability rights. </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;"> We were impressed by the commitment and spirit shown
by members of Vietnam's nascent disability rights movement. These fine
people are carving out some space in a relatively restricted civil society.
Providing opportunities for them to participate in program design would
affirm their dignity and enlarge the space for democratic action in Vietnam.
There could be no more appropriate legacy to our response to the
tragic legacy of war-time herbicide use. </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Increase the
professional and managerial skills of local civil society groups.</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;"> We join the
US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin in recommending that USAID
focus its support on developing the capacity of local Vietnamese NGOs,
including those representing people with disabilities. </span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Encourage
new funding mechanisms, including additional public-private partnerships
</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">The needs of people with disabilities are a humanitarian challenge
of significant scale. New and creative funding sources may well be needed
to fully address the demand. The U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent
Orange/Dioxin estimates an <b>annual funding target of $82 million, of which
$65million would be expected to come from the U.S. government with the balance
of $ 17 million/ year coming from other bilateral and private for-profit and
not-for-profit sources. We encourage USAID to include a request for
significantly increased funding part of its budget request next year and for
years to come. </b></span><b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">The
“Comprehensive Plan” that you are developing is a welcome sign of progress. I
applaud USAID’s technical assistance in the difficult task of cleaning up
dioxin at the Da Nang “hot spot”. From visiting rehabilitation centers in
Vietnam, I have also witnessed the difficulties faced by children with
disabilities and their families, and commend the efforts made by USAID to
support programs that address their needs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Moreover, I will be traveling to Vietnam in August 2012 to produce
a Devised Theater performance with college students from the U.S. and Vietnam,
and with individuals with disabilities in communities affected by Agent Orange
in order to advance disability rights in local villages. My hope is that the
artistic form of the piece will catalyze and facilitate critical dialogue
surrounding the need for increased humanitarian support for individuals with
disabilities in a manner that would not otherwise be encouraged by direct
dialogue. As dance and song are integral to Vietnamese culture, I believe that
this will be a successful way to address a sensitive topic. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">I
believe that the above recommendations are important steps in the right
direction. But I also know that more remains to be done. In support of
USAID’s efforts, I will continue to encourage even greater public visibility of
the problems associated with Agent Orange and greater engagement by U.S.
businesses and sources of funding and engagement. This is a humanitarian
concern, as the Dialogue Group notes, that we can do something about. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Thank
you for your consideration. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Natalia Duong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Choreographer, Dancer, Artist Scholar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">Project Agent Orange<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">B.A. Psychology and Dance, Stanford University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">M.A. Candidate in Performance Studies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt;">New York University, Tisch School of the Arts</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-48614293548484770502012-04-30T18:41:00.001-04:002012-04-30T18:41:41.856-04:00Black April: 37 years and countingnho:<br />
to remember is to miss<br />
<br />
mat nuoc:<br />
to lose water is to lose a country<br />
to lose water is to lose a war<br />
to lose water is to lose a future, a family, a memory, an exhale.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="gmail_extra" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
Today marks the 37th anniversary since the declared end of the Vietnam War.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
Please take a second today to reflect on something for which you are grateful, something for which you are grieving, something for which you have hope, and something you wish to change.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail_extra" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
Thanks for being a part of Project Agent Orange with me. It is comforting for me to remember that despite the difficulty that arises throughout the process, we are undergoing an act of creation when so much of the rest of society chooses to destruct. The journey is long, and often filled with trials, but maybe someday our actions will speak louder.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-25693232282543444362012-04-21T10:19:00.000-04:002012-04-21T10:19:42.922-04:00Reflection on PAO and Home<br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>[Editors note: The following was contributed by a PAO dancer who chose to remain anonymous due to the personal nature of the writing. The was written in response to a prompt asking dancers to reflect on their personal journeys from home and in search of home.]</i></span></b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;"><span style="color: white;">what i feel when i think of the words journey, displacement, cleansing, and hope</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">a story, a life, a path.<br />frustration, aggravation, trapped, helpless.<br />clearing, washing, freeing, renewing.<br />faith, courage, relief.<br /><br /><b>what i feel in the PAO performance movement</b><br />moments of despair<br />helplessness<br />incapacity<br />inability<br />overwhelming sense of constriction</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">drama. why so dramatic?<br /><br />moments of faith<br />wisdom<br />compassion<br />light<br />relief<br /><br /><b>what war am i fighting in this piece?</b><br />sometimes with each other.<br />always with ourselves. our bodies, our minds.<br />sometimes with the earth.<br />sometimes with disease, a country, a storm.<br /><br /><b>what are we fighting for?</b><br />freedom.<br />peace.<br />understanding.<br /><br /><b>what am i embodying?</b><br />the fighter.<br />the victim.<br />the "winner" </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">the "loser"<br /><br /><b>what is my light at the end of the tunnel?</b><br />acceptance.<br />calmness.<br />peace.<br clear="all" /><br /><b>what i feel like when i see, discuss, hear about victims of war & agent orange</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">frustration</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">helplessness</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">despair</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">anger</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">disgust</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">heartbreak</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">pain</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">sorrow</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">hope</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">admiration</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">love</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">bewilderment</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">indescribable feelings</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">desire to help</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">desire to fight for them</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">desire to bring peace to them and peace to those who brought this disoriented life upon them</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">confusion</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">unable to relate</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">unable to fight this battle for them</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">unable to bring peace to either parties</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">failure</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">loving vibrations</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;"><b>personal story</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">I am about as unconfrontational as they come.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">So what does it mean for me to embody war, to embrace the journey of war and destruction and displacement in my body?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">A spirit guide recently told me that, in my past lives, I fought many wars. The final battle was possibly the battle of Antietam, if not something equally as gruesome, and I was a rebel from the south fighting for the north. Although we were victorious, at that time I declared that there would be <i>no more fighting</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">Yet in this life, said this spirit guide, I am incessantly searching for a <i>cause</i>. I am <i>passionate</i> about the cause. I am still searching for a battle.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">So here I am, advocate of peace, scared of war and fighting on all levels; here I am representing how war is carried through the body in this PAO movement.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">Funny how the world works.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">How do I cope with this? Maybe I find myself in denial, unable and too frightened to relate at times. Maybe I tune outward and channel the energy of the victims in my body without having to physically feel their pain myself.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">Or maybe it’s my time to confront war, to be horrified and disgusted and hopeful on a level I could never understand and to let it emanate through my body.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">It’s ironic because I avoid the battles, but I still fight them. I am fighting in the performance itself, I am fighting for the cause, I am fighting for what I want for my future.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 14px;">I am on a journey, sometimes I feel displaced, sometimes I am fighting and then cleansing; I am always hopeful. I suppose everyone embodies these qualities, and now it is my time to confront it for PAO.</span></span></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-23799865569566853042012-04-21T10:09:00.000-04:002012-04-21T10:09:29.707-04:00PAO in the World Journal<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">PAO was recently featured in the World Journal for our performance at newsteps' Choreographers Series at Chen Dance Center! Check out the article below!</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Original article can be read here:</span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://ny.worldjournal.com/view/full_story_ny/18221060/article-%E9%99%B3%E5%AD%B8%E5%90%8C%E3%80%8C%E6%96%B0%E8%88%9E%E6%AD%A5%E3%80%8D-%E6%96%B0%E7%94%9F%E4%BB%A3%E5%89%B5%E6%84%8F-%E8%A7%80%E7%9C%BE%E6%BF%80%E8%B3%9E?instance=nyevents"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969);">http://ny.worldjournal.</span></span><wbr></wbr><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969);">com/view/full_story_ny/</span></span><wbr></wbr><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969);">18221060/article-</span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;">陳學同「新舞步」-</span><wbr style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;"></wbr><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;">新生代創意-觀眾激賞?instance=nyevents</span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">English translation by Chenxing Han</span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.006376303732395172"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H.T. Chen “Newsteps” Exhibits a New Generation of Creativity to an Admiring Audience </span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reporter Wang Aixiang, New York report</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 12, 2012 7:36pm</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="400px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/98eEmdMjiaBJg5307rL1nXrIebzRxJwLJVwl3eNOx6UDlLkLJ5zVRDBVbK-aGcXYNCXghtjBqK2QD-uU8Qw-4JhhaKW00kcFdxvVTzvMxBWhJTvNZh0" width="533px;" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dancers from “Project Agent Orange” narrating the influence of Agent Orange on Vietnam (Reporter Wang Aixiang/photography)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the night of [April] 12</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the H.T. Chen Dance Center’s “Newsteps” premiered in Manhattan’s Chinatown with inaugural performance and a wine reception. The evening performance of six original dance pieces lasted nearly an hour, and was met by waves of applause from a full house audience. Each daringly innovative dance piece showcased young choreographers as they burst forth with bold originality, using honest body language to reflect a sense of society’s changes.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dance troupe Project Agent Orange’s choreographer Natalia Duong is a Stanford University graduate and young female choreographer of Vietnamese descent. To demonstrate the influence of the Vietnam War on Vietnam, she focused on the U.S troops’ use of the highly toxic compound Agent Orange during the war, using common speech and sounds to generate a sense of intimacy and an ease of understanding for the audience. Sonorous, slow-moving electronic music accompanied the dance piece, and the overall effect was of a story being narrated to the audience. Duong stated that her dancers prepared for one-and-a-half months for this performance, and that the dance piece is a story of finding home.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H. T. Chen said that choreographers of “Newsteps” original pieces included Natalia Duong, Jonathan Campbell & Austin Diaz, Ella Rosewood, Timothy Edwards, Toni Renee Johnson. Leigh Atwell & Maya Krishnasastry, and other up-and-coming professional choreographers, all of whom are outstanding artists. This performance provided these young artists an opportunity to practice and perform, and offered them a performance space along with artistic guidance.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Newsteps” will be performed nightly until the 14</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from 7:30pm After the performance on the 13</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the young artists will hold a roundtable discussion with audience members at 70 Mulberry Street, 2</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">nd</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Floor, Manhattan. Ticket are $12, $10 for seniors and students. To order tickets please call (212) 349-0438.</span></span></b>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-57461189164767925352012-04-15T02:18:00.001-04:002012-04-19T18:04:41.654-04:00(Re)memberingA close friend and colleague, Trent Walker, recently sent me the following excerpt about a Cambodian artist, Amy Lee Sanford, and her performance titled "Full Circle." In reading and reflecting upon the description of the event (and being made painfully aware of my inability to witness the piece in person; to be present at the performance), I found that many of the images and themes in Sanford's piece resonated with the work of PAO.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The public is invited to observe a durational performance by artist Amy Lee Sanford at Meta House. Amy, who first returned to Cambodia in 2005 in search of her family and heritage, investigates this process through her artwork. Initially working with sculptural works that were created by breaking and reassembling panes of glass, her current work focuses on the act itself.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Full Circle is a piece that is forged over time. Sitting amid a circle of 40 Kompong Chhnang clay pots, Amy will break and meticulously glue each pot back together, over the course of six days. After each pot is glued, she will use string to hold the pieces together, before returning the pot to the circle. This repetition of breaking and remaking brings attention to cycles of trauma, both personal and historical. Full Circle is a meditative and introspective performance, one that reflects the slow, complex process of mending and transforming. </span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For the artist, the physical and mental challenge of maintaining the concentration and patience to carry out the task is an integral part of the piece.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The artist states: “Aiding the evolution of emotional stagnation and unburdening oneself from the past is the focus of my artwork. I create art in order to observe, examine and transform the lasting effects of war, including trauma, loss, displacement and guilt. Throughout this process, I have discovered movement masked by rigidity, simplicity within complexity and turbulence overlapping harmony. The process of making art helps me transform these universal aspects of life into a new vitality.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Unlike most exhibitions where the reception marks the beginning, the public is invited to join the closing event, marking the end of this particular cycle of the circle—only to start again at another place and time, perpetuating Full Circle in its infinite course.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
Sanford's work asks, literally and metaphorically, how we remember the past in the present.<br />
<br />
---how we re-member--(read: re-construct; re-configure; re-mind)<br />
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How we re-member actions that are considered complete but continue to reverberate into the present. A rigorous shaking of the fabric making up our space-time continuum. A continual process of making and making up.<br />
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Sanford suggests the irreparable damage of trauma as the object she shatters will never completely resemble its previous form. In putting back together all of the pieces, there are inherently pieces of the pot that simply no longer fit into this newly reconstructed version. There are pieces that will be lost. There are lines of glue holding space and holding together two borders that used to touch. There are people and cultures that have been "humpty-dumptied" too many times; and all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put them back together again.<br />
<br />
How then, does temporal duration heal?<br />
How do we make do, tie up loose ends, until infrastructure can again stand alone?<br />
In the infinite scope of the "making and unmaking of the world" [Elaine Scarry], what would happen were we to continue shattering and re-shattering our reconstructed selves? Would we not then all end up knees deep in sand?<br />
<br />
Our hands dirtied with the dust of ashes and adhesive.<br />
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How we re-member the bodies of the deceased in the bodies of their descendants?<br />
How we re-member the dismemberment of a family, a community, a culture, a past?<br />
How we re-member the masses that have been massacred?<br />
<br />
How do we re-member a name and reclaim our power in the silent shattering of a Pot. How we hold in our hands the aftermath and the control to remake it. How the beginning is really just the end.<br />
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</span></span>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-69187914153562364982012-04-10T22:56:00.000-04:002012-04-10T22:56:38.343-04:00Voices of the Diaspora<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Responses from the Asian Arts Initiative and BPSOS Performance in Philadelphia</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Much gratitude to our hosts Nancy Nguyen and the youth volunteers of AAI and BPSOS.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sharing our work with Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American audience members, from 3 year olds to 80 year olds, helped contextualize and ground our work within the community from which these stories originated. In sharing family narratives, tears, laughter, and movement, Project Agent Orange found a new way of understanding journey, displacement, cleansing, and hope. And so we begin our path towards locating home.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_OOdNUu7G5A/T4Tu-apsSkI/AAAAAAAACI8/JB-6C1XTqTs/s1600/IMG_1195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_OOdNUu7G5A/T4Tu-apsSkI/AAAAAAAACI8/JB-6C1XTqTs/s320/IMG_1195.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YN7S1UM9_sg/T4TuJs38eFI/AAAAAAAACG8/0_OeVNHl9zA/s1600/IMG_1179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YN7S1UM9_sg/T4TuJs38eFI/AAAAAAAACG8/0_OeVNHl9zA/s320/IMG_1179.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PN5UTBal-YU/T4TuMkNXD9I/AAAAAAAACHE/Q1UqvG7W5OU/s1600/IMG_1180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PN5UTBal-YU/T4TuMkNXD9I/AAAAAAAACHE/Q1UqvG7W5OU/s320/IMG_1180.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GTXVyeKQMG0/T4Tu4CcKPGI/AAAAAAAACIs/YeXbaDe5V4o/s1600/IMG_1193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GTXVyeKQMG0/T4Tu4CcKPGI/AAAAAAAACIs/YeXbaDe5V4o/s320/IMG_1193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YDfFjCTwyy0/T4Tu7NIgD0I/AAAAAAAACI0/OzVxSmUH0C0/s1600/IMG_1194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YDfFjCTwyy0/T4Tu7NIgD0I/AAAAAAAACI0/OzVxSmUH0C0/s320/IMG_1194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cql1DSnmi0w/T4TvBz67k1I/AAAAAAAACJE/8iP2wzp828w/s1600/IMG_1196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cql1DSnmi0w/T4TvBz67k1I/AAAAAAAACJE/8iP2wzp828w/s320/IMG_1196.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hM8-BNoafPA/T4TvEofGznI/AAAAAAAACJM/Cxi9g6-l1c4/s1600/IMG_1197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hM8-BNoafPA/T4TvEofGznI/AAAAAAAACJM/Cxi9g6-l1c4/s320/IMG_1197.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-90912439512723245022012-03-14T17:42:00.000-04:002012-03-14T17:42:56.658-04:00what you see:One word responses from our audience at Movement Research.<div>These were given before we revealed the name of our company or our intentions (ie. direct responses to the movement portrayed)!</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">clock</div><div style="text-align: center;">caged</div><div style="text-align: center;">memorial</div><div style="text-align: center;">vibration</div><div style="text-align: center;">inevitability</div><div style="text-align: center;">women</div><div style="text-align: center;">rolling</div><div style="text-align: center;">black (x2)</div><div style="text-align: center;">system</div><div style="text-align: center;">circle</div><div style="text-align: center;">orbit</div><div style="text-align: center;">chaos</div><div style="text-align: center;">limiting areas</div><div style="text-align: center;">electronegativity</div><div style="text-align: center;">uniform</div><div style="text-align: center;">drum</div><div style="text-align: center;">structure vs. individual</div><div style="text-align: center;">windmill</div><div style="text-align: center;">powerplay</div><div style="text-align: center;">torture</div><div style="text-align: center;">dramatic</div><div style="text-align: center;">scared</div><div style="text-align: center;">radioactive</div><div style="text-align: center;">color</div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-19498925187722565872012-03-10T09:26:00.001-05:002012-03-11T10:36:49.578-04:00Race Representation and Social Activism: PAO at Movement Research<div class="MsoNormal">Last night, PAO performed a new iteration of our work at Movement Research. The performance was a works-in-progress showing that featured 3 other choreographers and was moderated by performing artist, teacher, and choreographer, Margaret Paek. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As part of her moderation process, Paek asked viewers to take a minute to reflect on each piece and respond using a pen and piece of paper. She then allowed a minute of time for kinesthetic reflections to take place in which anyone could come to the stage and perform an image they remembered, or riff off of the movement they had seen. Below I have posted images of some of the written responses as well as a video of the kinesthetic responses. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sn4N9AK-1i4/T1td6_wsvJI/AAAAAAAACBw/aWEQiUiLBDI/s1600/IMG_1142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sn4N9AK-1i4/T1td6_wsvJI/AAAAAAAACBw/aWEQiUiLBDI/s320/IMG_1142.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AVsZ8-UQiIY/T1lJtTxkd5I/AAAAAAAACBY/n1jelvx_YZs/s1600/IMG_1143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AVsZ8-UQiIY/T1lJtTxkd5I/AAAAAAAACBY/n1jelvx_YZs/s320/IMG_1143.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PRQ5ydNC1G0/T1td2KMOhKI/AAAAAAAACBg/bSNxxNG0L0Q/s1600/IMG_1134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PRQ5ydNC1G0/T1td2KMOhKI/AAAAAAAACBg/bSNxxNG0L0Q/s320/IMG_1134.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ioXqhtMa02c/T1td4sgOBUI/AAAAAAAACBo/WgFA77qCGl8/s1600/IMG_1139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ioXqhtMa02c/T1td4sgOBUI/AAAAAAAACBo/WgFA77qCGl8/s320/IMG_1139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r4KXDt2d8Lg" width="420"></iframe></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JKBRB7PDX6w/T1lJXncI16I/AAAAAAAACAg/P0gfSzfydyg/s1600/IMG_1136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JKBRB7PDX6w/T1lJXncI16I/AAAAAAAACAg/P0gfSzfydyg/s320/IMG_1136.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I was particularly struck by this last image, in which a viewer bluntly (and appropriately) questions:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“What is up with the white girl US [abr. upstage] left? Why is there a (black?) man’s voice talking about Vietnam while a bunch of non-black [people] all too young to have even been born at the time of Vietnam are on stage?” </i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This comment, paired with another response about how the piece reminded a viewer of the timely #StopKONY campaign on Facebook, has caused me to reflect on questions of racial representation on stage (and in the media) particularly as it relates to the representation of political activism, social change, and “doing good.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Chris Blattman, a political scientist at Yale, best summarizes my initial response to the KONY2012 Campaign Video. He writes:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">“There’s also something inherently misleading, naive, maybe even dangerous, about the idea of rescuing children or saving of Africa. […] It hints uncomfortably of the White Man’s Burden. Worse, sometimes it does more than hint. The savior attitude is pervasive in advocacy, and it inevitably shapes programming. Usually misconceived programming” (qtd. from Visible Children <a href="http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble" target="_blank">blog</a>).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Mainly, what is the role of <i>visual</i> racial representation in social change campaigns, how does the problematic of an outside community trying to "fix" intracommunity conflicts assert itself, and personally, where do the noisemakers of the Asian American community fit into the larger activist narrative (portrayed as racially <i>di</i>chotomous)?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My initial response to the comments made about racial representation within PAO's performance was empathetic. I contextualize it within the greater politic of which bodies are represented on stage: [non/white, dis/abled, thin/fat, fe/male]. Check out also this <a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2012/03/06/asian-american-actors-are-missing-on-broadway-stages/" target="_blank">Racialicious blog post</a> on Asian American representation on Broadway (I recently met Peter Kim at an Asian American Arts Alliance meeting). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My secondary response is that my work aims to investigate how communities inherit trauma psychologically, physically, and culturally across these articulated borders. My tertiary response is that the work also aims to build a foundation for empathy--of the kinesthetic nature--for audiences as well as ignite rumination and discussions such as this. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It means there is still more work ahead. Which is a good thing.</div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-87367076020556611142012-03-02T23:22:00.000-05:002012-03-02T23:22:51.121-05:00Veterans and Creative Arts TherapyA <a href="http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/6002/in-creative-arts-the-power-to-heal/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">blog</a> post about how a veteran seeks solace and catharsis as roads to recovery from his experience in Iraq<br />
<br />
Thanks to Tony Luong from <a href="http://www.aapip.org/">AAPIP</a> (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy) for sharing!Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-9183593834501702272012-02-21T18:07:00.001-05:002012-02-21T18:09:34.106-05:00Reflection from Winnie Wong[<i>Editors Note: The following link is to dancer Winnie Wong's blog reflection on her involvement in Project Agent Orange as well as her experiences in her Masters Program in Dance Movement Therapy at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. We were exploring the idea of "contagion" in rehearsal on the day she writes about.</i>]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://askyouyellow.blogspot.com/2012/01/pao-rehearsal-1252012.html?spref=bl">AskYouYellow: PAO Rehearsal: 1/25/2012</a>: Body aching Body fatigued, finding the path to something clearer, in focus. Bodies ping, bodies pong. Molecules finding each other, makin...Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-67429322419235124652012-02-02T11:54:00.000-05:002012-02-02T11:54:36.412-05:00Together Higher: Vietnam's first contemporary dance company for deaf dancersCharles Bailey recently introduced me to the work of Le Vu Long and Luu Thu Lan, the directors and choreographers for Together Higher, Vietnam's first contemporary dance company for deaf dancers. I found a documentary of their work, produced by Ensemble Films, which highlights their artistic work as well as the community-based workshops they conduct throughout the country in conjunction with their performances.<br />
<br />
The work is aesthetically stunning, investigative, and innovative, as well as deeply integrated in the culture of the communities it addresses. This is a life goal of mine: to create a company that is as artistically aware as it is socially relevant. Mostly, I was impressed and humbled (seems to be a recurrent theme of my recent work) by the ease with which the company could transcend the "art"/"life" gap to perform in both a traditional proscenium setting with all the technical accoutrements as well as on the concrete floor of a local community center. This willingness to work in any environment in order to continue to do the work is key. I am excited about the potential of future collaborations with Together Higher, as well as mentorship possibilities, as I still have a lot to learn.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/10660474">Together Higher (2005)</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ensemblefilms">ensemble films</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-75790584944583016462012-01-28T17:22:00.006-05:002012-01-29T11:06:06.236-05:00April: rehearsal reflection<div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i>[Editor's Note: This is a reflection written by April Dayok as part of a journaling session that took place during rehearsal on 1/26/12. The dancers were asked to take a moment to reflect in words how contagion and the work of PAO related to their lives.]</i></span></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">On PAO</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">A safe place. A home for emotion and ideas to be free flowing. For voices to mix and strengthen one another so they can be heard as one - united. Uniting in conversation. Out loud in words and sentences and in silence in gesture and dance. A place to create and tap into a universe. And a chance to invite others in to the universality and potency of moving. Saying with our mouths and our eyes and our limbs. Our heart and our energy. A playground in the center of a city, a world, a number of things. An exploration of time. Of passing time. Of passing smiles and heavy weight and light.</span></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-71056033878452123702012-01-28T17:20:00.000-05:002012-01-28T17:27:15.576-05:00Morgana: rehearsal reflection<div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c3c3c3;">[Editor's Note: This is a reflection written by Morgana Phlaum as part of journaling session that took place during rehearsal on 1/26/12. The dancers were asked to take a moment to reflect in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">words how contagion and the work of PAO related to their lives.]</span></i></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">The act of contagion was a strong focus in rehearsal today. The exercises played with the idea of one person's movement influencing the reaction of someone else. Energy transfers between people can be very subtle or even abrasive. Someone else's touch or bump can cause you to fall into someone else...a never ending cycle. This reminded me of how recently, I have accidentally given myself bruises on my legs. One simple scratch has caused terrible looking bruises. I didn't realize that a few scratches could cause such things. One scratch causes a huge bruise to spread across my leg. Contagion can be quite scary when the impetus is not understood. Being born with the affects from Agent Orange leaves babies helpless. Bruises will eventually go away...</span></div></div><div><br />
</div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-84308711867680667062012-01-22T13:04:00.002-05:002012-01-25T11:31:27.042-05:00he hasn't cried in 40 years.a man sits, staring into oblivion<br />
touched only by the passing wind--<br />
residual currents of distant helicopters<br />
or the memory of his former unit partner--<br />
before he too<br />
atomized into the infinite abyss<br />
that now lays before him.<br />
<br />
there is no horizon<br />
no meeting of gods and man<br />
because here divinity is bartered for<br />
in the currency of cells<br />
and we only gamble when we know we will win.<br />
we don't get to melt our belted sword into the golden key<br />
on d-day<br />
only cadaveric planes in the graveyard for remotes with hope<br />
that someday that mild droning will either erupt<br />
or disappear with the breaking of dawn.<br />
<br />
dawn breaks<br />
orion occluded<br />
and so we wait<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
until night falls<br />
and the hunter can resume catching his prey.<br />
<br />
<br />
a boy sits, praying,<br />
staring at his prize<br />
he touches positive to positive<br />
negative to negative<br />
currents of charge<br />
and shifts left to right to left to right<br />
he flies his plastic dragonfly carrier into a wall<br />
he wants to grow up<br />
to be just like dad<br />
and all comes tumbling after.Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-46235789517847175332012-01-21T00:26:00.002-05:002012-01-21T11:25:03.041-05:00Practice as Research<div>Sometimes we perform tasks.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cGT1eCXO8Ng" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Other times, we do what feels good. Just so.</div><div><br /></div><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JuIcITqbF8s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-55447930560578926822012-01-14T11:00:00.005-05:002012-01-14T11:33:23.006-05:00The Year of the DragonOn behalf of Project Agent Orange, Welcome to the New Year, 2012!<div>Thank you for your continued support!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div></div><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x-G6_W3X6d4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div>In the past 10 months, since the founding of the collective, we have made great strides in our goals to increase awareness about the legacy of Agent Orange, make connections in the nonprofit and social sectors, and use movement to communicate how war is inherited through generations.</div><div>However, many exciting milestones lie ahead for us in this coming year!</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Project Agent Orange will host our first evening length <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff6600;"><b><i>Performance at Dixon Place</i></b> </span>on May 31, June 1, and June 2.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. We will also exhibit our work at <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff6600;">Movement Research</span></i></b>, a prominent laboratory for the creation of new work in New York that has cultivated new movement since the 60s.</div><div><br /></div><div>3. This week, I had the great honor of sitting down with <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff6600;">Charles Bailey</span></i></b>, Director of the Agent Orange Program in Vietnam for the Aspen Institute, formerly of the Ford Foundation, to discuss the ways in which Project Agent Orange could help support the overall binational goals of environmental clean up, advocacy and awareness, and humanitarian support for those affected by Agent Orange in Vietnam and the U.S. Together, with the help of his extern Julia Karpati of Swarthmore College, we are drafting plans for a <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff6600;"><i>Hands-On Summit</i></span></b> to motivate individuals to turn sympathy into empathy into action. While the conference at UC Berkeley followed the model of an academic lecture and panel discussion, we hope to invigorate a new community of young leaders through participatory workshops that engage not only the minds, but the bodies and hearts of those with a commitment to social change. Stay tuned for more! We will likely pilot a program that culminates in Project Agent Orange's show at Dixon Place.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>4. I have also been applying for several different grants that will allow me to <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff6600;">bring the work of Project Agent Orange (and hopefully some members of the collective) to Vietnam</span></i></b> to use movement-based community devised theater techniques to create a performance with individuals who are affected by Agent Orange. The goal would be to perform this piece, that was developed by the performers themselves, across small rural towns and larger cities alike in order to shift the stigma associated with disability in Vietnam to a perspective that is instead constructed around the ideas of agency, individuality, and potential. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, as we move into this next phase of Project Agent Orange, that is focused not only on the development of aesthetically innovative work but also the commitment to engaging with the social sphere, we hope you will continue to support us on our journey that has only just begun!</div><div><br /></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-51785130234745008862011-12-12T17:14:00.005-05:002011-12-13T23:12:03.629-05:00Helicopters: sound and movement binaries<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday, the dancers and I had the great pleasure of working with musician collaborators Alex Hills and Trevor Williams to begin to explore how the soundscape of Project Agent Orange could exist symbiotically with the movement. I was interested in exploring how sound and movement could each maintain their sense of autonomy while also converging at points and diverging at others. I wanted the sound and movement to communicate: each with their own cadence, yet each with an ear to the ground, listening for the other’s next move.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>How could each individual element breathe more life into the other?</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In rehearsal, we focused on the “Helicopter” phrase, as the movement phrase was well settled in our bodies, and we had never found a fitting soundscape to accompany it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In revisiting the phrase, the dancers and I considered the difference created in the quality of movement when we transitioned between “piercing” and “rebounding.” Rather than constantly carrying tension in our bodies, how could the feeling of impending terror be achieved by the passage between full force and response? How could we communicate both the calm before the storm and the tempest itself?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When I originally created the Helicopter phrase, I was interested in the paradox that helicopters represented. I articulated these as diametrically opposed ideas though in reality they were probably more interwoven than the binary suggests. How did helicopters represent:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li>Life and Death: the vehicle that flew in and airlifted injured soldiers and Vietnamese refugees alike vs. the metallic skeleton of a machine that sprayed herbicides and defoliants</li><li>Salvation and Destruction</li><li>Hope and Despair</li></ul><div><i>How could the sound offer texture to this exploration while not merely illustrating the movement cadences?</i></div><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In order to communicate these ideas, and establish the atmosphere of this rehearsal, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I read a bit of the novel, The Unwanted, by Kien Nguyen, who describes his memory of the last helicopters to ever land in Vietnam. (Thanks Anthony Bui, for suggesting the book). </p> <p class="MsoNormal">In response to the excerpt, Morgana articulated how quickly the image of the helicopter could shift from positive to negative; how the time between safety and fear was liminal, brief, startling. As such, we began to put these ideas into movement. The following is a short video of the beginning of that exploration. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </p> <!--EndFragment--><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R5J7hGxJ3mA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-65138452284270651692011-12-07T18:04:00.005-05:002011-12-07T18:38:28.491-05:00for those who came before:I am so grateful to have had the opportunity this weekend to meet Ben Quick, in person, after having exchanged many emails, phone calls, and notes about one another's work. I could tell that we understood each other on an aesthetic level, and I was happy to share the creative space with an artist who is working towards a similar end. <div><br /></div><div>I also had the opportunity to share dinner with Heather Bowsher, Merle Ratner of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, Ngo Thanh Nhan macroactivist for Vietnam, and several other inspiring individuals who have paved the way when it comes to activism and legislation related to Agent Orange. These were the movers and the shakers of the decade. I was extremely humbled by the extent of work that had already been accomplished (much of which before I was born!) and I am excited by the potential of my involvement in the development of this work in my own avenue of change: movement and performance.</div><div><br /></div><div>As such, I engaged in a brief discussion with Heather about the problematics and politics involved with engaging individuals with disabilities in a staged performance. She shared with me her hesitation about the sometimes exploitative nature of exhibiting disabled bodies on stage. Though we did not have the chance to delve much deeper into this topic, I am motivated to continue to explore how individuals can exist on stage as individuals rather than bodies as referents to some other message or agenda. Though we will continue to read visual labels onto the bodies we see, as we have become an increasingly visually-dependent culture and our heuristics for understanding the world can only do so much to articulate the nuances of our experience, I am interested in creating an experience that summons the idea of Agent Orange, while still remaining true to my knowledge and experience of the topic.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think the key to doing this is to return to elemental and sensorial concepts void of imposed external narrative:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>weight</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>light</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>energy exchange</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>fear</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>futility</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>gaze</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>memory</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>paradox</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>inheritance</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>touch</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>thirst</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>loss</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>With this return to elements, we are continuing to explore basic sensorial experience again: touch, taste, smell, sight. I asked my dancers this week to review the material and structure we had created, but to try and experience each moment newly, in the present.</div><div><br /></div><div>We explored:</div><div><br /></div><div>Space</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>finding the negative space</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>filling the holes in energy</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>seeking out energy and attaching yourself to it</div><div><br /></div><div>Energy exchange--</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Moving from external sources of energy to illuminate internal sources</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>imagining rays of light as heat and energy entering the body and propelling the work</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div>Pacing</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>indulging in a moment, experiencing only a moment of a phrase and </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"throwing the rest away"</div><div><br /></div><div>Contagion</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>how pacing of others around us affect our work</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>how we the contrast in tempos between dancers causes a change in energy </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>exchange</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><i><br /></i></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-46480761675993373692011-12-04T22:54:00.000-05:002011-12-04T22:55:29.603-05:00FUNDRAISING SUCCESS!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; "><h1 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 25px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">THANK YOU!</h1><h1 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 25px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Dear Backers,<br /></h1><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Thanks to your generous contributions we have raised a total of <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; ">$6,222</b> during our one-month online campaign!!! I am humbled by the amazing number of people who have come out to support this important work--there were a total of <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; ">121 </b>online backers, <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; ">7</b> donors who sent in checks, and <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; "><i style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: italic; ">many</i></b> <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; "><i style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: italic; ">more</i></b> who showed their support by sharing our project through various online media platforms.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">With the money raised, we have secured a spot at <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; ">Dixon Place</b>, and will perform on <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; ">May 31, June 1, and June 2 at 9:30 pm</b> in New York City. Make sure to start looking for airfare specials now as we would love to share this work with all of our valued donors in person!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">In the meantime, there are many ways to stay connected with Project Agent Orange!</p><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style-type: square; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; "><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Continue reading our <a href="http://projectagentorange.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; color: rgb(85, 164, 242); text-decoration: none; ">Blog</a> to stay up to date on recent news and progress!</li><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Join our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Agent-Orange/243031735745845" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; color: rgb(85, 164, 242); text-decoration: none; ">Facebook</a> page</li><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Follow us on Twitter! @ProjectAgentO</li><li style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">It is not too late to donate! We are setting up a fund with a fiscal sponsor so that your future donations (or those of your friends who missed the deadline by mere minutes!) are tax-deductible!</li></ul><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">AND, don't forget that many of you have valued rewards on the way!<br />We will be in touch with video updates, information about reserving your VIP tickets to the Spring show, and Works In Progress Showings. For those of you based in NYC, we will have our first <b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: bold; ">Works In Progress showing on Wednesday, Dec 14th, 8pm at Chez Bushwick</b>, 304 Boerum St, Brooklyn, NY. Hope to see you there!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Lastly, I cannot begin to express my sincerest gratitude for all of your support thus far. What once was a simple idea thought up on an L train into Manhattan, has now become an international project gaining publicity and support from collaborators in the non-profit sector, various artists, and policy makers. The work has just begun! Thank you for helping making Project Agent Orange a reality, and for believing in the ability of art to catalyze significant social change. </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Much love and admiration,</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; ">Natalia Duong</p></span>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-82330308984481294522011-11-14T16:44:00.003-05:002011-11-14T16:57:23.951-05:00Back to work!Last night we had our first rehearsal since August<div>and while it felt like a lifetime since our last time together</div><div>stepping into Chez Bushwick felt just like home.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many of us experienced large-scale life changes in our time apart--</div><div>some small but poignant, others grand and cataclysmic--</div><div>but we were happy to be sharing in the creative space once more.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first half of rehearsal was dedicated to an exchange of ideas:</div><div>Where were people at in terms of thinking about the project?</div><div>What was the impact of having so many supporters on our Kickstarter campaign?</div><div>Which other administrative, personal, and bureaucratic relationships had been established?</div><div><br /></div><div>The second half of rehearsal focused on sensorial experiences and energy exchange.</div><div>Since it had been so long since we had moved in the space together, I encouraged the dancers to elementarily explore the shared environment and the collective energy again. We focused on familiar modalities: sight and touch, and found new ones; smell and taste. We also explored notions of energy created by friction between body parts, between bodies and external surfaces, and internal qi. From this point we began to see how energy could be passed between dancers so that the exchange was actually tangible and somatically understood.</div><div><br /></div><div>With this heightened awareness and attention to sensorial experiences of energy, we revisited some old phrase work and began to undermine the structure of the choreography that had already been created. Dancers like to call this "playtime," and rightfully so, as the exploratory process of learning to move newly in a previously learned pattern became our challenge. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am energized and excited about the work to come!</div><div>Stay tuned and spread the word, Project Agent Orange is taking off!</div><div><br /></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-35075164588612468422011-11-12T13:15:00.004-05:002011-11-12T13:24:23.014-05:00Reflection on the Project: Morgana Phlaum<i>[Editor's Note: Morgana Phlaum, a dancer in Project Agent Orange, discusses her experience working in the collective. I met Morgana at a dance audition within days of her move to NYC. She was present at the very moment when I decided to start my own collective, and was the person who encouraged me to take the leap that cold winter night on the F train. I'm so glad she did! Stay tuned for more insights from other PAO dancers!]</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KxmseHZxx6w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></i></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-33431585466333299272011-11-01T10:41:00.001-04:002011-11-01T14:24:15.201-04:00Our Kickstarter is officially launched!Click <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/91349858/project-agent-orange-an-evening-length-work-in-nyc">here</a> to be a part of changing the future history of Agent Orange today!Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-20184622564160994302011-10-24T17:00:00.006-04:002011-10-24T17:22:15.051-04:00Able Movement: Sasha Nelson<i>[Editors Note: The following videos and text were sent to me from one of the PAO dancers, Sasha Nelson, as she felt they represented her personal connection to the project. What follows is her articulation of how movement highlights differences in bodies.] </i><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I love these videos and think they relate to the PAO project in terms of moving with/without limbs or a fully functioning body. This video blew me away; I think anyone who watches will gain an entirely new respect for those who can move without the fortune of having all of our limbs (much like the survivors of AO):</div><div><br /></div><div><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px" width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/mLe9ZSwU4aQ?version=3&feature=player_embedded"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/mLe9ZSwU4aQ?version=3&feature=player_embedded" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object></div><div><br /></div><div>This video brings up the same feeling of gratitude towards my able-bodied self in a different way; the movement is so beautiful, and I love how the two bodies connect as one fluid movement throughout the entire piece. Makes me appreciate and adore the ability to move and the unlimited possibilities in which we can do so:</div><div><br /></div><div><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px" width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/RcqvlJIjh9g?version=3&feature=player_embedded"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/RcqvlJIjh9g?version=3&feature=player_embedded" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object></div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-45008096036415651382011-10-17T00:42:00.002-04:002011-10-17T01:36:48.907-04:00the creators project: connection mediated by technologyI spent the afternoon in DUMBO today at the creators project<div>plowing my way through crowds drawn by the next generation of art making--</div><div>installations and projects from around the world, that had traveled the physical world,</div><div>to arrive in New York.</div><div><br /></div><div>I described it to my Dad as "kinda like Macworld except more artsy, or rather more aesthetically oriented and less utilitarian." In particular, I was thinking of the iPhone app that recorded the duration of the fall using an internal accelerometer. Ok Free Fall High Score, I get the antagonism. That's fine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mostly, I walked away with the idea that we are moving into yet another level of interactive art. Relational Art of the '90s doesn't cut it anymore, sorry Rirkrit. In a world where you can tweet, text, and blog your vote in a matter of seconds (for the President or the Idol), art installations are engaging viewers to an extreme they never have before. It's not about the artist interacting with just the art piece, and it's not even about the artist interacting with the audience anymore. Now, art requires that the audience members interact with one another--all mediated through the medium of technology. Dialogue in 0s and 1s much as we do outside the walls of the gallery.</div><div><br /></div><div>The majority of the pieces entice the viewer's direct action: SuperUber's SuperPong game that was a digital amalgamation of Pong and Foosball; Meditation by Minha Yang, which featured three speakers and red light beams that responded to viewers intentional salutes; and Six-Forty by Four-Eighty by Zigelbaum + Coelho, which was like a sophisticated version of those light up peg games. There was even a meta-articulation of the breakdown of communication as mediated by technology! Diskinect by Team Diskinect examined the failure of a Kinect console to accurately recreate a human's actions on a rigged marionette. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most effective, however, was Jonathan Glazer and J. Spaceman's <i>A physical manifestation of</i> Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space. A dark winding corridor gives way to a hall with four diagonal skylights leading to overly iridescent lightbulbs sending shafts of light into the space. Hipsters and designers alike were sprawled out on the floor staring into thousands of watts of eye damage and I was thinking... kitsch. And then I lied down. </div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><img src="webkit-fake-url://EC69B7CD-A07E-49C4-B3F4-56F68B6E8351/3_detail_em.jpg" alt="3_detail_em.jpg" /></p></div><div><br /></div><div>Glazer and Spaceman succeed in recreating the equivalent of stained glass windows to a peasant with bubonic plague. From the reverberations of sound waves through the floor, to the sunny glow of isolated wells of light, this small warehouse in Brooklyn had me looking for St. Peter's key. It was transcendent, ethereal, and perhaps even a bit extraterrestrial. And the reason why it succeeded was that in that moment, there was a transference of awe that was shared in and through the bodies of the witnesses. Organized religion and transubstantiation aside, the experience was wholly somatic, and thus, did not require translation. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is what I strive for in my choreography.</div><div><br /></div><div>To make work that is in and on the body, that is felt in and on the body.</div><div>Aesthetic appreciation and visual literacy aside, I want to make work that transfers from one body to another, so that there is no need for intermediaries.</div>Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7453247921076588099.post-16585740830073390512011-10-12T01:37:00.004-04:002011-10-12T02:02:28.794-04:00Rebirth.After a brief hiatus from this blog, Project Agent Orange has found an increased online presence in other forms. As we embark on a new stage in our process, we are excited to be featured on the Make Agent Orange History <a href="http://makeagentorangehistory.org/why-i-care-about-agent-orange-exploring-the-impact-through-dance/">website</a>!<br /><br />We are also planning an evening length performance for Spring 2012 in New York City so stay tuned for details about the location and exact dates of the performance.<br /><br />As such, we will be launching a Kickstarter online crowd funding campaign on November 1, 2011. We are looking forward to sharing our work with you and would appreciate any support you can offer.<br /><br />As I (Natalia) have been taking on a more administrative role as of late, the dancers and I have not had as much working time in the studio. However, there are many artistic developments on the horizon. The dancers and I will continue to stay abreast of the research and development that is occurring regarding the clean up of Agent Orange in Vietnam as well as the other efforts nonprofit and governmental organizations are taking on. In addition, the blog will begin to reflect the cooperative nature of our work.<br /><br />So stay tuned, because this is the calm before the storm and there is still much ahead of us!Nataliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04781773381127097213noreply@blogger.com0