I was There to be Here

This performance was inspired by the relationship between mother and daughter—the warmth and care of a mother, and the daughter’s growing resistance as she begins to feel constrained and burdened. Time passes, and the distance becomes harder to bridge. It feels like a missed call meant to say, “I miss you” or “I love you.”

*Premired in April 2025 at the Southern Theater as part of Candybox Dance Festival

Missed Calls

This performance was inspired by the relationship between mother and daughter—the warmth and care of a mother, and the daughter’s growing resistance as she begins to feel constrained and burdened. Time passes, and the distance becomes harder to bridge. It feels like a missed call meant to say, “I miss you” or “I love you.”

*Premired in FALL 2024 Faculty Concert at Minnesota State University, Mankato

*Presented at the ACDA 2024 North Central region

Can I see you on the other side

The performance was imagining “あの世　（The Other Side),” where the soul of people who passed away goes. In August of 2023, my grandmother passed away. She had dementia and in the end, she did not remember me at all. It made me think about how we store our memories and the weight of life. I had 11 movers with me, and we talked and embodied how we mourn, long, and grieve about somebody who we loved.

*Premired in FALL 2023 Faculty Concert at Minnesota State University, Mankato

*Gala selected piece for ACDA 2024 North Central region

情熱大陸（Jonetsu Tairiku）

This piece was inspired by a song, Jonetsu Tairiku that has a wonderful beat and melody composed by Japanese musician, Tarou Hakase. Through this choreography, I wanted to invite the audience to a dance community that full of colors and joy.

*Premired in FALL 2023 Faculty Concert at Minnesota State University, Mankato

we carry to depart

The performance looks inward and asks what we carry with our bodies. Spatial and geographical kinesphere shapes one’s physicality. When we move to a different space, our physicality adapts to the new space, creating another layer of memory beneath our skin. We depart from the present, an archive of the human condition as reflected through the past, to an unknown future full of changes and encounters.

Body Negative

Body Negatives is an auto-ethnography performance that utilizes intermedia technology. It is based on the field research of a dance artist, Saeko Ichinohe, who interfused Western concert dance and traditional Japanese dance from 1970 to the 2000s. The kimono represents Japanese culture, which restricts the movement of the torso metaphorically showcases the burden of being representative of Japanese culture. It highlights the process of myself how to live without devaluing my upbringing and accept the transformations over the years of staying in the United States.

Prelude

This work embodies the social pressure of collectivism inspired by life in Tokyo. Dancers are moved by the music “BLKOUT” by Coop with high intensity and beat. It will show struggle, differentiation, criticism, and acceptance.