RiverGrass Dance Theathre and Academy

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Rivergrass Dance Theatre presents two Asian artists from two sides of the globe inviting you to experience the diversity in their shared perspectives. Featuring Mew Chang Tsing, one of K.L.'s most captivating dancers, collaborating with poet Eddin Khoo, musician Yuan Liu Yunn and lighting designer Loke Soh Kim in presenting their most recent theatrical piece, A Peel which premiered in Seattle in May '99. A Peel is highly colourful in emotions, with much subtlety in intensity.

The second part features works of John D. Pai, a film-maker/image installation artist from New York based in seattle. He will present a video installation inspired by John Coltrane's music and Kamau Daaood's poems and two short films entitled, Potrait of my Mother and Ode to Joy. Both films will be presented through imagery, poetry and music.

Thoughts
"The imagery contained within this installation reflects an emotional place that directly speak to a personal space within me. There are things that are always around and, can be seen, felt, or experienced everyday.

But they are also representational of our lives, and the manner in which we are living. When we are born, our perspections are clear, and there's a specific immediacy to our world. We are powerful and enlighthened, without knowing it. As grow older, we cross a bridge that separates the end of innocence and the beginning of consciousness. We lose our eyes. We become desensitized. We became lost within the quest for labelling, the quest for intellectualization, held back by our own construct of meaning."

- John D Pai

"A Peel deals with the confusion, anger and frustration felt by an Asian female at the end of the millenium. It tells of her questioning of justice, truth, faith and the hope for re-establishment of the self. It also explores the merging of many Eastern and western dance and theatrical forms."

- Mew Chang Tsing

Biodata of John d.Pai

John D. Pai has been creating experimental and documentary film for the past twelve years. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and started as a visual artist/photographer.

Initially working with singular images Mr. Pai gravitated towards the incorporation of those images in a series. Pixilated shorts earmarked his transition into film making as experimental and documentary pieces evolved at a latter state. He’s worked primarily as a documentary artist since graduate school, creating work for the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, WA. His work reflects his interest in visuals, sound, music and poetry. What excites him as a filmmaker is the ability to evoke memory, beauty and emotions through his medium. His style is not to direct or choreograph so much as to "find, identify and capture", which is why he is more interested in experimental and documentary work rather than creating narrative pieces.

He is interested in using imagery that is non-conventional and non-linear in ways that allow the viewer to be more interactive as opposed to viewing passively. Within a three dimensional context, Mr. Pai’s work has gravitated to another level beyond the singular voice. A new layer of information and dimension adds to the creation of a new space and perception.

Interview

Following is an interview of John by Sharon Leach, correspondent from www.Kulture.com.my, KL's performing arts diary.

Q: What is your educational background and where else have you worked?
A: I have a Master of Fine Arts (MA) from Southern Illinois University and have filmed and photographed in New York City, St. Louis, Chicago and Seattle.

Q: How did you become involved with NWAAT?
A: I applied to become a participant of the International Artist Program, sponsored by the Ford foundation, and was chosen by NWAAT to participate.

Q: Where do you consider your "roots" to be?
A: My roots come from my childhood in New York City, my Chinese parents and my Lithuanian god mother.

Q: How did you meet Mew? What made you want to work with her?
A: I met Mew through the International Artist Program. I look forward to working with her because of her strongly emotionally based work .

Q: Mew describes her work as, "a fusion of eastern vocabulary and spirit with a western way of structuring dances". How does your art form link to Mew's?
A: My work primarily speaks from an emotional base rooted in a western tradition of structure and content. In linking with Mew's art form I look forward to creating new bridges and discovering greater meaning for myself as well as for others.

Q: "Pierce the Globe" is a thought provoking title! What are your "shared perspectives" and how does Asian experience compare in two multicultural societies from different ends of the globe?
A: We come from a very similar emotional background that's rooted very deeply in our connection to family and who we are as individuals. What binds us in our perspective is the voice from the heart, the soul that speaks in unison and the reality of what we see as the need to communicate. The experience is more universal than one would think. In actuality it's the similarities that are remarkable.

Q: In what ways have you been influenced by Kamau Daaood and John Coltrane in the making of "Reflections on A Love Supreme"?
A: The work of Kamau Daaood and John Coltrane speak of a beauty and richness in life that is often overlooked or taken for granted .In asking us to search deeper within ourselves and to look with greater clarity at that which surrounds us we are taken to a higher level of understanding and feeling. In both artist's work that level of unconscious clarity works to awaken and celebrate.

Q: Who else has influenced your work?
A: Emotionally & spiritually it's been my wife, parents, family, and close friends. Artistically I've been influenced by the photographers Paul Strand, Ray Metzger, and Danny Lyon; the film makers Stan Brackage, Barbara Hammer, and Dziga Vertov; the writers Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin, and Frank Chin; and the musicians John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Charles Mingus.

Q: How heavily do you draw on your own personal experience in your art?
A: My own personal experience is at the crux of the work for the most part.

Q: Do you think the different cultural experiences of Malaysians will affect how they interpret your films?
A: It shouldn't make a difference in the interpretation.

Q: What do you hope a Malaysian audience will gain?
A: I hope they would receive the same message I intended for the piece and also gain access to a greater understanding of several basic human needs.

Q: Are there any specific reasons for choosing "A Love Supreme", "Portrait of my Mother" and "Ode to Joy" to show to a Malaysian audience?
A: No.

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