"She Who Dies to Live" - 2019 Queensland Gallery of Modern Art - Brisbane, Australia
She who Dies to Live reimagines formative stories of the Pacific into a contemporary epic. Take part in this immersive performance exploring the survival of culture and story in the face of colonization, nuclear testing, militarism, diaspora, and
Directed by: Lyz Soto
Written and performed by: Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, and Terisa Siagatonu.
"She Who Dies to Live" - 2017 Smithsonian Culture Lab Exhibit 'Ae Kai.
What if our health depended upon telling the truth about what is happening to us? This multimedia spoken word experience reimagines Death as a vital vein of Pasefika experience, rather than an end to our island narratives. Featuring an all-female linup of performers representing Fiji, Samoa, the Marshall Islands and Hawai'i, She Who Dies to Live represents a convergence of different Pasefika Voices, and of various art forms and storytelling methods. Come take part in this reconisderation of Death as the fulcrum on which Life in Oceania balances the realities of nuclear tearing, militarism, suicide and colonization.
Written, Directed and Starring: Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng, Jahra 'Rager' Wasasala, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, and Terisa Siagatonu.
"Pasifika Fridays" in collaboration with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
Performance at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
Salt Lake City, Utah. 2019.
"Pecha Kucha 20 x 20"
Performance / Presentation at the Hawaii State Art Museum.
Honolulu, Hawaii. 2019
"Let the Body Speak" in collaboration with the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Dance Company.
Performance at the San Francisco Opera House.
San Francisco, CA 2017
Her Bodies of Stories is a new spoken art work exploring themes of diaspora, colonialism, settler colonialism, hopeful decolonization and growing up in Hawaiʻi. This performance piece combines slam poetry choreography with theater producing scenes that move from fierce to playful to thought-provoking. The work was written and will be performed by local spoken arts poet, Lyz Soto, cofounder of Pacific Tongues and mentor of its award-winning program, Youth Speaks Hawaiʻi. Lyz will share the stage with fellow performers, Jocelyn Ng, Serena Simmons, and Grace Taylor. This theatrical performance of poetry, which experiments with theater, movement, and sound, was developed in collaboration with Jocelyn Ng and Serena Simmons and directed by Grace Taylor.
Performed at the Doris Duke Theatre in Honolulu, Hawai'i & The Maui Arts and Cultural Center.
Her Bodies of Stories is a new spoken art work exploring themes of diaspora, colonialism, settler colonialism, hopeful decolonization and growing up in Hawaiʻi. This performance piece combines slam poetry choreography with theater producing scenes that move from fierce to playful to thought-provoking. The work was written and will be performed by local spoken arts poet, Lyz Soto, cofounder of Pacific Tongues and mentor of its award-winning program, Youth Speaks Hawaiʻi. Lyz will share the stage with fellow performers, Jocelyn Ng, Serena Simmons, and Grace Taylor. This theatrical performance of poetry, which experiments with theater, movement, and sound, was developed in collaboration with Jocelyn Ng and Serena Simmons and directed by Grace Taylor.
Performed at the Doris Duke Theatre in Honolulu, Hawai'i & The Maui Arts and Cultural Center.
36th Street Blues tells the stories of housewives from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. They all reside on 36th Street. At sunrise, we are brought into their world. They share stories of love in remembrance of their adolescence, loss, pain, and triumph. Through movement, music, and poetry these women are in search of their Blues. 36th Street is a true place. It exists whether you are in LA, Brooklyn, China, or Palestine. These stories of struggle and triumph are relatable. It doesn’t matter the age or gender. These stories are your stories.
36th Street Blues was work-shopped at San Francisco State University. Bill Peters (Master of Fine Arts, Yale University), the director of the Brown Bag Company, granted the freedom to bridge gaps and make connections through combining Poetry and Theatre and invited 36th Street Blues to be a part of the Brown Bag season. After a successful crowd-funding indiegogo.com fundraiser, and having revamped and reworked the show, it is now ready for its World Premiere.
Presenter / Producer: Jasmine Williams
36th Street Blues tells the stories of housewives from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. They all reside on 36th Street. At sunrise, we are brought into their world. They share stories of love in remembrance of their adolescence, loss, pain, and triumph. Through movement, music, and poetry these women are in search of their Blues. 36th Street is a true place. It exists whether you are in LA, Brooklyn, China, or Palestine. These stories of struggle and triumph are relatable. It doesn’t matter the age or gender. These stories are your stories.
36th Street Blues was work-shopped at San Francisco State University. Bill Peters (Master of Fine Arts, Yale University), the director of the Brown Bag Company, granted the freedom to bridge gaps and make connections through combining Poetry and Theatre and invited 36th Street Blues to be a part of the Brown Bag season. After a successful crowd-funding indiegogo.com fundraiser, and having revamped and reworked the show, it is now ready for its World Premiere.
Presenter / Producer: Jasmine Williams