Home: Far and Near and Battle of the Barrios

Catzie--and lots of our friends--will be performing at the Asian Arts Initiative this weekend and next. Check out details below.

Then on Sun, March 28, we're in the Battle of the Barrios at Rutgers University (cuz ya know we love our Filipino peeps :) Details below on that, too.

Hope you can come.

Love,
Michelle

Home: Far and Near
A festival of Asian American performance
Thursday - Saturday, March 25 - 27, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
$15 general admission; student + group discounts available
$40 for all 4 shows
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A festival unique to Philadelphia, convening Asian America's most talented and provocative performers working in diverse disciplines, from right here in Philly and across the country -- some classic, some cutting edge, all unforgettable. Asian Arts Initiative's 2010 Artists Exchange, Home: Far and Near, brings them together to explore broad themes of immigration, displacement, and the concept of home.

It starts with three nights of not-to-miss showcases of solo work:

NIGHT #1: Dynamic Dance and Theater
Thursday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Makoto Hirano, Kristina Wong

NIGHT #2: Superstars of Spoken Word
Friday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Regie Cabico, Robert F. Karimi, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

NIGHT #3: History in the Making
Saturday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Dan Kwong, Anula Shetty, Catzie Vilayphonh

Then, following a week of intensive collaboration, our star-studded collective of artists from around the country debut a new ensemble work-in-progress that invokes their creativity to speak to common community concerns:

NIGHT #4: New Work
Saturday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Entire Artists Exchange Ensemble

NIGHT #1: DYNAMIC DANCE AND THEATER
Thursday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Makoto Hirano, Kristina Wong
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Filled with deliciously intense movement inspired by real events and ideas, Philadelphia-based MAKOTO HIRANO investigates Hip Hop and House culture that pays homage to Gene Kelly and Richard Pryor. During its development, Boom Bap Tourism: The Lost Tapes was discovered: material omitted from the final version has now resurfaced as an alluring/ pre/sequel.

With trademark humor and irreverent wit, KRISTINA WONG shares stories of moving through car-centric Los Angeles on foot, bus, and piggyback. The Wong Sans Wheels Chronicles is a love story about a girl and the green-living biodiesel car that betrayed her, a treatise on consumerism, and one woman's guide to recession survival tactics -- sure to leave you clutching your belly with laughter!

NIGHT #2: SUPERSTARS OF SPOKEN WORD
Friday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Regie Cabico, Robert F. Karimi, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
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Tracing his orbit from his Catholic family roots and dreams of Broadway musicals to the spoken word slam scene and back again, D.C.-based performance poet and comedian REGIE CABICO in Unbuckled is a one-man cabaret infused with humor, irreverent pop-culture references, and his ever-enduring perspective as a queer Filipino artist.

With the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the birth of '80s conservatism, and Bay Area suburban teenage angst as backdrop, Minnesota-based ROBERT KARIMI and performance partner DJ D DOUBLE presents elements of Self (the remix), an autobiographical tale of an Iranian/Guatemalan boy struggling to make sense of manhood, nationhood, and neighborhood with the voices and music of his community helping him along.

Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based Taiwanese American spoken word artist KELLY ZEN-YIE TSAI explores what it means to belong (or not) in this modern-day choreopoem for diasporic divas who have considered expatriation when identity ain't enough. From an anti-war protest in Chicago to a language school in Taipei to an activist enclave in rural Mexico, Sleep on Wood chronicles Kelly's global search for self and salvation and how actually finding "home" just might be one of the scariest endeavors of all.

NIGHT #3: HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Saturday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Dan Kwong, Anula Shetty, Catzie Vilayphonh
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Equal parts travelogue, satirical dance review, and irreverent history lesson, It's Great 2B American follows award-winning California-based solo performance artist DAN KWONG through his recent travels to Asia and his ongoing search for an American identity beyond arrogance, denial, or guilt. This evening will achieve no less than transforming your concept of privilege!

Ever-versatile Philadelphia-based filmmaker ANULA SHETTY delivers not one, not two, but three short reveries! Uncle is a dark tale about a favorite uncle who starts making too many free phone calls. Too Taboo recounts the sexual awakening of a young girl who ventures into forbidden pleasures and receives moral lessons from her class teacher. Let Them Eat Cake describes returning home to Bombay and discovering a different relationship to class distinctions, cleanliness, and food.

Philly-born and raised CATZIE VILAYPHONH of Yellow Rage fame performs her signature piece Laos in the House, an eye-opening spoken word tribute to the Lao American experience drawing on cultural references to food, language, and the ethnic ambiguity of an obscure nation. In addition to her classic crowd-pleaser, Catzie also debuts a brand-new performance about life as a single mother and her reluctant return home to "the hood."

NIGHT #4: NEW WORK
Saturday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Entire Artists Exchange Ensemble
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Battle of the Barrios
Sunday, March 28

A Benefit to Raise Money for Typhoon Ondoy Relief--
All Proceeds Will Be Donated to Ayala USA

Trayes Hall
Douglass Campus Center
Douglass Campus
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ

Tickets $10
T-Shirts $10
Doors Open at 6pm for pre-sale
Doors Open at 6:45pm for all other tickets
Show starts at 7:30pm

Sponsored by the Rutgers Association of Philippine Students (RAPS)