Looking back.... Neither Here Nor There film

Throwback to when Director and Documentary Filmmaker, Ema Ryan Yamazaki interviewed me and 5 other New York City based third culture kids (at that time) for her documentary thesis film at NYU film school.

Neither Here Nor There film is now available for $1.99 (USD) for internet streaming through Amazon.

"Neither Here Nor There" is a 35 minute documentary that explores cultural identity for people who have grown up in places other than their home culture, known as Third Culture Kids. Through the stories of six subjects, the film investigates the often overlooked effects on adults who had international upbringings, their struggles to fit in and an eternal search to belong.

I have a funny relationship with seeing images and videos of myself from times past. Part vanity, part reminders, part memory, but most of all it captures a moment and time from my life. A documentation. I am grateful that we have the technology to take instant pictures and loads of videos to capture precious moments in our lives. Often times I forget to take pictures and going to vow to try and take a picture to remember the places, people, events, and who I was and am today. Its always interesting to make comparisons with our past lives. How much have we grown? How different have we become? Who are you in the past? Who are you in the present? Because we cannot predict the future, we only have our past to learn from and our present to experience.


 

Les Passagers - a movie trailer by Aga Magdolen

My TCK friend based in Canada is making a documentary film about TCKs in Canada and she made such a beautiful trailer. I had originally "shared" it on facebook and "tweeted" it; the TCK/Expat community took notice and is spreading it like a wildfire. (Yay Aga!) I'm so glad that she is making this movie.
Another friend of mine, more locally based in NYC is making a documentary film about TCKs as well and tonight we had a gathering and shoot with a bunch of TCKs. Its so refreshing to be able to socialize with others of similar global backgrounds. I cherish these moments.
I predict that I will be doing more interviews and shooting extra footage for the sequel to my film or an addition (not sure which...) in the next couple years because I'm so inspired by other TCKs. Our stories need to be heard. We're not a "special breed", "privileged", "exotic", "weird", "un-patriotic", instead we can bridge cross-cultural gaps, communicate across cultures, and be a true asset to society.


SAVE THE DATE!!!!
Dec. 4, 2010.
7-11 pm.
Stone Creek Bar. 140 E. 27th St, New York, NY 10016.
A.H. Dance Company Annual Holiday Fundraiser.
Celebrate my 27th birthday. (I turn 27 this month on the 27th! - in lieu of gifts, I'm asking for donations to help fund the tour to China)
A.H. Dance Company turns 3 years old as we go into our 4th season.

We are trying to raise money to bring us to Guangzhou, China to teach workshops, perform, and lead discussions w/ students aged 12-15 at Utahloy International School about global citizenship, third culture kids, cross cultural communication, and cultural diplomacy through the arts. hey lost their drama/dance teacher an...d the kids are starving for an outlet to express themselves through the arts.

Rehearsal Report

The showcase at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) conference on Jan. 8, 2010 went really well. We had a great audience and some folks from InterNations came to the showcase. I decided that week to interlace the dance sequences with the documentary film I've been working on. The interviews I've conducted with Third Culture Kids have spurred a lot of inspiration for the dance. It is amazing to meet and talk to interesting group of Third Culture Kids from all different walks of life. Their stories and experiences are touching and I hope that this project will help them cope with any TCK difficulties they may face. After the showcase, I met some great people who could relate to being a global citizen/multi-cultural/cross-cultural individual and dealing with the same or similar problems that most TCKs face.


Here are the pictures by awesome dance photographer, William Hebert:

















The past couple weeks in rehearsal, I've spent working with each individual dancer on their respective solos. Their solo material is created collaboratively between choreographer (me) and the dancer. I had each dancer come up with a prose or poem about a favorite memory they have and then I had them extract specific words out of the original. The original movement phrases were created from those words. I gave specific movement ideas to each individual dancer based on their phrases to formulate a truly individual story that is unique to the dancer. The finishing touch will be interviewing each dancer and juxtaposing their words to their solo.

I hand-picked each dancer not just based on technical ability, I picked each dancer because of her background story. Her cultural upbringing, her personality, her openness to learning about other cultures. It was important to me to have dancers that can relate to the project and invest their time in rehearsal. (Dancers if you're reading this, THANK YOU! You inspire me!) They come from a variety of cultural backgrounds (more on this later...) and it is stunning to see this cultural exchange in rehearsal every week. :-)

Attention all TCKs! (and CCKs)

I have been interviewing NYC-based TCKs lately and want to extend my invite to the rest of you. The video is for the documentary film I am currently putting together.
Everyone will be credited in the film and programs of course! If you live in the NYC area, I would love to set up a time to interview you in person. In person interviews are much more efficient b/c I also ask other questions in addition to the following questions. I am very interested in YOUR story. If you want to share YOUR story with other TCKs/CCKs this is an outlet for you to do so.

Guidelines:
-Please make sure there is enough light.

-Talk clearly and enunciate every word loudly into an external microphone or the built-in microphone to your camera/computer.

-Fuzzy videos will not be included in the final film.

-Upload all videos to Vimeo.com - sign up for an account, its free. I can download the .mov or quicktime movie version directly from the site.

-Please title the video your name followed by AHDanceCo. example: Alaine Handa AHDanceCo

-Send me the link at ahdancecompany@gmail.com


Here are your list of questions:


1. What is your name?


2. Where were you born?


3. What is your heritage?


4. Where have you lived & how long at each place?


5. What is your definition of "home" and how is it different from those around you?


6. Where do you consider "home" and why?


7. Do you have interests in the following: foreign languages, international
relations, travelling, international politics, different cultures of the
world, etc... Yes/No
If so, do you think your background has helped you develop these interests?


8. What are your thoughts on globalization? Current political situation?


9. How are your thoughts on world affairs different from those around you?


10. Do you plan on incorporating a large amount of travel with your career?


11. Any last comments to future Third Culture Kids/Cross Culture Kids, any words of wisdom?

"I am a TCK" (2005)

This is a mash-up of the project I did as a senior at UCLA's Department of World Arts & Cultures. This project premiered at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA in May 2005.

The interviews/documentary film, and the dance pieces are being recreated and explored more in depth currently.

My hope is that this current project will bring the cross cultural, multi cultural, third culture kids, cross culture kids, global nomads, bi-cultural, internationally-minded, expatriates, recent immigrants, families, travellers, sojourners, wanderers all together. Its a big dream but I think we can do it.

- Alaine