On Our Radar: April 2021

When Youth Poet Laureauate Amanda Gorman delivered her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” on the steps of the United State Capitol, the world was spellbound. We experienced poetry’s lyrical power to swifly capture our thoughts and emotions, including the deep grief and hope that girds our country in this moment. This month, April, marks National Poetry Month and we turn to Poet Muriel Leung for insights from the poets. The author of Bone Confetti and the forthcoming Imagine Us, The Swarm reflects on the one year anniversary of the pandemic in the U.S., an occasion which has also coincided with escalations in anti-Asian violence. Muriel notes “In this time of deep grief, loss, and uncertainty, I think of how poetry can be more than just balm but remind us of the urgency of our survival. The readings I highlight this month speak to different crucial conversations about Asian American identity and how we continue to understand ourselves in this time of heightened racism and xenophobia.”

AAWW Women Warriors: A Solidarity Reading

Drawing its title from Maxine Hong Kingston’s influential Woman Warrior, the Asian American Writer’s workshop creates a space for grieving, healing, and empowering in the aftermath of the horrific murders in Atlanta, GA. This “live” reading will be curated by Tina Chang and features a power house lineup of Asian American literary voices.

Thursday’s April 8th marathon reading features Hala Alyan, Gina Apostol, Tina Cane, Jennifer Chang, Tina Chang, Victoria Chang, Cathy Linh Che, Marilyn Chin, Christina Chiu, Susan Choi, Mai Der Vang, Tarfia Faizullah, Monica Ferrell, Sarah Gambito, Kimiko Hahn, Nathalie Handal, Maxine Hong Kingston, Emily Jungmin Yoon, E. J. Koh, Eugenia Leigh, Muriel Leung, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Wang Ping, Paisley Rekdal, Brynn Saito, Purvi Shah, Brenda Shaughnessy, Monica Sok, Adrienne Su, Adeeba Talukder, Jia Tolentino, Barbara Tran, Monique Truong, Sally Wen Mao, Jane Wong, Jenny Xie, Ishle Yi Park, Monica Youn, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, and C Pam Zhang. The event will premiere on AAWW’s YouTube channel.

Have Come, Am Here: A Gathering of Adoptee Poets in Celebration of CLEAVE with author Tiana Nobile

Come join the celebratory launch of poet Tiana Nobile’s debut poetry collection Cleave (Hub City Press) on Tuesday, April 7th. This reading is hosted by Matthew Salesses and features the author in conversation with other adoptee poets (Ansley Moon, Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, Leah Silvieus, and Sun Yung Shin). Cleave is about the dislocation, love, familial relationships, and various attachments that emerge from the issue of transnational adoption, bridging the author’s own experience as an adoptee from South Korea with a collective history. 

At a time when Asian American identity is being pushed to the forefront of political examination, transnational adoption emerges at the intersection of global movement, Western political and economic intervention, and militaristic and state violence. Cleave joins a growing conversation about the very forces that propel transnational adoption, seeking reparative gestures on a personal and broader scale.

This event is hosted by Kundiman, and is supported by Poets & Writers and the NEA.

Before Time Reading Series Presents: Muriel Leung, Justin Phillip Reed, Claire Schwartz, Danez Smith (With Featured Students: B and Bino)

Hosted by the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, the Before Time reading series joins writers from within and outside of Minnesota’s state prisons. This upcoming reading will feature writers Muriel Leung, Justin Phillip Reed, Claire Schwartz, and Danez Smith with student writers from the inside, B and Bino. 

The Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop aims to extend literary community to incarcerated people. In a time when the rise of anti-Asian violence has propelled certain groups to call for greater investment in the police state, it is even more important now for Asian Americans to challenge the carceral systems that disproportionately target Black communities and communities of color.

Harvard Book Store Presents Tamiko Beyer and Gabrielle Civil

In this reading, Tamiko Beyer celebrates the launch of her recent book Last Days (Alice James Books) alongside performance artist and author Gabrielle Civil whose title ( ghost gestures ) is forthcoming from Gold Line Press.

Beyer’s Last Days is described as “practice of radical imagination for our current political and environmental crises,” a book that examines the different crossings that happen between environment, mixed race identity, queerness, and more. Similarly, ( ghost gestures ) examines these slippages through Black identity in travel and performance. Together, these two texts promise a compelling conversation about race, identity, and the ecological substance of the page.

This readin happens Tuesday, April 14th! I’m excited to see these two writers in conversation.

Archived On Our Radar Arts Events

February 2021: Presented by Samuel Coleman and Amber Barbee Pickens

• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: From the classic Revelations to Busk and accessible dance classes, this company brings incredible dance into our lives.

• Blooming in Motion: This coloring books celebrates African-American dance icons. You bring them to life with your colors and as you learn their legacies!

• Carmen Carricker: As a dance educator, Carmen’s work is rooted in African-American traditions. She’ll off kemetic yoga, swing, and afroburlesque.

October2020: Presented by Leviathan Labs Founder, Ariel Estrada

• GOVT with Model Majority!: Model Majority presents comedy in support of democracy- featuring special guest Margaret Cho!

• CAATA: Return to the Source: A virtual discussion of issues affecting Asian American theater artists across the nation, this series tackles heritage to the impacts of Covid-19.

• Colapesce: Composer and violinist Sean Devare presents a multi-genre feast based on an Itatlian myth of a half boy/half fish.

September 2020: Presented by Th!nk Chinatown Executive Director, Yin Kong

• Assembly for Chinatown: In partnership with A+A+A, Chinatown outdoor dining becomes the stuff of dreams with murals and community.-driven volunteers

• Black Gotham Experience: From Kamau Ware to more, this group disrupts colonialist lens as it presents an ever fuller representation of NYC history.

• American Struggle: Jacob Lawrence’s work, The American Struggle, creates new narratives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

May 2020: Presented by Asian American Arts Alliance Executive Director, Lisa Gold (APAHM)

• Crazy Woke Asians Comedy Festival: This 3 day comedy festival virtually presents over 90 Asian-American comedians helping us manage through these stressful times. In addition to laughter, all ticket sales support pandemic-related non-profits, including Feeding America.

• Minhwa and minhaw::: The Korean Cultural Center presents traditional Korean folk painting alongside contemporary takes from artist, Seongmin Ahn.

• Love in the Time of Corona: Parajit Desai Dance company brings us sounds from across the Asian diaspora and other genres for some shared virtual free style-dancing. Expect hip-hop, soul, house, bhangra, arabic, latin, sufi qawwali, gujarati raas, and more.

April 2020: Presented by Poet and Brooklyn Poets Founder, Jason Koo (National Poetry Month)

• Brooklyn Poets 7th Anniversary Yawp: Brooklyn Poet’s 7th anniversary celebration featured a virtual Zoom poetry workshop and open mic with special guest teacher Edward Hirsch, Poet and Guggenheim Foundation President. Hirsch led a generative workshop based on Nazim Hikmet's beloved poem "On Living.”

• Newton Literary and Lewis Latimer House: Poetry Workshop: Newton Litera:ry and the Lewis Latimer House presented a free online poetry workshop that begins with the question “What about home sneaks its way into my work, and how can I nurture and support that meaning through poetry?” .

• Tango Uncorked: With the Tango Uncorked podcast, Adam Hoopengardner provides insights into the people who drive the tango community- organizers, performers, musicians- and allows us all to learn more. We can milonga from the comforts of our homes.

February 2020: Presented by Tap Performer Brian Davis (Black History Month)

• Harlem Swing Dance Classes: Take swing dance classes in Harlem, the birthplace of swing, with Samuel Coleman! Offered every Monday at the Kennedy Center.

• Dandy Wellington's Swinging Band: A sharply dressed man leading a “kicking” jazz band, the sounds of Dandy Wellington fill Dekalb Market Hall. Enjoy the free music, while showing off your dance move or enjoying the many international food hall offerings.

• Prohibition Productions at Secret Room: Travel back in time to a world of live music, burlesque, and other cabaret style performance in this Manhattan speakeasy style restaurant.

January 2020: Presented by Creative Sanctum

• Year of the Metal Rat Celebration: Abrons Arts Center and Wing on Wo & Co., the oldest store in Chinatown, heralded the start of the “Year of the Metal Rat” with traditional and contemporary arts, including lion dance from the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute and visual arts.

• To the Moon: VR Experience: An otherworldly virtual reality experience, this art installation takes viewers to the moon, alongside shooting stars that transform into diamonds, dinosaurs, and other incredible space debris. Part of the Public’s Under the Radar Festival!

• 34th Annual Martin Luther King Tribute at BAM: Honoring the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., this annual tribute features spoken word and a visual arts gallery, Picture the Dream.

• Aki Sasamoto's Phase: Transition: Multimedia artist, Aki Sasamoto transforms the sanctuary of Saint Mark’s Church with wind and multimedia, as a reflection of the passing of time, motherhood, and transition.

December 2019: Presented by Cindy Chu, Actress, Writer, and Producer of Queens, the Series

• Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven: Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis brings light to subjects and people whom the world tends to ignore with this play telling the tale of women in a halfway house.

• Over Step Comedy at Asian American Writer’s Workshop: An all Asian sketch comedy collective dedicated to increasing diversity and kicking ass!

• Asian Creatives Network Holiday Market: With so many grassroots communities in NYC, the Asian Creative Network is one of my favorites in getting to know the awesome, supportive Asian arts community. This holiday market featured both performers and work from artists in the network.

November 2019: Presented by Seth Harris, Oil Painter

• John Singer Sargent’s Portraits in Charcoal: Presented at the Morgan Library, John Singer Sargent presents a masterful collection of charcoal portraits.

• The Art History Babes: An engaging way to learn more about the masters and subjects of art history. You’ll feel like you’re learning over a glass of wine.

• Secret Science Club: When I’m seeking inspiration for my work, Secret Science Club presents fascinating experts on topics, ranging from space exploration or death.

October 2019: Presented by Debby Lau of Signature Theatre

• New York City Center Fall for Dance Festival: This beloved fall tradition presents a curated collection of different dances companies on one stage at the accessible prices of $15 for every seat in the house. With both international and local companies, and styles from tap, hip hop, to ballet, there’s something new to discover for everyone.

• Musical Theatre Factory’s Fall Piano Party: A free live sing along of musical theater favorites hosted by Kuhoo Verma and guest performers Troy Anthony and Kim Blanck.

• Fires in the Mirror at the Signature Theatre: A one actor show, originally written and conceived by Anna Deveare Smith, this play tells the tale of the 1991 Crown Heights race riots. With one actor playing multiple roles, from rappers to housewives, these interview-based monologues will grip you.

September 2019: Presented by Jonathan DePeri Gotham Arts Salon Director

• Balanchine’s Jewels by New York City Ballet: George Balanchine’s celebrated evening-length ballet Jewels, whose three parts feature dancers attired as emeralds, rubies, and diamonds respectively set to music by Fauré, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. Originally inspired by the choreographer’s visit to Van Cleef & Arpels, Jewels is perhaps the first ever full-length abstract ballet,

• Choir of Trinity College: The world-renowned Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, comprising entirely students at Cambridge University, performs sacred music from across the spectrum of Christian tradition featuring works by a range of composers spanning from the Renaissance to the modern day.

• Dudok Quartet: Chamber music is an art form as elegant and aristocratic as it is intimate and approachable. As Goethe put it, string quartet repertoire in particular really is the refined and subtle art of four individuals’ conversing. It is a joy to hear the expressive vitality of this brilliant Dutch ensemble perform such wide-ranging yet intensely focused programs

August 2019: Presented by Jaime Shannon, Artistic Director of Kilowatt Dance Theater

• Battery Park Dance Festival: Amid sea and sky, dance companies from New York and around the world present on an outdoor stage for five nights with a myriad of ecletic dance styles. Creative Sanctum and friends took a trip this year to see the Tuesday, July 9th performance featuring Buglisi Dance Theater and Ashle Dawson’s Made in America.

• Charlie Park Jazz Festival: Honoring bebop legend Charlie Parker, Jaime notes this free festival in both Marcus Garvey and Tompkins Square Park has “world class musicians and the music never disappoints.”.

• Gamme by Bala Sole Dance Company: An evening of ecletic dance solos, the audience is welcomed with the opportunity to get to know each dancer through their choreography and movement in what feels like a one on one interaction with each of them.

July 2019: Presented by Creative Sanctum

• Midsummer Night Swing: Eyal Vilner Big Band: Claiming the title for 30 years, Midsummer Night Swing is NYC’s best outdoor dance party. And on July 10, 2019, the Eyal Vilner Big Band, a 16-piece, multigenerational ensemble, will present “an exciting new sound in the finest tradition of contemporary big band music” (All About Jazz).

• Shakespeare in the Park: Coriolanus: Expect some swords as Shakespeare in the Park, presents Coriolanus, for the first time since 1979. Coriolanus is the “Bard’s blistering drama about a general voted into power by a populace hungry for change, and the unraveling that follows.” Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof, Shakespeare In The Park’s Troilus and Cressida) serves as the director for this modern-day version tale of democracy and demagoguery. Running July 16-August 11

• BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival: Compagnie Hervé KOUBI: On July 27, the French-Algerian choreographer Hervé Koubi brings his signature work What The Day Owes To The Night to the Bandshell. With highly muscular and astonishingly physical dancers, What The Day Owes To The Night, is bristling with energy. The movements evokes Orientalist paintings and Islamic architecture as 12 French-Algerian and African dancers combine capoeira, martial arts, hip hop, and contemporary styles.