Saying goodbyes

I want to begin this post by pasting and email that my student sent to me before the end of the school year:

Throughout this year of dance, I have learned so many things from you. You have taught me and many others different types of dances and how to choreograph them. Since you have been teaching us, you have been inspiring us to dance one person at a time. All in all, I think that you have been an outstanding teacher, that has taught us a lot about dance.

This email was so touching and it makes it so worthwhile as a dance educator to learn that I've inspired students to love dance and movement as much as I do. I had a blast teaching over a hundred students every day from my alma mater school here in Singapore. Every year that I've been teaching dance, I miss my students when the end of the term, residency, year is over and we're enjoying a bit of time off for the summer. But over the years, I've grown a bit more hardened to saying goodbye to my students and try not to get so attached. I've grown used to saying goodbye.

Goodbyes aren't easy, but I've become accustomed to saying them. I don't know if its just age, because I remember goodbyes being extremely difficult growing up.

As an Adult TCK, are we hardened to saying goodbye to everyone we encounter in this lifetime?

I actually psych myself out by not really saying goodbye but saying "see you soon!" because thats easier to say. The world is a small place, I always run into people from my past. Its so common for TCKs!

A friend from high school passed away last week. I feel quite a bit of remorse for never been able to get a hold of her the first few months I moved back and then just gave up trying to contact her. Gone too soon. Though we drifted apart over the years, I still have fond memories of running track with her, dance rehearsals, theater, and a few other random memories that have popped up this week from high school. Rest in peace Leslie, you are loved by many. I'm glad I got to see you a few years ago when I came to visit Singapore and you showed us around Clarke Quay.

The last day of school at SAS was a couple days ago. The students were crying and hugging each other to say their goodbyes. Some were leaving so they were distraught. My advice to them: Goodbyes are hard. They don't get easy. But as we get older, we get used to saying them.
What's worse than goodbyes? Never having the time to say goodbye or rushing through them. ALWAYS MAKE TIME.

Chameleon residency at Utahloy International School

No words can describe how extremely proud I am of the students from Utahloy International School that participated in my workshops and performed in their version of Chameleon, the Experiences of Global Citizens adapted from the professional production. Their honesty, openness, kindness, maturity, and willingness to try something different really touched me. I was very moved by their enthusiasm and commitment to sharing their life stories of being global citizens with me, their peers, and in a live performance in front of the student body and teachers.

Its all a very humbling experience working with these young Third Culture Kids who are straddling among different worlds on a daily basis. Their home life, their school life, and living in a host country. I remember when I was in their shoes, I am also reminded that I am constantly an evolving Adult Third Culture Kid who is still trying to find a place in this world. I am me, and I am a TCK for life.

This video was shot during the workshops I taught that week and I quickly edited it to show it prior to the performance that some of the students performed in.

Chameleon workshops at Utahloy International School from Alaine Handa on Vimeo.

Re-setting Chameleon on Young TCKs

Singapore American School students, alumni, & faculty performing in Kuala Lumpur

. Sept. 22, 2012.

Happy New Year!

I'm jetting off next week to teach dance and art-making workshops on the Third Culture Kid experiences in Guangzhou, China. Utahloy International School has given me an artist residency and they have made arrangements with their faculty and student body to do "TCK week". I am honored to get this kind of opportunity. At the end of the week, about 30 students will be performing a version of Chameleon, the Experiences of Global Citizens in a local area theatre for the entire student body, faculty, and parents. It has been a dream of mine to bring this project to International Schools around the world to teach and re-set this piece. A piece that is very dear to me as it speaks volumes to the multicultural and cross-cultural identity I grew up with and still growing as an adult. It was an honor to re-set an excerpt of the choreography from Chameleon, the Experiences of Global Citizens on selected dance students from Singapore American School the past fall. And that experience of working with such young raw talent was exciting.

I'm excited about this new challenge of working with 30 students to re-set a piece that had a cast of about 3-7 dancers and on non-dancers as well. The 30 students who be pre-selected by the faculty and staff of Utahloy International School prior to my arrival next week. They asked me what criteria they should look for in the students who would be involved in the production. I answered them with the following criteria to look for in the students I'd like to work with.
- Students are excited about performing in front of peers
- Some background in performing (Drama, Dance, Music, etc.)
- Not afraid to dance, act, speak on stage
- Great Attitude & Open mind
- Dependable and available to be at all the rehearsals

Check out the flier they made for TCK Week: http://srcnewsletter.weebly.com/ (Check out January 2013 if the event has passed)

If you are affiliated with an International School, I would love to bring Chameleon, the Experiences of Global Citizens to your school for workshops, re-setting choreography from the piece! Please don't hesitate to contact me.

The following video is the performance footage my sister took during the performance in Kuala Lumpur this past fall. Heather's solo (dance teacher at SAS) and then the "Frozen Memories" section of Chameleon performed by 3 SAS dance students and 1 recent alumni.

Coming full circle with dance & TCKs & Chameleon

I haven't mentioned it in my past couple posts because I thought you'd be more interested to read about my reverse culture shock experiences... I can't not mention it since its pretty exciting stuff (at least to me.

I've been re-setting an excerpted version of Chameleon, the Experiences of Global Citizens to TCKs/CCKs (faculty and dance students at Singapore American School) to be performed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sept. 22nd. The process has been pretty exciting to work with so many TCKs. As with the previous performances of Chameleon, I work with each dancer's personal story especially for the solos. It is very much a collaboration between the dancer and myself in creating a solo that is completely personal. The dance teachers have been cast for solos, a recent alumni and three current students have been cast to learn the choreography from "Frozen Memories" section. The sound for the solos are personal interviews that I've conducted with the dancer and I'm truly fascinated by their stories. It is super inspiring to have this experience!

I'll be looking for more opportunities to work with Third Culture Kids, Expats, Cross Culture Kids, Adult Third Culture Kids, Dancers/Non-Dancers, Artists of other Genres to re-set a version of Chameleon in the near future!

My other part-time gig at the moment is teaching tap dance at a performing arts centre and all of my students there are TCKs as well and all the teachers there are Expats/CCKs/and maybe even TCKs themselves!

How exciting all of this is for me. I'm feeling a little bit more like myself again these days... (more on readjustment at a later post).


btw- I'm excited to also be performing as a Professional in the region for the first time ever! Salud!

While walking through the familiar hallways of SAS, I found these billboards of past dance productions. I was a part of these productions when I was a student at SAS!

UPDATE:
Here's the information about the performance in Kuala Lumpur on Sept. 22nd.

Free Performance this week in DUMBO, Brooklyn as part of the CoolNY 2012 Festival! 

Last year, we performed a 10 min. excerpt of Chameleon at the same festival and received beautiful pictures that we used in our publicity materials all year. We performed Ivi's solo (for the last time :-(  - We miss you Ivi! Hope you're having a blast in Grad school & enjoying London!) and unveiled Tsubasa and Laura's duet that was originally a solo performed by Yoonjung.

I hope you will join us this week for another excerpt of Chameleon titled "Converge" and its the big group section with a fusion of dance styles ranging from Flamenco, Balinese, Postmodern dance, Japanese folk dance, and as always all the stories my current dancers bring to the piece!
This piece seems to evolve by the locations (professional theaters, dance studios, outdoor stage, community centers, gyms, and a cafeteria!), cast (we've understudied each other's parts, substituted, and performed it in so many times in different settings), lighting (or no lighting), with and without projection! hahaha...


Here are the details for this week!
CoolNY 2012 FESTIVAL
Program E
Feb. 2, 2012 & Feb. 4, 2012
7-8:30 pm
White Wave JOHN RYAN THEATRE, 25 Jay Street, DUMBO, BROOKLYN

Directions: F train to York Street (1st stop in Brooklyn!)
Here's a map!




View Larger Map


Some of the pics from last year's festival!
Photo Credit: Yi Chun Wu

New video posted from Toronto Fringe 2011!

I'm finally getting around to posting some video footage highlights from Toronto Fringe last summer! Here's Lauren & Tsubasa's duet to TCK Nikki's story about her experience of growing up in Japan and hanging out with other children of a different culture but embracing that culture as her own.





Choreography by Alaine Handa in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Lauren Calzolaio, Tsubasa Ogawa
Film: "I am a TCK" directed/produced by Alaine Handa, Film editing by Nicholas Fox & Alaine Handa; Nikki Felt appears in this film clip

For more information about A.H. Dance Company please visit http://www.ahdancecompany.com 

Happy New Year!

May your 2012 be filled with creativity, good health, laughter, and happiness!

Another birthday followed by the holiday season, and another New Year's... it seems like Nov.-Jan. is a whirlwind every year and I get sucked into it then immediately spit out suddenly by mid-Jan.

I have lots of travel plans for 2012 and hopefully some of those travel plans also include A.H. Dance Company performances and workshops....

First up for 2012 is the APAP weekend (for those not-in-the-know... it is the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference this weekend) and we are showcasing with Jodi Kaplan's Booking Dance at the prestigious Ailey Citigroup Theatre in the Alvin Ailey Dance Centre right in Midtown/Hell's Kitchen. This is our third APAP and a different venue for us this time. There's quite the lineup of artists showcasing at the same venue so hope you can check it out! 


Speaking of APAP - we would like to extend the invite to you (our loyal readers!) to come see our 20 minute showcase. We will be presenting a 20 min. excerpt of Chameleon, the Experiences of Global Citizens 

Watch the APAP 2011 Showcase of Chameleon

I've uploaded the full 20 min. showcase from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters 2011 Showcase at Dance New Amsterdam. This was in Jan. 2011.

I'll be posting up some new trailer videos with footage from our performances in Canada soon!

Canadian Send off party & Benefit Performance

June 29, 2011
Location:

Young Dancers in Repertory

5602 Fifth Avenue

Brooklyn, New York

Pre-performance Q+A and mini dance workshop starting at 6!
Performance will start around 7:15 pm
Come early to get a seat! Limited Seating.
Wine, Cheese, Snacks following the performance.

$10-15 Suggested Donation
*All proceeds will go towards transportation, accommodation, and performer stipends for our tour.

Catch the full length version of Chameleon before we go on the road!

AHDC is heading off to Toronto this summer to perform at the Toronto Fringe Festival. We will be taking Chameleon, the experience of global citizens there and can't wait to share it with the multicultural Toronto audience.

Young Dancers in Repertory has graciously opened up their space to us for a informal Benefit performance & send off party.

Here's the FB invite for the performances in Toronto, please forward them to friends and family that you know in Toronto: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191438540904473


Photo credit: Nicholas Fox

Dancing with props: Rehearsal video from Fall 2010

Rehearsal footage from Chameleon, Fall 2010

Dancer in the video: Lara Sofia Romero, Laura Lamp, Heather Wigmore, Sheila Klein, Tsubasa Ogawa

Choreography by Alaine Handa and Dancers

Prop Design by Natalia Krasnodebska (Check out her website! www.bynatalia.com)

More video links of dancing with the props:

Emily & Shayna's solo & monologue http://www.vimeo.com/12857959

Anna & Ivi's solo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEu9J5Gz8kA

Chameleon excerpt from "Converge" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7vHijLAXs

Little Broadway in the Netherlands

I was browsing through the Expat Women website and stumbled upon an interview of Tiffany Jansen. An American expat who moved to the Netherlands after she married a Dutchman. She recently launched her successful venture Little Broadway as a way to combine her talents of musical theatre - acting, singing, dancing - with her love of writing and teaching children. Upon reading her profile, I am finding so many similarities between myself and Ms Jansen. I wanted to highlight how amazing that she has found her niche in the Netherlands when she found very little opportunities when she first moved there. By creating her own company of bringing original musicals (she writes the scripts herself!) to the international schools for an after school activity program; she is able to teach, direct, and produce musicals in such a short period of time! As an after school dance educator myself, it is no easy feat to even get kids to stay focused on learning a dance routine for their end of year performance! (Tiffany if you're reading this - Congratulations and hope to hear from you soon!)

Upcoming dates!

April 30th - Photography Gallery Opening at Houston Street Center, 273 Bowery (Whole Foods bldg). Featuring photography by Rob Oandasan, Lauryn Ishak, Wazha Dube, Albert Gumilang, and more! 6-8 pm, Free. Music performance by Molly Does not Approve. Preview performances by A.H. Dance Company, Shayna Padovano, and preview screening of "I am a TCK".



Purchase your tickets for CHAMELEON today!


The Performance Project @ University Settlement presents A.H. Dance Company in Chameleon

Thursday, May 13, Friday, May 14 & Saturday, May 15 @ 7:30pm

Ticket prices:

$15 adults/$10 for students and seniors

Tickets are $5 for youth 18 and under

Advance tickets for indicated shows are available at Brown Paper Tickets

Your ticket purchases help subsidize tickets for families in-need and help make the arts accessible for all.

Location: The Performance Project @ University Settlement is located at the corner of Eldridge Street and Rivington Street. F/V to Second Avenue, B/D to Grand Street, J/M/Z to Essex Street.

For more information and to make a reservation for any event, please call 212-453-4532 or e-mail project.audience@gmail.com.



Chameleon combines dance, film, spoken word and visual art to investigate multi-cultural identity and cross-cultural relationships. Rooted in the notion of home, this show draws on the insight and experience of Third Culture Kids: those who have spent a significant period of time in a culture other than their own, creating a new third culture. Suitable for all ages and citizens from around the globe.


Choreography by Alaine Handa & dancers
A.H. Dance Company performers: Yoonjung Choi, Ivilisse Esguerra, Alaine Handa, Anna-Louise Herzog, Emily Mercer
Jewelry/Prop design by Natalia Krasnodebska
"The Maid" written and performed by Shayna Padovano
"I am a TCK" film Directed & Produced by Alaine Handa
Photography by Lauryn Ishak, Robert Oandasan, Wazha Dube, Albert Gumilang and more!
With additional performances by Guest choreographer/performer Kirsten Ho, "Inside out and reversible"
"Over Land and Water" film by Choreographer, Katherine Lung and Filmmaker, Alexander Brown



The Performance Project @ University Settlement seeks to provide innovative artists and diverse audiences with a range of opportunities to connect and enrich their lives. The Project presents innovative music, dance, film/video, theater, and performance art for all generations. The Performance Project is a continuation of University Settlement's longtime commitment to creatively address the needs of the Lower East Side community.


This project is supported in part by Singapore International Foundation's Singapore Internationale grant scheme.

Sponsors:
Everyday Crochet
i hate this place
Projet F
Aqualia Spa
YOR Health
The Solo Foundation
Go Smile
Holistic Health Fusion
The Skinny
By Natalia
Dance of My Hands Photography
The Luxury Spot
Denizen Magazine
TCKid
Families in Global Transitions
The Field

New video posted

Excerpts from Open Performance on Jan. 6, 2010 from Alaine Handa on Vimeo.

Excerpts from Open Performance hosted by Movement Research on Jan. 6, 2010

Over Land and Water by Katherine Lung

Over Land and Water (2009)



Choreographer: Katherine Lung

Filmmaker: Alexander Brown

TCK Voices: Wazha Dube, Alan Garcia, Suzanne Leung, Katherine Lung, Albert Wang, Stephanie Yiu

Dancers: Elizabeth Bernal, Kurt Blomburg, Mallory Dykema, Jin-Ming Lai, Luke Olson-Elm, Duncan Schultz, Renee Starr, Chrysetta Stevens

Music: Clogs, Followed by Ghosts, Unwed Sailor

Special Thanks: Alaine Handa, Ian Knodel, Paula Mann, Aaron Rice, Collin Sherradin, Joanie Smith, Stephanie Yiu, University of Minnesota Theatre & Dance Program, www.denizen-mag.com