CAATA Press Release: Dictee

CONSORTIUM OF ASIAN AMERICAN THEATERS & ARTISTS (CAATA) NEWS RELEASE

PHOTO EDITORS: Publicity photos are located here: http://2011.caata.net/dictee/

Festival promotional video can be found here: http://bit.ly/jWWOIR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Peter J. Kuo, Publicist, (626) 221-3270, peter.j.kuo@gmail.com

National Asian American Theater Festival hosts
Soomi Kim’s Dictee

Los Angeles, Calif. (June 10, 2011) — Dictee, Soomi Kim’s multi-media dance theater performance based on the text of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s seminal literary collage, will be presented as part of the 3rd National Asian American Theater Festival on June 24 at 9 p.m. and June 26 at 2 p.m.

Through interchangeable disciplines of spoken text, movement, music, experimental sound and video, performing artists Soomi Kim and Jen Shyu craftily combine their talents as actor/dancer/musicians to create an exhilarating, luminous, collaborative new work. These two emerging NYC based artists share the stories of brave women who are ordinary, revolutionary and extraordinary in their common experiences of suffering and transcendence of suffering. Dictee is conceived by Kim, but is a collaborative process driven project. The thee main artists are director Suzi Takahashi (director of Lee/gendary and artistic director of NYC’s female theater company ex.pgirl), composer/musician Jen Shyu (composer/performer for Lee/gendary and vocalist with Steve Coleman’s 5 Element group) and Kim (creator, performer for the award winning Lee/gendary). Dictee will also feature actor Elena Chang and video projections by Chris McClain.

Soomi Kim is a Korean born, New York City based actor/movement artist who works as a company member with several artists as well as a producer, creator and performer of her own work, almost always in the collaborative setting. In October 2008, her original play Lee/gendary (based on the life of Bruce Lee–written by Derek Nguyen and directed by Suzi Takahashi) ran for three weeks at HERE Arts Center’s mainstage. This production (produced by and featuring Kim as Bruce Lee) garnered six IT Awards nominations and received the award for 2009 Outstanding Production of a Play. Lee/gendary was also presented at the First National Asian American Theater Festival held in New York City in 2007.

Musician, composer and performer Jen Shyu has also worked closely with actress/performance artist Soomi Kim on her award-winning piece Lee/gendary inspired by Bruce Lee, where Jen composed for and performed with Soomi at the Beckett Theater as part of the first National Asian American Theatre Festival. Jen was a MacDowell Colony National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in 2008-2009 and has been awarded fellowships from the Asian Cultural Council, Jerome Foundation, the Bronx Council on the Arts, and special commissions from Roulette Space & the Jazz Gallery.

Director Suzi Takahashi is a bi-racial Japanese/American director, artistic director, collaborative theater maker, and actor. In 2009, Suzi began to pursue her love of directing full time after being named Best Director at the Innovative Theater Awards for her collaborative work on Lee/gendary with playwright Derek Nguyen and performer Soomi Kim. Suzi was an Emerging Artist Fellow in directing at the New York Theater Workshop for 2009-10, where she commissioned the first English translation and presented a reading of Betsuyaku’s absurdist play, Godot Has Come.

Funding for the 3rd National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival is being provided, in part by, National Endowment for the Arts, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the California Community Foundation, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. Additional sponsors are the Japanese American National Museum, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and Inner-City Arts.

The National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival Media Sponsors are The LA Weekly, The Rafu Shimpo and Hyphen Magazine.

TICKETS for Dictee are $12 to $15 and can be purchased online at www.caata.net, by phone at (213) 625-7000, in person at the East West Players box office, or at the performance venue one hour prior to performance time.

LOCATION: Dictee will be presented as part of the National Asian American Theater Festival at Inner-City Arts Rosenthal Theater at 720 Kohler Street in Downtown Los Angeles between E. 7th St. and E. 8th St.

OTHER PERFORMANCES IN THE NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL: Archipelago: Islands of Land, Water and Legend; Encounter and Pull (June 23 at 7 p.m. and June 25 at 9 p.m.), Dancing on Glass (June 23, at 9 p.m. and June 25, at 7p.m.), Jukebox Stories (June 24 at 7 p.m. and June 26 at 4 p.m.), A Number (June 23 at 7 p.m. and June 25 at 9 p.m.), The Passion of El Hulk Hogancito (June 24 at 9 p.m. and June 26 at 2 p.m.), Sunoh! Tell Me Sister (June 24 at 7 p.m. and June 26 at 4 p.m.), Ten Reasons Why’d I’d Be a Bad Porn Star (June 23 at 9 p.m. and June 25 at 7 p.m.)

PARTNER PERFORMANCES FOR THE NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL: Krunk-Fu Battle Battle (May 12 – June 26), Extraordinary Chambers (May 24 – July 3), Year Zero (June 1 – July 3), A  Book By Its Cover (June 24 -  July 23), Sun Sisters (July 30 – August 28, Open Rehearsal on June 22)

ABOUT CAATA: The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists envisions a strong and sustainable Asian American Theater community that is an integral presence in national culture—evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future. Our mission is to advance the field of Asian American Theater through a national network of organizations and artists. We collaborate to inspire leaning and sharing of knowledge, and resources to promote a healthy, sustainable artistic ecology.

Dictee

by Soomi Kim
directed by Suzi Takahashi

CREATIVE TEAM: Jen Shyu (musician/composer) and Chris McClain (video projection designer)

CAST: Soomi Kim and Elena Chang

SYNOPSIS: Dictee, a new work, is a multi-media dance theater performance based on the text of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s seminal literary collage. Through interchangeable disciplines of spoken text, movement, music, experimental sound and video, performing artists Soomi Kim and Jen Shyu share the stories of brave women who are ordinary, revolutionary, and extraordinary in their common experiences of suffering and transcendence of suffering.

 

TICKETS : $15 for general public, $12 seniors and students with valid I.D.

BOX OFFICE: Tickets may be purchase at the venues one hour prior to performance time or online at www.caata.net or by phone at (213) 625-7000.

LOCATION: The National Asian American Theater Festival at Inner-City Arts Rosenthal Theater at 720 Kohler Street in Downtown Los Angeles between E. 7th St. and E. 8th St.

PERFORMANCES:

Friday, June 24 at 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 26 at 2 p.m.

NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL MEDIA SPONSORS: LA Weekly, The Rafu Shimpo and Hyphen Magazine

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The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists, 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 308 New York, NY 10018 United States.

 

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