BRIDGE DANCE FESTIVAL 2023

The individual is in a continuous flux. The fluid dynamic state of being that is shaped by variable experience within the environment is surrounded by culture and aesthetics; this is presented in a visible, observable release and transference known as “dance”. The Bridge is the individual.

A Note From Yoshinojo Fujima (aka Rika Lin):

The perceived stereotypes of ‘identity’ are an issue that we all must deal with.  The “Asian Identity” is particularly an image that is presented onto the individual. The identity that we all have is something that we emit, experience, and exemplify.  I am honored to be able to have a small part as the artists extract  and present their concept of identity one of  its tangible, consumable forms - dance.

ARTISTS’ NOTES

CHIH-JOU CHENG with CHIH-HSIEN LIN | Unfinished Island Songs

This is a dance that explores the multiplicity and intersectional nature of Taiwanese people that are rooted in the country’s rich history, interweaving the performers’ yearning and homesickness for their motherland. The piece attempts to illustrate the warmth, sincerity, the down-to-earth quality of the people and the place, as well as the confusion, conflicts, and solidarity manifesting throughout Taiwan’s journey to international visibility and recognition. 

A bittersweet ode to the origins and transformations of the land and its forever cherished, embodied memories. 

Music by: Miranda Su & Hui-Wen Liu (Winnie Liu)

ROBYN MINEKO WILLIAMS | Reimagined Excerpts from HISAKO’S HOUSE

The excerpts performed represent an experimental, new embodiment of the memories and research of Robyn Mineko Williams’ most recent work, Hisako’s House. The work is rooted in Robyn’s exploration of her Japanese American lineage, her family’s experiences surrounding the incarceration of WWII and the intergenerational ripples of trauma, love, and resilience that followed.

“Although the movement for my work is almost always initially generated from my physicality, I had never intended on dancing or performing this particular one myself. I wanted to be on the outside of it. A few months ago, when Rika came to me about an opportunity to experiment with material, I thought well, maybe it would definitely be an experiment to try to more fully embody what I’ve been working on: its memories, images, questions, and intergenerational ripples that live inside. This extension of the work was not in my plan but has allowed me an unexpected chance to feel what it is from another “inside” place.” - Robyn Mineko Williams

Music by: Macie Stewart

Additional music credit: Nina Simone

MOMOKO ISHIKURO / 石黒桃子 | THE MOON IS BEAUTIFUL.

This sentence was said by the famous Japanese writer Natsume Soseki.
When Japanese people say "I love you" to someone, they say "The moon is beautiful."

Many Japanese would agree with that.
This is their virtue.

But if this is true, how do they hide their impulses and desires behind modest words?

This work is an experimental work that uses Japanese literature and my own body as a hint to think about Japan's unique aesthetics and its characteristics.

Music by: Akaihirume

PRODUCTION TEAM

April Butcher, House Manager

Selena Lasley, House Manager

Katie Collins, Box Office Manager

Alé Favila, Lighting and Sound

Giau Truong, Technical Director

ABOUT BRIDGE DANCE FESTIVAL

The Bridge Dance Festival began in 2018 as the culmination of four years of Japanese-focused programming at Links Hall, including the National Performance Network Asian Exchange, Beyond the Box, and Links to Japan.

In 2019, producers Links Hall and Asian Improv aRts Midwest partnered with curator Yoshinojo Fujima (aka Rika Lin) to maintain the mission of international cultural exchange and connection in the face of rising US nationalism and its aggressive political reality. The importance of global connections is inspired and supported by mutual respect for both cultural similarities and differences.

Now in its fifth year, Bridge Dance continues to facilitate collaboration among AAPI Dancers from Chicago, Japan, and Taiwan, who present their new experimental pieces exploring the expression of 'self'.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

程之柔 Chih-Jou Cheng is a Taiwanese movement artist and puppeteer. Cheng is honored to be a part of the Bridge Dance Festival to explore her identity as Taiwanese! Her recent credits include The Dream King (Teatro Vista), The King and I (Drury Lane), Newsies as co-choreographer (Music House), A Chorus Line as Connie Wong (Metropolis PAC), and Miranda as Tiger/Stella (Impostors Theatre). Cheng is also the co-artistic director of Dawn Theatre Project, where she has created and performed Above the Water. Her other works include Arriving at Dawn and Hold Your Hand.

林芷嫻 Chih-Hsien Lin, a native Taiwanese, is a dancer, movement philosopher and creator, and an EMDR-trained clinical professional counselor specialized in dance/movement therapy and somatic approaches, currently working with lovely humans at her solo practice Embodied Way Psychotherapy. Over the arc of her career both artistically and clinically, she has worked extensively with a diverse population, with primary focus on the intersection of embodiment, culture, trauma, attachment and relationships, expression, authenticity, grief and loss, and humility. As an immigrant artist, Chih-Hsien works passionately with an integrative and authentic sense of self and movement directions. She forges continuous collaborations into inclusive embodiment and emotional experiences in her own being and dance making; her movement language reflects a rich cultural bearing from traditional Asian ethnic dances and martial arts to a vast array of somatic modern integrations. She creates circular worlds of kinesthesia, juxtaposition, and reflection, elucidating the subtlety, complexity, and fluidity of living. In addition to finding a dance home through working with Khecari for a decade, Chih-Hsien has co-funded and been a part of the IS/LAND Performance Collective, a group of interdisciplinary artists who identify as Asians and AAPI, to advocate for, educate, reflect, be with, and reimagine Asian American history and presence in the US through performing arts. 

Robyn Mineko Williams is a director, interdisciplinary artist, dancer and producer. She works and creates within the lanes and intersections of performance, design, culture, and place. She is the founder and director of Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists (RMW&A) and has received commissions from Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Malpaso Dance Company among others. Robyn has been in residence at Baryshnikov Arts Center and is a 2023 Artist-in Residence at the Chicago Cultural Center. Named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine in 2014, she is a 2023 Dysart Award winner and Princess Grace Foundation-USA Fellowship grant recipient. In tandem with her creations for the stage, Robyn works as a creative director and movement consultant on an array of projects including immersive experiences, film, installation, pop-up performances and music videos.

Momoko Ishikuro is a contemporary dancer based in Tokyo, Japan. In 2004, she started rhythmic gymnastics. She won awards in many competitions, but she was more attracted to the field of expression. In 2013, she entered University of Tsukuba to study dance academically. While studying various dances, she was particularly interested in contemporary dance, and she studied under Motoko Hirayama. Since 2014, she has been a member of the [Somatic Field Project] organized by Hiroaki Umeda, and has performed in many works.

In 2018 she became an independent dancer, and has been keeping busy dancing on stage, creating artworks, appearing in media such as commercials, music videos and photographic works. She specializes in improvisational dance, which is in demand.

In her daily practice, she researches with a microperspective on the body to fulfill her yearning for a fluid and transformable body. Presently she creates artworks and organizes stage performances in Japan and established the Leonom Dance Company in February 2023.

SUPPORT FOR BRIDGE DANCE FESTIVAL

Bridge Dance Festival is a program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest and acknowledges support from The Illinois Arts Council Agency, Richard H Driehaus Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Walder Foundation, The Field Foundation and The Joyce Foundation.

ABOUT ASIAN IMPROV ARTS MIDWEST

Asian Improv aRts Midwest’s (AIRMW) mission is to build a vital, self-empowered Asian American Community in the Chicago area by advancing the understanding and profile of Asian American cultures through the traditional and contemporary cultural arts.

ABOUT LINKS HALL

For 45 years, Links Hall has played a pivotal role in Chicago, encouraging artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Founded in 1978 by experimental choreographers, Bob Eisen, Carol Bobrow, and Charlie Vernon, Links became a National Performance Network partner in 1998 and received a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2016. Links Hall supports multidisciplinary artists through residencies, festivals, subsidized rentals, and other resources for performers at every stage of their career.

Links Hall programming is made possible by artists, audiences, and support from: Arts Midwest GIG Fund, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Exelon, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Heather B. Henson Fund/Puppet Slam Network, Illinois Arts Council Agency, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, National Performance Network, The Charlie Vernon Performance Fund at the Evanston Community Foundation, The Jentes Family Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince, The Martha Struthers Farley & Donald C. Farley, Jr. Family Foundation, The Prince Charitable Trust, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and The Weasel Fund.

STAFF

Aaliyah Christina, Artist Programs Manager & Associate Curator

Katie Collins, Marketing & Development Manager

SK Kerastas, Executive Director

Mario LaMothe, General Manager

Emmanuel Neal, Interim Executive Director

Dana Pepowski, Programs Coordinator

Claire Sutton, Special Projects

Giau Truong, Production Manager & Associate Curator 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Amy Chavasse - Artistic Director, Chavasse Dance & Performance and Professor of Dance; the University of Michigan

Kim Davis - Founder and Principal, Five/6teen Consulting

Alyssa Gregory - Communications Manager, The University of Chicago and Marketing Associate; Associate Choreographer, The Fly Honey Show

Raj Goel -  Senior Enterprise Architect, Microsoft 

Ross Stanton Jordan - Curatorial Manager, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

Trevor Martin -  Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies and Senior Lecturer in the Performance Department, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Dan Nichols - Former Associate Dean for Finance in Social Sciences and Associate Dean for Operations in Humanities, the University of Chicago

Jon Pagac - Executive Director, J.P.Morgan

Tina Post - Assistant Professor of English and Theater and Performance Studies and affiliate of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago

Doreen Sayegh - Producer/General Manager, Pemberley Productions and Board Vice President, the League of Chicago Theatres

Michael Tokoph - Associate Director, Product Strategy at Huge

Tara Aisha Willis, Ph.D. - Curator in Performance & Public Practice, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Patrick Zakem - Creative Producer, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

ADVISORY BOARD

Cheryl Lynn Bruce - Ensemble Member, Teatro Vista

Bob Eisen - Founder of Links Hall 

E. Aaron Greven - Owner, AG Design Works

Tracie D. Hall - Executive Director, American Libraries Association

Maggie Kast - Author, Founder Chicago Contemporary Dance Theatre

Eva Silverman - Project Director, Art Design Chicago 

Blair Thomas - Founder and Artistic Director, Chicago International Puppetry Festival 

Michael Zerang - Musician, Former Links Hall Director