Melody Takata

Asian Improv aRts, Asian American Dance Performances, and Genryu Arts present “Peering Through the Portal,” featuring interdisciplinary works by Melody Takata and Lee & Wang Dance, on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 7, at 1 p.m. at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission S. (at 9th Street) in San Francisco.

The program consists of three pieces:

“Quest” (Sept. 6), a work weaving spoken word, movement and music by Takata and collaborators.

“Shimenawa” (Sept. 7), which explores the issues of ongoing cultural erosion in contemporary society and the complexity of reinventing the Shinto rope to keep evil out.

Takata is the artistic director of Genryu Arts. her collaborators are Tatsu Aoki on shamisen, taiko and acoustic bass; Hideko Nakajima on shamisen, accordion and vocals; Francis Wong on flute and saxophone; poet/spoken-word artist Genny Lim; dancer Lenora Lee; and Kaoru Watanabe on taiko.

“Gale Winds & Turiya” (both days), which will have its West coast premiere at CounterPULSE. It follows the journey of women struggling to reconcile contradictory dialogue within, perceived limitations of one’s desires, and abandonment of composure to indulge in fantasy. As the lines between waking and sleeping and between reality and fantasy begin to blur, emotional landscapes collide in a collage of dreamscapes and memories.

Lee and Elaine Wang are the artistic directors of Lee & Wang Dance. Their collaborators are Watanabe on flute and taiko, Takata on taiko, and dancer Mina Nishimura.

A discussion and reception will follow the Saturday show.

Admission is $15 general, $10 for CounterPULSE members and children 12 and under. For tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com or call (800) 838-3006. For venue information, visit www.counterpulse.org.

About the Artists

Melody Takata is a taiko artist and dancer/choreographer trained in classical Japanese dance. For over 20 years, she has engaged in the interpretation of traditional pieces as well as created new works. She has further explored the role of innovation as a means to advance tradition as living culture, experimenting both with interdisciplinary integration of traditional art disciplines (taiko, folk dance, folk music, ozashiki music, classical dance) and the use of contemporary forms such as modern dance, spoken word and improvised music.

Info: www.gentaiko.com.

The mission of Lee & Wang Dance is to give voice to the experiences of Asian Americans in contemporary society through dance. Within the work, a very real and personal dimension of stories is told through theatrical narrative and dynamic movement that is a combination of gesture and physical dance, coupled with live original music.

Lenora Lee has directed, choreographed, and produced her own works, performing nationally and internationally. In recent years she has been developing a cycle of works based on the investigation of one’s ever-changing perspective on the past and on memory. This cycle includes “A Timeless Jump” (2005), “You Quietly…” (2006), “Gale Winds & Turiya” (2007), and “Exposed” (2007).

Lee’s unique movement language captures a speed and precision similar to that of martial arts and a detail in gesture and communication like that of sign language. It is influenced by modern dance, ballet, taiko, martial arts, sign language, improvisation and jazz music.

Elaine Wang has studied at the Juilliard School, UCLA (BA in dance), and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (MFA in dance). She has performed and choreographed with Trip Dance Theater, danced with JazzAntiqua Dance and Music Ensemble, and toured and taught with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange’s “Ferocious Beauty: Genome.”

Info: www.LeeWangDance.org.

The Presenters

Asian Improv aRts' (AIR) mission is to produce, present and document artistic works that represent the Asian American experience. With a unique and active network of professional and emerging musicians and artists, community organizations, and activists, AIR has consistently produced or facilitated cultural events that have brought international attention to the Asian American arts movement in the Chicago and San Francisco areas.

In addition, AIR provides critical technical assistance, advocacy, production support, mentorship and networking to artists and arts organizations through its Community Arts Development Program and the California Asian and Pacific Islander Arts Network.

Info: www.asianimprov.org.

Asian American Dance Performances (AADP) exists to provide a vehicle through which Asian Americans can express, interpret and articulate their diverse cultural heritages and experiences through dance. Its programs have been supported in part by the San Francisco Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, Flora Hewlett Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Queer Cultural Center, Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, Ramada Plaza Hotel, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and many generous businesses and individuals.

Info: www.unboundspirit.org.

The mission of Genryu Arts is to promote, present, and participate in Japanese and Japanese American culture through taiko and other traditional and contemporary music and dance forms. Genryu Arts serves the Asian American and multicultural community of the Bay Area by presenting public performances at various community events, theater venues, museums, and festivals.