STATE ARTS AGENCY
District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Washington, DC
http://dcarts.dc.gov

 

Artists & Communities Host Site: GALA Hispanic Theatre
PO Box 43209
Washington, DC 20010
E-mail: Galadc@aol.com
Web site: www.galadc.org/

Millennium Artist:
Ping Chong
Playwright / Performance Artist
New York
E-mail: Pingchong@earthlink.net

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A rich partnership with internationally acclaimed playwright Ping Chong brought the myriad voices of Washington D.C.'s diverse cultural communities to the stage and parks of the city during June 2000. During his Artists & Communities residency with GALA Hispanic Theatre, Chong worked with five community representatives - Eugenio Longoria from Mexico, Alida Yath from Guatemala, Marlene Cooper from Liberia, Arnoldo Ramos from Costa Rica, and Sandy Hou Dang from Vietnam.

Over the course of three months they shared family histories, their experiences on first coming to the United States, and their feelings as they continually move between one culture and another. From these narratives, Ping Chong collaborated with associate Michael Rohd to fashion the performance piece "Undesirable Elements" to uniquely reflect their stories. The 'company' then performed the work over a weeklong sell-out season at GALA and in a local park.

"Undesirable Elements" is an ongoing project by Ping Chong that explores the effects of history, culture, and ethnicity on individual lives. Through powerful personal stories and the interweaving of language, song, and visual imagery, "Undesirable Elements" reveals the essence of being "other" in our society. Since 1992, 12 productions of "Undesirable Elements" have been created around the world, through community collaborations under the auspices of theater companies, schools, libraries, and service organizations.

Ping Chong's residency with GALA Hispanic Theatre highlighted the changing profile of Washington's historic Mount Pleasant neighborhood, and helped to diversify GALA's audience and repertoire. It also illustrated one factor often lost in the image of Washington D.C. as the nation's capital and seat of power - the city is also home to a rich mix of people and cultures.

GALA Hispanic Theatre partnered with the Washington Performing Arts Society and the Smithsonian Institute's Encuentros Latino America program in supporting this residency. Prior to the premiere of "Undesirable Elements," Ping Chong and the community representatives presented a staged reading and artist talk about the project at the National Museum of American History. Work by photographer Nestor Hernández documenting the collaborative process of the work was also displayed in the theater during the performance season.

Of the premiere performance at GALA, Washington Post Staff Writer DeNeen Brown wrote, "The stage is black. The voices are in color. They speak, and you think you know who they are. Ninety minutes later, you realize that what you thought you knew was only a fraction of the truth, the for-colored-people-only truth. The voices don't fit in a box."

MILLENNIUM ARTIST BIO

Ping Chong is Artistic Director of Ping Chong & Company. He is a writer, installation artist, choreographer, and director. Since 1972, Chong has created over thirty works for the stage, six installations, and three videos. His work has been presented at major museums, theatres, and festivals throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.