UCLA World Arts and Cultures MFA Upstarts Series -- Situ-Asian, by Wu Jia
UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures MFA Upstarts Series
Presents:
¡°Situ-Asian¡±
Jia Wu, Choreographer
Saturday, May 5, 2007 at 8 PM
Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater, UCLA
$15 Admission, Students $5
In Situ-Asian Jia Wu directs 23 artists and draws on 15 years of
training in Beijing Opera, Tai Chi and Chinese folk dance to create
biting social commentary through contemporary inter-media dance
works. Hypocrisy in international political relations and the
changing role of women in an era of rapid modernization are among
the themes explored. Situ-Asian features original music by Derric
Spivak Jr., David Karagianis and Jeff Hayman, three video
collaborations with filmmakers Mariel Louise McEwan, Cari Ann Shim
Sham, Pinar Yoldas, and animator Xiaojin Bao.
Situ-Asian, the two-part work which opens the program, is an
autobiographically inspired video set in China in the late 1970¡¯s,
which tracks a girl¡¯s life from age 5 to 18, followed by Wu¡¯s
performance of a classic solo from Bejing Opera, ¡°An Imperial
Concubine Gets Tipsy¡± (Gui Fei Zui Jiu). In Poker Face, her duet
with dancer Ally Voye, Wu employs slapstick humor and a table to
explore the two faces of diplomacy in international political
relationships. A second duet titled Bird Cage, a collaboration with
Jose Reynoso, exposes the situation of Chinese women struggling with
traditional and modern female roles, employing the theory of
helplessness from social psychology. Delicious Trees, a trio made
for the camera inspired by Jia¡¯s studies with Eiko & Koma, embraces
a cycle of life that includes tree spirits and human beings. The
Other Shore is a floating dreamscape which explores the confusion of
what we want versus what we need.
Parking: $8 in Structure 4 adjacent to Kaufman Hall
(From Sunset Blvd., turn onto Westwood Plaza and park in Structure 4)
For more information: Phone: 310-825-3951, or go to www.wac.ucla.edu
For downloadable press images: www. wac.ucla.edu/WuMFA.php
Dept. of World Arts and Cultures, UCLA
Glorya Kaufman Hall
120 Westwood Plaza, Suite 150
Box 951608
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1608
Performers
Jia Wu, Ally Voye, Eva Aymami, Jonathan Corps, Jose Reynoso, Maya
Zellman, Marissa Ruazol, Rosemary Candelario, Niuniu He, Selena
Jixing Bao.
The creation and production of Situ-Asian is funded by: The UCLA
School of the Arts and Architecture, The UCLA Department of World
Arts and Cultures.
Jia Wu started professional training in dance at the age of five and
began to perform as a soloist and principal dancer shortly
thereafter. In 2001 Jia got her B.A in Chinese dance performance and
choreography at Beijing Dance Academy (graduating with honors) and
worked as a full-time dance instructor in the Dance Department at
South China Normal University. Jia's choreography is deeply
influenced by the Artistic Director of Beijing Dance Academy¡ªDeng
Yijiang, a master of traditional Chinese opera aesthetics and story
telling. In 2004 Jia came to the United States to pursue her MFA
degree at UCLA. Her current work applies Asian dance elements and
aesthetics to interpret modern issues such as globalization,
feminism, and racialism.
Jia received awards for outstanding performance and choreography at
the Chinese National Dance Competition in 2000 (Shanxi Province),
the most prestigious dance competition in China. She received the
Best Performance Award in the International University Music
Festival in France in 2004 and is also the recipient of a 2007
DanceWeb Scholarship from ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna, the Evelyn
and Mo Ostin Performing Arts Award, the Edna & Yu-Shan Han
Scholarship, and the Clifton Webb Scholarship from the School of the
Arts and Architecture at UCLA.
Jia has performed her contemporary choreography and traditional
works on programs in China, Japan, France and the United States.
Jia' s choreography has been presented at the 2006 American Dance
Festival and in a Gala Concert at the 2007 American College Dance
Festival. Her work has also been presented in Los Angeles at USC¡¯s
Bing Theater, UC Irvine¡¯s Claire Trevor Theatre, and Royce Hall and
Glorya Kaufman Hall at UCLA. She has received commissions from Hunan
Chinese New Year Festival, Ren Min University, Peking University,
Tsinghua University, South China Normal University and other
institutions.
Currently Jia is the Director of the UCLA Chinese Folk Dance Troupe.
The group has made appearances in numerous events on and off campus
in Southern California, including the 2006 Lotus Steps at UCLA's
Royce Hall, the 2005 UCLA Chinese New Year Culture Fair, UCLA
Chinese Heritage Week, the Chinese Lunar Year Parade in downtown Los
Angeles, and the Chinese New Year Reception the Moon Festival Show
sponsored by the Chinese Students and Scholar Association of
Southwest America.
She has performed professionally for choreographers Victoria Marks
(USA), David Dorfman (USA), and Luis Garay (Argentina) and Cheng-
Chieh Yu (Taiwan/USA).
- UCLA -
