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

                                      

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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! 
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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

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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.

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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.