MEET CHIN-CHIN HSU PERFORMING IN SOL Y SOMBRA FEBRUARY 17-18, GARAGE 8 PM

                                      

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/214316

Where are you from?
Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Where did you study?
Lin-Ya Middle school, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Tso-ying High School, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL

How long have you been dancing?
It all started at the age of 5, so it's been 20 years!!

What got you into dancing?
When I was 5, I accidentally saw a dance class when I was walking down the street in Chinatown with my family. I peaked into the studio and heard the teacher calling the girls "little butterflies"; I thought to myself....."why am I not a butterfly? I can jump just like those girls!!". I turned around and told my parents: "I have to be a butterfly!!!". The following week, they sent me into the "magical butterfly world". :D
Soon after that, I came to a realization that I wasn't a butterfly, I was just simply a ordinary girl who is in love of moving my body.

What dancer(s) or people inspire you?
Soooo many.......The Project. B. crew has the most awesome dancers and choreographer to be surrounded and get inspired!
My husband, Kiké, who inspires me all the time in my every-day life; my parents, brother and sister in Taiwan, who are always the spirits I carry with me wherever I go.

What inspires you to keep on dancing?
I always thought it's beautiful to express myself through the body my parents have given me. No matter where I land in the world, I am always dancing a trio (with mom & dad) whenever I move my body. The thought of connecting with my roots when I move has inspired me to continue dancing.

Who are your role models?
My mama = super woman

Outside of dancing professionally, do you have any hobbies or other interests?
I LOVE FOOD! I call it my "useless talent", so much training yet not paid.
By the way, I can also play violin and piano.

Have you ever used your talents for the good of the community?
I enjoy sharing my knowledge with the young seeds in the community. I am a teacher in ODC's youth program and a Chinese martial art/ creative movement teacher with Performing Arts Workshop. I also participate as a choreographer for different Chinese bilingual schools for the Chinese Parade every year in San Francisco. Once a year or two, I travel back to Taiwan to share and deliver my pockets of knowledge with dancers in my hometown, Kaohsiung.

What was your most embarrassing dance moment?
I haven't had any embarrassing dance moment in my life YET (Thank God), and hope it will never happen. But I can share one embarrassing story that happened when I was in dance school (middle school). We had to wear uniforms for school, and for the girls, were white shirt and skirt. One day during the recess, I went to the bathroom just as any other normal day, the only difference was a lot of people were laughing behind me when I was walking back to the classroom from the bathroom. I didn't think too much since it was recess, laughing and giggling were expected. 5 minutes after I arrived the classroom, my best friend came next to me and whispered in my ear: "Chin, you tucked the skirt inside your underwear"........................

BONUS PROJECT. B. DANCER INTERVIEW MEET CHEN-WEI HSU

Chen-wei took 6 weeks of his visit from Taiwan to apprentice with Project. B. During this time, he learned Sol y Sombra and understudied the main dancers of the company. Thank you to Chen-wei for all his hard work. We hope to work with him again in the future. 

Get to know this amazing dancer! 
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW TO SOL Y SOMBRA!
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/214316

Where are you from?
Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Where did you study?
Taiwan National University of Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

How long have you been dancing?
I started dancing in high school, it's been 7 years.

What got you into dancing?
I was not very good at my academics when I was in middle school, and I didn't have any interest or goal to aim on. So my sister came up with an idea, she said she would train me for a month before the audition for Tsoying High School dance department. She took a bet with my father believing dance will change my life somehow. I was trained by my sister in our tiny little room for a month, and I got accepted into the dance program. And now, dance is part of my life. I guess my sister was quite right! :)

What dancer(s) or people inspire you?
Everyone who has grown with me and people who are in my daily life are always the inspirations to my art.

What inspires you to keep on dancing?
I really enjoy every second, minute and hour when I am in the world of creating dance, I like that I have to incorporate my whole being into one goal from thinking to an idea, from experimenting to failures, and from accomplishment to discovering more possibilities. 
And I also feel very delight during the moments on stage sharing my dance with people.

Who are your role models?
I don't have one specific role model, I think every person I've met is a role model who has something special I can learn from. 

Outside of dancing professionally, do you have any hobbies or other interests?
I can tumble and do flips very very good. I am also good at cooking and like to cook for people.
And my useless talent is "sleep", I can sleep under any conditions, any time, any where.

Have you ever used your talents for the good of the community?
Yes! I teach in several dance studios in Taipei. It's really fun to pass down what I know and share dance and time with students. One of the sites I am teaching is an orphanage in Taipei, what I look for in the classroom has always been a smile from the children when they move their bodies. When I see the children express themselves through dance, I feel the simplest joy in the world!! 


What was your most embarrassing dance moment?
It was my first oversea performance in Hong Kong, 2006. I just learned how to do back flip and had to perform in a Chinese martial art piece. I felt pretty confident to show off my new trick on stage. Here comes the moment, everything was going well, I ran and plié(ed) and jumped and flipped in the air then I landed cooly on my feet! One second after, I tripped myself with my foot and fell on stage ungracefully (actually it was ugly) that killed my moment of glory......

MEET KATHERINE WELLS PERFORMING IN SOL Y SOMBRA FEBRUARY 17-18, GARAGE 8 PM

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/214316

Where are you from? Sunnyvale, CA

Where did you study? Western Ballet School

How long have you been dancing? I began my training 19 years ago.

What got you into dancing? After many years of dancing around the house and refusing lessons, it wasn’t until an older sister started taking jazz. Then I wanted to be just like her.

What dancer(s) or people inspire you? Samuel Roberts

What inspires you to keep on dancing? Dancing gives me the greatest, most direct and deepest access to who I truly am. This along with the desire to share and tell stories is more addictive than anything. Even more than ice cream:)

Who are your role models? My mom. She’s my hero.

Outside of dancing professionally, do you have any hobbies or other interests? I have had a journal since I was 5. I always have something to write with at all times. I have also been obsessed with salsa dancing since I lived 3 blocks away from a salsa club in Denver when I was 20.

Have you ever used your talents for the good of the community? Volunteering performances and teaching for various benefits and outreach.

What was your most embarrassing dance moment? Being the most downstage dancer in the corps for the ballet, Paquita and facing upstage 16 counts early.

BONUS PROJECT. B. DANCER INTERVIEW- MEET TRISTAN CHING

Tristan, a new addition to Project. B., has been a part of the rehearsal process for the preparation of Sol y Sombra which premieres on February 17-18 at the Garage.

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/214316

Where are you from?
Ventura, California


Where did you study?
I started with jazz and tap (and even a bit of Scottish Highland dancing) at a local studio. Once I got more serious about ballet, I started to commute down to Westside Ballet in Santa Monica. It was run by two former members of the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet, and the training was excellent. I used to do my homework in the backseat of the car while my mom drove me down. I also came up here for the summer sessions at the San Francisco Ballet School. Looking back, I think those summers were the beginning of my very deep and very fond attachment to the San Francisco dance community.

There were only two ballet classes a week at Stanford when I was a student, so I took Cal Train up to the city to take open classes at LINES. I also started to explore modern dance with Diane Frank's very rigorous and pure technique class at Stanford. 


What got you into dancing?
I have really bad asthma and couldn't play outdoor sports when I was little, so my mom started me in dance classes. I loved it. She and I used to take tap classes together. 


What dancer(s) or people inspire you?
So many! Not the least of which is the group of dancers in Sol y Sombra... they are serious about the work, serious about their art, and yet don't take themselves too seriously. I feel like I should be paying to participate in the rehearsals, not the reverse.


What inspires you to keep on dancing?
The fact that I am a bad and insufferable person when I don't.


Who are your role models?
My mom, for her unwavering ability to find joy in life's simplest pleasures. My husband, Mark, for his emotional generosity and clarity. And Kara Davis and Tianne Frias for their curiosity, their passion, and the way they constantly reinvent themselves.


Outside of dancing professionally, do you have any hobbies or other interests?
Tango tango tango.


Have you ever used your talents for the good of the community?
Not nearly enough. I recently taught a modern dance workshop in Kolkata (Calcutta). The level ranged from classically trained professional dancers to victims of sex trafficking who had never taken a formal dance class but had come to dance as a form of healing. It was an amazing experience. I would like to incorporate that type of community service into my life, hopefully sooner rather than later.


What was your most embarrassing dance moment?
It's a tie between the time my leg fell asleep onstage and I had to do the waltz in Sleeping Beauty by dragging it around, and the time I was doing a site specific work with Robert (Moses). It was at the needle exchange behind Safeway, and we were supposed to-- well, blend in. I wore some holey pants and a huge, hygienically challenged coat. During one of the shows, I heard someone gasp and say, "Tristan! WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!" It was my mom.

MEET NORMA FONG PERFORMING IN SOL Y SOMBRA FEBRUARY 18-19, GARAGE 8 PM

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/214316

Where are you from? Sunnyvale, CA

Where did you study? California Institute of the Arts

How long have you been dancing? Professionally, for about 7 years, but I began taking dance classes 19 years ago.

What got you into dancing? 
I would have to say, indirectly, my mom. She put me in a ballet class when I was five years old but I absolutely hated it. Several years later, I randomly went up to my mom and asked to take ballet again. I haven’t left since.

What dancer(s) or people inspire you? 
On an every day basis, my peers. On a weekly basis, Michael Jackson.


What inspires you to keep on dancing? 
The passion for music, musicality, rhythm, and movement. The love for the adrenaline rush that results from taking a physical risk. The satisfaction of achieving and conquering a challenge. 

Who are your role models? 
My parents and my brother.

Outside of dancing professionally, do you have any hobbies or other interests? 
I enjoy singing, playing the piano, sometimes together. I also like to read, drink beer, and play video games; sometimes together:)

Have you ever used your talents for the good of the community? 
I teach Chinese Folk Dance to children in Chinatown. I also had the pleasure of helping Project. B. with the Spark mentorship program. Along with the other dance companies I dance with, I also participate in outreach to various elementary schools.

What was your most embarrassing dance moment? 
I was running offstage after a solo and ran into a shinbuster on the floor. I did a penguin face plant in the wing but I was not entirely off stage yet. Aside from making a huge noisy commotion with kicking the shins, I succeeded in getting some gasps from the audience members.

MEET KELLY DEL ROSARIO PERFORMING IN SOL Y SOMBRA FEBRUARY 18-19, GARAGE 8 PM

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/214316

Where are you from? Mililani, Hawaii

Where did you study? University of Hawaii

How long have you been dancing? 10 years

What got you into dancing? capoeira

What dancer(s) or people inspire you? Katherine Wells has an extremely dedicated and rigorous approach to dance and art. Her work ethic and performance should be a model for all walks of life.

What inspires you to keep on dancing? Seeing my friends dance.

Who are your role models? My mom and dad.

Outside of dancing professionally, do you have any hobbies or other interests? Video games, playing guitar, martial arts.

Have you ever used your talents for the good of the community?
I enjoy teaching Capoeira and dance classes.

What was your most embarrassing dance moment?
I had to perform with a pair of pants that were not completed. For the majority of the piece, the pants dangled 6 inches below my waist revealing a whole lot of dance belt butt.

Post Performance Blues

December for Project. B. has been a culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication.  It started with the open rehearsal on December 3, performances on December 7 and 8, Spark mentorship program's Discovery Night on Dec 14, grants and fundraising coming to a close, my own teaching, rehearsals, student performances finish out the semester/year.

And if you've ever performed or been part of something that gets you on this spiral that takes you higher and higher, you'll also know of the performance blues that brings you back down.

There have been so many great things that have come out of the year.  Project. B. has now been around a little over 1 1/2 years and the momentum of our growth astounds me every day.  The lull isn't quite there yet but several things ended for me this week.  The high of all my friends and family coming to support me in shows, compliments thrown left and right, the camaraderie I felt with my dancers, the excitement and the nervous energy that comes when the stage lights and music comes on, took me on this adrenaline frenzy.

Then there's the low.  Your friends go on with their holiday plans, the dancers rest up and restore their bodies, my late nights of sewing, writing emails, checking my to do list, adding on to my to do list have all ended.  Shouldn't I be happy for that break?  Instead, I begin to doubt myself.  Was it all really a success?  Did everyone really enjoy my work?  Was it worth all the late nights?  Is it worth being so vulnerable- everyone seeing this work I seemed so longingly to want to create.

I should know that it is worth it.  I should know that it is proven by what we have accomplished this year and the many people who helped make it work.  From in-kind donations, volunteers, mentors, recommendations, advisors, donations, audience, and my dancers who have been so supportive of me and the work (9 am rehearsals- yikes!), my family, and my husband who continues to give and give, I should acknowledge the creation of this new community that makes up Project. B.

And in my post performance blues, I begin to pinpoint that what  I want is that adrenaline frenzy.  I want it to happen over and over again.  And the only way to do that is to keep planning for the future of Project. B.  The community that has been created is proof of where we can go and how we can continue.  I am very excited to work with all of them again. 


I would also like to thank the following people for all they've given to me and the company:

Dancers of Project. B.:  Katherine Wells, Kelly Del Rosario, Chin-chin Hsu, Norma Fong, and Vanessa Thiessen with    Tanya Bello

Marco Gallerizzo, Paulee and Matt Halloran, Theo, Mike Sugrue, Nadeem Jessani, Lisa Moresco, Leila Minerva-Rivers, Julie Johnson, KT Nelson, Amara Tabor-Smith, Janice Garrett, Charles Moulton, Joe Landini, Christy Bolingbroke, Kimi Okada, Krissy Keefer, Stella Adelman, Wayne Hazzard, Michelle Handberry, Kate Ahumada, Talia Baruch,  my donors, and my current dancers, Norma Fong, Kelly Del Rosario, Chin-chin Hsu, Katherine Wells, Vanessa Thiessen as well as the dancers that have worked with me in the past, Mayuko Hosoai, Diana Broker, Bethany Mitchell, Dudley Flores, and Yu-mien Wu.

It really has been a great year.  Can't wait to get over the blues.