Mondavi Center Presents
Threshold
Choreographers Claudine Naganuma
and SanSan Kwan
Friday, October 18 – Sunday, October 20, 2024
Vanderhoef Studio Theatre
Threshold, a dual program by choreographer Claudine Naganuma of dNaga Dance Co. and Choreographer SanSan Kwan, offers a feminist response to anti-Asian violence and Asian American invisibility.
This evening of dance ushers audiences into an encounter with the shadows and structures that uphold racial violence and choreographs a space of restoration and liberation. Join us in exploring the kinetics of resilience.
Meet us at the Threshold. Cross through with community and dive into legacies that bring us toward sovereignty over our Selves and into solidarity with the collective.
Sponsored by
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The Nancy and Hank Fisher Family Fund
Unbound
“Unbound” a performance directed by Claudine Naganuma and performed by dNaga Dance Co. explores the origins of anti-Asian violence through poignant narratives of incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII, the impact of patriarchy on girls, and the modern-day repercussions of racist legislation. The piece delves into trajectories of hope through themes of unity and care, drawing inspiration from figures like Yuri Kochiyama and examining the practices that propel us towards collective liberation.
Two Doors
When we witness a violent act, a pain is felt through the body. “Two Doors,” a performance directed by SanSan Kwan, explores the viscerality of anti-Asian racism and the sovereignty that we wrest for ourselves in response. Dancers experiment with closings and openings, weight sharing and weight bearing, surveillance and care, playing with the kinetics of in/visibility, anticipated harm, redress, and repair.
Sponsored by Anti-Asian Violence: Origins and Trajectories Research Initiative led by Leti Volpp, Susette Min, Laura Kang, Lee Ann Wang
This research initiative has been generously funded by the University of California Research Grants Program Office.
Artist Bios
San San Kwan
"Two Doors" Choreographer/Director
San San Kwan
SanSan Kwan is chair in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley where she teaches dance studies, performance studies, and dance practice. In the Bay Area, she has collaborated with Lenora Lee Dance, Chingchi Yu, composer Scott Rubin, and visual artist Jen Liu . In New York, she danced with Chen and Dancers, Maura Nguyen Donohue, and Joanna Mendl Shaw, among others. Two Doors is her first project as an artistic director. SanSan is also a dance scholar. Books: Love Dances: Loss and Mourning in Intercultural Collaboration (Oxford, 2021) (winner of a de la Torre Bueno© Award and an Isadora Duncan Dance Award); Kinesthetic City: Dance and Movement in Chinese Urban Spaces (Oxford, 2013) and Mixing It Up: Multiracial Subjects (University of Texas Press, 2004), co-edited with Kenneth Speirs. Journal articles: Dance Research Journal, TDR, Theatre Survey, Choreographic Practices, Performance Research, and more, plus chapters in several book anthologies.
Claudine Naganuma
dNaga Dance Co. Choreographer/Artistic Director
Claudine Naganuma
Claudine Naganuma founded dNaga Dance Co. in 2001 and its work is rooted in creativity and community building. Naganuma is the director and choreographer as well as founder of the GIRL Project, a free art and empowerment workshop for girls living in East Oakland. Naganuma has been the Program Director of Dance for PD®, Oakland since 2007 and is a certified Dance for PD® instructor. Her dancers along with members of the Dance for PD community have performed in Portland, Oregon (2016), Kyoto, Japan (2019) and Barcelona, Spain (2023) at the World Parkinson’s Congress. Her choreography was part of Dave Iverson’s 2014 documentary about dance and Parkinson’s called Capturing Grace with the Mark Morris Dance Group. She is the author of the book “Peace About Life: Dancing with Parkinson’s” including a collection of interviews that she collected and performed over the span of a decade. After receiving her M.F.A. in Dance from Mills College, she served as the Artistic Director of Asian American Dance Performances and was a founding board member of the SF Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. She was an international exchange artist between the Hong Kong Fringe Club and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and received a young presenter’s award from Jacob’s Pillow. She served as the Director of Danspace in Oakland, CA, from 2014–2021. Most recently, she was the choreographer of Soul of the City with Brenda Wong Aoki’s First Voice.
Your Visit
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UC Davis Discounts
UC Davis students, faculty, and staff get special discounts and savings on tickets.
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