Yang Sun & Poets
Yang Sun (she/her) is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, and director, working in the intersection of movement, color, and poetry. Her strong bond with movement begins with improvisation practices in the field, cafeteria, corridor, riverbank, and other non-traditional spaces. Growing up in China and finding her path in the U.S., Yang holds a Summa Cum Laude Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Dance from Amherst College. She is also an alum of the Trinity/LA MAMA Performing Arts Program in New York and the NUOVAX program in Torino, Italy.
As a dancer, she won 3rd place in ImpulsTanz "Freedom is a Dancer" Dance Battle in 2023, Vienna Italy. Yang has worked with choreographers such as Shen Wei, Jonathan Frederick, Alleyne Dance, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Jenna Riegel, Elena Puchol Sola, and Michael Getman. She is currently performing with Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hardknocks.
In spring 2021 in Amherst , MA, Yang curated a series of public interactive installations called Project 2020. From 2021 to the present, she presented choreographic works at Arts on Site, Kirby Theater, ADF Informal Concert, ACDA Northeast Regional Gala, Queens Outdoor Dance Festival, CraftNYC, among others. In 2024, her dance film Poet was selected by various international festivals including the American Dance Festival Movies by Movers, Portland Dance Film Festival, London Contemporary Exhibition, Cinédanse Sept-Îles Prix Lumière nomination, and more.
During her time in residence, Yang will continue the development of The Stranger. Alongside her company collaborators, she will engage with five non-dance immigrant community members to join her in the development and presentation of the work.
About The Stranger
The Stranger sits at the intersection of dance and installation, delving into the stories of immigrants and resident aliens in the United States across generations. “Coming to the United States from China for high school, my teenage years have been filled with questions about my place in both the U.S. and my motherland – frustration with the foreign language, illusional strivings to fit in, anger and helplessness in defending my identity or fears towards indeterminate visa application. Yet, the above is only one piece of a larger story. I am curious about other immigrants' stories, and their complicated shared emotions: fear, hope, sorrow, anger...The Stranger captures their stories and mine.”
Dancing, beaten, out of breath, running, dropping bags, cursing, chaotic flash, high on adrenaline, desires running wild, sleepless, defeated, exhausted, beguiled.
On streets, madness prowls, loud and shriek
Whispers creep into the ear.
It was an attack
But I don't understand-Yang Sun
Image courtesy of Rachel Keane Collaborations
Programming
Residency Highlights
Collaborative Company
Image courtesy of Quijiang Levi Lu
Qiujiang Levi Lu /卢秋江
Composer & Singer
Qiujiang Levi Lu/卢秋江 (they/them) is a Beijing-born, NYC-based computer musician, performance artist, improviser, composer, and educator. For their solo performance practice, Lu designs Max/MSP-based electroacoustic feedback systems with cyborg-like body augmentations inspired by Objectophilia/animism, which include special microphones and speakers placed within bodily orifices, augmented amplified laptop and a custom-mapped flight joystick controller. Their resulting performances consist of choreographed, ritualistic improvisations that build on ancient Chinese drumming traditions and explore body dysmorphia, sexuality, spirituality, and mortality, linking together sound, movement, and violence in divine ceremony. As a composer, Lu’s commissioned works often take a meta, unorthodox approach to music technology, exploring human-machine relationships, audio-visual interactivity, mind-body connection, and the phenomenology of musical performance. Lu is the second-prize winner of The International Electronic Music Competition 2023, and their works have been performed and featured at international festivals, conferences, and venues such as High Zero Festival, MATA Festival, IRCAM Forum, DiMenna Center, Jazz Showcase, SEAMUS conference, Spencer Museum of Art, The Rotunda, Oberlin MMG, and NowNet Arts conference. Lu has also been an artist-in-residence at Elektronmusikstudion EMS Stockholm SE. Lu currently lectures in the Department of Music at the University of Pennsylvania.
Image Credit: Amy Arakaki
Nicole Arakaki
Dancer
Nicole Arakaki (she/her) is a freelance artist from the New Jersey/ New York area. Recently, she made her off-Broadway debut performing the principal role, Pinocchio, in the dance theatre adaptation of Pinocchio, presented by the New York City Children’s Theatre. She was first introduced to dance when she was around four years old and has since fallen in love with it, eventually earning her Bachelor of Arts in Dance, with a concentration in Dance Education (K-12). Some educators who greatly influenced her include Cameron McKinney, Chris Ralph, Maxine Steinman, and Stefanie Batten Bland, the latter two of whom she has also performed works by. In addition, she has also been fortunate enough to have performed pieces by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Carolyn Dorfman, Janice Rosario, Ellenore Scott, and Randy James, among other esteemed choreographers–on various stages, including Montclair’s Alexander Kasser Theater, along with the Gramercy Theater, Theatre Row, and the MMAC Theater in New York. Currently, she is a member of the HT Chen Dance Company, which is based in New York.
Image courtesy of Angélica María Barbosa Rodríguez
Angélica María Barbosa Rodríguez
Dancer
Angélica María Barbosa Rodríguez (she/her) was born and raised in Colombia and graduated with honors with a BFA in Performing Arts with an emphasis in Dance at Pontificia Javeriana University (Bogota, Colombia), and the last semester abroad at Institut del Teatre (Barcelona, Spain) studying Dance Pedagogy, Choreography and Interpretation. She moved to New York to continue her professional training at the Ailey School as a scholarship trainee in Limón Pro. She received supplemental training at institutions such as P.A.R.T.S (Brussels, Belgium), Dart Dance Company (Berlin, Germany), Martha Graham School (NYC) and GALLIM School of Movement and currently working with GALLIM Dance Company as an Administrative and Marketing Intern. Angelica is a teaching artist with Notes in Motion, Ballet Hispánico and Dancewave. She has collaborated with prominent Latino artists, including Latin Grammy winner Juliana Velazquez and the renowned Colombian rock band Aterciopelados in music videos. Angélica also starred as one of the main actresses in the Colombian TV miniseries Desde Adentro (From Inside).
Image credit: Isis Rayne
Nikkie Samreth
Dancer
Nikkie Samreth (they/them) is a first generation Cambodian-Chinese multidisciplinary artist originally from Dallas, TX. They have a BFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and studied at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. They also graduated Summa Cum Laude at SUNY FIT with a Bachelor of Science in International Trade & Marketing and a triple minor in Economics, Creative Technology, and Ethics & Sustainability. Post-college, Nikkie worked as a professional dancer/performer/model in various music videos, campaigns, films, and performance projects with companies such as The Feath3r Theory, Company XIV, HBO Max, Vogue, Vogue Runway, Universal Music Group, and other artists. Throughout Nikkie’s career they have had the opportunity to perform works by Merce Cunningham, Anton Lachky, Raja Feather Kelly, Aszure Barton, and many others. Along with their professional career, Nikkie has supplemented their artistry with new skills such as cello, boxing, skateboarding, archery, acting, and other interests to reshape their perspective of dance and choreography.
Image courtesy of Alisya Razman
Alisya Razman
Original Cast/Dramaturg
Alisya Razman (she/her)is a Brooklyn based artist from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Since graduating from NYU Tisch, she has danced professionally with UNA Productions, Helen Simoneau Danse, Dishman & Co Choreography, Cayleen Del Rosario and Yang Sun while being a teaching artist at The Ailey School. She was commissioned to present work at the Ailey Citigroup Theater for the Professional Division program last spring.
Image courtesy of Alexis Vinzons
Alexis Vizons
Original Cast/Dramaturg
Alexis Vinzons (she/her)is a New York City-based freelance dance artist from Westchester, NY. She is a facilitator of Emergent Improvisation, a practice crafted by Troy Ogilvie and Omar Zubair, held regularly at Gibney Dance Center and Peridance Center. Her improvisation practice takes an anatomical approach and investigates honesty, spontaneity, curiosity, and care as essential lenses for engaging with and reconnecting to dance. She holds a B.A. from Cornell University, where she studied Information Science and Art History.