Opening of the YEAR OF THE TIGER & Pao Arts Center 5th Anniversary Community Celebration

Anju

Anju is a singer, songwriter, producer, and performer from Minneapolis. Their music conjures imaginary lovers, scents of citrus, and visions of hairy brown skin under the sun. Anju was highlighted by NPR’s All Songs Considered as an outstanding Tiny Desk Contest entrant, and they were commissioned by South Asian American Digital Archive to create original music for a sound tour of immigrant history in Philadelphia. They are currently teaching piano, viola, and violin to young musicians and working on their debut full-length album.

Learn more about Anju on their website and Instagram!

Photo Credit: Samuel Correa

Chavi Bansal

Born and brought up in India, Chavi Bansal’s early dance training was in Bharatnatyam, Bollywood, Martial Arts, and Indian Contemporary dance. Craving a broader dance vocabulary, Chavi moved to the Netherlands, where she earned her B.A. in Dance with a specialization in Choreography from Fontys Hogescholen Voor de Kunsten. In 2010, Chavi founded her company, Vimoksha, or “Liberation” in Sanskrit. Her artistic Practice  is rooted in Indian martial arts ( Kalaripayatt), Yoga, Meditation, and both Indian and modern dance. At its heart, regardless of the form, the practice is focused on three areas: self-inquiry, stillness, and connection. Since moving to Boston in 2014, Vimoksha has found a company of Boston based dancers. Her Work has been presented By university of Stavanger ( Norway), Danstalier’s ( Rotterdam, NL), Mundial festival ( Netherlands ), Boston Center for the arts (Boston), Dance Complex (Cambridge), India Habitat Center (India), Omi International arts Center (NY).

Learn more about Chavi on their website and Instagram!

IJ Chan

IJ Chan (陳加恩) is a dance artist and educator from Boston, MA. She has dedicated her life to training and performing intensively in multiple dance genres and under many choreographers. In her own choreographic work, IJ is interested in intersecting and exploring the Asian-American narrative. She is committed to bringing quality performing arts instruction to low-income and minority youth populations within Boston. She also works as a freelance graphic designer,  visual artist and seamstress.

Photo Credit: Patrick Sylvain

Chen Chen

Chen Chen is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA Editions, 2022) and the forthcoming book of essays, In Cahoots with the Rabbit God (Noemi Press, 2023). His debut book of poems, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Thom Gunn Award, among other honors. He teaches at Brandeis University.

Learn more about Chen Chen on their website and Instagram!

Minhua Chen

In Minhua Chen’s own words she is “New to real life, new to music. A yet unknown singer who is trying to be better.”

Flora Hyoin Kim Han

Flora Hyoin Kim Han is a Korean-American dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Since earning her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014, she has worked with The Click, Prometheus Dance, Jenna Pollack, Lenora Lee Dance, beheard.world, Jennifer Lin, Deborah Abel Dance Company, Lorraine Chapman, and Urbanity Dance. Flora is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, a Lecturer of Dance at Brandeis University in Fall 2021, a senior faculty at Urbanity Dance and Coastline Ballet Center. Flora’s artistic vision is to bring inclusivity, empowerment, and joy to individuals and communities through the power of dance.

Learn more about Flora on their website and Instagram!

Photo Credit: Ryan Smith

Jennifer Lin

Jennifer Lin is a classically trained dancer, independent choreographer, and teaching artist of American and Korean descent. Raised in the Midwest, she holds degrees from Boston Conservatory and The University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Lin situates her artistic work in interstitial spaces between tradition and modernity, form and expression, and theory and practice. Currently an Artist-In-Residence at Mount Auburn, Lin is creating The Gathering Place, an outdoor site-specific dance that draws inspiration from local history, nature, and human experiences, to be presented in October 2021.

Learn more about Jennifer on their website!

Photo Credit: Olivia Moon

Ba Pham

I was born in Vietnam, inspired and facilitated by my family to learn piano. I developed a love for music from an early age. Since the age of ten, I’ve been on stage performing for local audiences, and it’s always been an exciting feeling. This childhood experience helped shape my musical journey.  Later I decided to study classical music and harmony theories. I then learned more about the classical organ and joined choirs and accompanists for churches.Currently, a sophomore majoring in music at Bunker Hill Community College. I am now playing piano and organ in the church for the choir in Everett. I am currently studying and practicing to continue on the musical path in the future.

Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy

Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy of Malden & Quincy, MA, is a world-class representative of the Wah Lum Kung Fu of U.S.A., a kung fu system that has roots in Greater Boston for almost 50 years. The Wah Lum Malden & Quincy Academy has been established for more than 15 years and serves as an anchor for healthy mind, body, spirit, and community development for all ages. Members of Wah Lum Malden & Quincy are not only passionate about promoting the arts of Chinese cultures in dragon dance, lion dance, kung fu, and tai chi, but also committed to meaningful and impactful community and civic leadership.

Learn more about Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy on their website and Instagram!

The Ghost of Keelung

Program

Dramaturg: Carey Lin

Stage Manager: Jingwen Zhang

Environment Scenic Designer: Melody Hsu

Sound Designer: Anna Drummond

Production Sound Engineer: Jon Melchiorre

Foley Artists: Michael Lin + Brendan Doyle

Producer, CHUANG Stage: Alison Qu

Producer, AATAB: Sarah Shin

Producer, AATAB: Joey Cosio-Mercado

Producer, Pao Arts Center: Ashley Yung

YEAR OF THE TIGER Artist: Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong

Audrey Seraphin (DIRECTOR)

Audrey Seraphin (she/her) is director, actor, civil servant, and lifelong Massachusetts resident. She serves Boston City Hall as the Director of SPARK Boston, Mayor Wu’s volunteer civic engagement council for 20- to 35-year-old Bostonians. She is thrilled to work with AATAB again after directing their staged reading of This is Not a True Story in 2019. Recent directing projects include Company at Clark Musical Theatre; Muthaland, an online production from Samuel-Lancaster Productions; and The Rooster & The Magnet, Episode 5 of Camp Strangewood, a live streamed anthology from Sparkhaven Theatre. 

Jamie Lin (PLAYWRIGHT)

Jamie Lin (she/her) is a Taiwanese-American theater artist who is psyched to watch her script come to life with this incredible team! Previously, she had the distinct pleasure of playing AAPI icons Sulu (Gender-Swapped Star Trek, PMRP) and Rose Tico (Jedi the Last, The Opposite of People), as well as directing Radial Gradient for Samuel-Lancaster Productions. Jamie hosts the monthly cooking/comedy show Cook it Right! on 2MBStudios and writes and performs sketches with Friend Club (@heyfriendclub). Both on and offstage, she’s passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion, and noodles.

CAST

Yitong Zhu (ZHENG WEI)

Yitong Zhu (she/her) is a rising senior at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Born and raised in China, she is so excited to share a different perspective while studying in the US. Yitong is an actor, dancer, and puppeteer; she attended the 2020 Winter Intensive at Double Edge Theater and will be attending the O’Neill Puppetry Conference this summer. Previous credits include Organic (New Rep), Untold, New Music & Puppet Theater (Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble), Somewhere (something wonderful) (Trinity College, Hartford CT), Body Map, Beyond Walls (Boston Conservatory at Berklee). Yitong would like to thank AATAB for this great opportunity! Instagram: yitongzhu9

Channing Rion (MEI HUA)

Channing Rion (she/her) hails from Houston and grew up privately tutored, traveling with her family across the U.S. and worldwide—often to her mother’s homeland of South Korea. Before graduating from Harvard with a BA in psychology, she enrolled in drama classes that sparked an interest in acting. During summers in Cambridge, she taught hundreds of students from China, honing their social confidence through theatre. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Dramatic Arts at Harvard, producing original music, and publishing an upcoming historical fiction series for kids set in Boston during the American Revolution. 

Karla Lang (MARY LIN/MADAM LIN)

Karla Lang (she/her) is delighted to perform in her second Found in Translation production, having also appeared in A DEAL earlier this spring. Favorite roles include Waverly in THE JOY LUCK CLUB (Umbrella Stage Company). Helena in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Hovey Players), April in COMPANY (Longwood Players), and Texas/ “Two Ladies” in CABARET (Milton Players). She has also performed with Reagle Music Theater and Concord Players, and she sings with the New World Chorale.

Malachi Rosen (AARON LEE/CHARLIE BENNETT)

Malachi Rosen (he/him) is thrilled to be a part of The Ghost of Keelung! Malachi is an actor born and raised just north of Boston and is a graduate from Marymount Manhattan College’s BFA acting program, class of 2020. Recent productions include Patrick Barolow’s The 39 Steps, Carol Curchill’s Love and Information, and Brian Friel’s Translations. Malachi thanks the cast, crew and production team for making The Ghost of Keelung production possible and hopes you enjoy the show! You can find Malachi online at malachirosen.weebly.com.

Jude Torres (JACK SMITH)

Jude Torres  (he/him)is an LA-born/Boston-bred actor, singer-songwriter, composer, musician, and voiceover artist who has worked with Company One, ART, Speakeasy Stage, Fresh Ink, New Rep, AATAB, and Boston Playwright’s Theatre. Jude is the DEI Director at The Footlight Club and is in his final semester of graduate school at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, where he pursues an MS in Speech-Language Pathology. He plans on juggling his artistic career with being a voice specialist while advocating for more equitable healthcare and artistic systems. Much love to the cast, crew, KB, and as always, Goku the Cat. 

Dylan C. Wack (ELI ROBERTS) 

Dylan C. Wack (he/him)  is thrilled to be making his AATAB debut with GHOST OF KEELUNG. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Theater in the Open, New Repertory Theatre, Fresh Ink Theatre, and Sparkhaven Theatre, among others. He holds a BFA from Boston University and a Certificate in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He can next be seen in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, performing for free on the Boston Common, starting July 20th. Originally from Newburyport, Massachusetts, Dylan resides in Brooklyn. dylancwack.com | @dylanwack

New Narratives Series: Our Past and Present

Adobo-Fish-Sauce

Adobo-Fish-Sauce is an active choice to celebrate in the face of bitterness. It is responding to “Go back to where you come from!” by bringing where they are from right to you. The duo fuses spoken word, cooking, intentionality, vulnerability, and joy to create a one-of-a-kind experience. Adobo-Fish-Sauce invites guests to cozy on up with a hot cocoa and feelings. The duo will guide guests through a series of poems and activities, excavating a deeper relationship to their food and the art already vivid in their everyday lives. The performance is a practice in quickening your heart and slowing down your breath. An opportunity to be in the moment and then carry this moment with you.

Cynthia Lin

Cynthia Lin 林欣岫 is a Boston-based podcaster amplifying voices of TaiwaneseX communities around the world (TaiwaneseDiaspora.com). Guests share personal stories, nuggets of inspiration, and unique insights on what brings them joy and energy. Podcasting and writing in a bilingual format allows Cynthia to embrace her heritage and identity on a deeper level, and encourages intergenerational conversations on tough topics. It was through a personal storytelling workshop hosted by the PRX Podcast Garage at Pao a few years ago that gave her a peek into how events like these give AAPI communities space to be seen and heard. As such, she proudly fundraised for the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and the Pao Arts Center this year by running the 126th Boston Marathon. 

Lani Asuncion

Lani Asunción (they/she) is an interdisciplinary multimedia artist creating socially engaged art in both private and public spaces both independently and collaboratively. Weaving a visual language guided by historical research, community engagement, and experimental performance connected to their identity as a queer multiracial Filipinx-American. Asunción integrates new media technologies and transmedia storytelling through ritualized performance to encourage conversations that magnify connections to facilitate healing in the face of cultural violence, oppression, and ancestral intergenerational trauma narratives. 

payal

payal (they/them) is a multidisciplinary community artist, reproductive health equity worker, and intergenerational movement builder whose work is rooted in the in-betweens. Their visual art, zines, and spoken word has found a home across Chinatown walls and local protests, gallery spaces like the Museum of Fine Arts and TRANS* Future Archives, the national Allied Media Conference, and beyond. They are on the board of Subcontinental Drift Boston, a monthly multilingual open mic centering South Asian diasporic voices, and active as an organizer with the transnational Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC) and other local community spaces. Through creative strategies, they cultivate playful spaces that challenge the state’s monopoly on Imagination so that we may all fully unearth and activate our collective power.

They are accompanied by Agney(he/him)- a vocalist, arranger and songwriter from New Delhi based in Boston. Agney means “born from fire” and he is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. His music seeks to create and draw from the melting pot of cultures that he has grown up in to promote a message of harmony, peace and love. The incorporation of different languages from all over the world reflects the global outlook of this music while emerging from a very personal space.

New Narratives Series: Our Present and Future

August 13, 2022

Micah Rose (they/them)

micah rose kindles soft ferocity, in ode to titas and cousins and lolas who show us ways we love. They share traditions like story circles, yoga, and taiko as paths for communal care. She conjures at Arts Connect International, helping brew artist-led experiments as a co-director of emergence.

The Flavor Continues

The Flavor Continues is the first community-led non-profit organization serving the Street and Club dance communities in Massachusetts. Spearheaded by members within those communities pursuing a sustainable foundation for the culture, their formation addresses the need to provide resources and uplift marginalized communities by promoting well-being, employment, education, and equity.

Tamiko Beyer (she/her)

Tamiko Beyer books are LAST DAYS (Lambda Literary Award winner), WE COME ELEMENTAL and POETRY AS SPELLCASTING: Poems, essays, and prompts for manifesting liberation and reclaiming power (forthcoming). She publishes STARLIGHT & STRATEGY, a newsletter for shaping change. Queer and multiracial (Japanese and white), she lives on Massachusett land.

Aznjujube 

aznjujube is a Boston artist involved in multiple multilingual musical projects, including Orca Bones (indie surf rock), Juk Sing (nostalgic Canto-pop covers), and his solo experimental lofi project, aznjujube. By writing and singing songs in not only English but also Mandarin and Cantonese, aznjujube hopes to expose listeners to music that is less Anglo-centric.

Leslie Anne Condon is a Boston-area visual artist, independent curator, arts administrator, and burgeoning arts scholar. As a first-generation Lao American woman and transracial adoptee living with chronic illness, she has witnessed first-hand the grave impact that under-representation and misrepresentation have on a community’s internal dialogue and the larger social unconscious. Her recent visual work addresses the complexity of identity within immigrant communities of color, as well as rituals of mourning. Leslie’s work has been featured at different New England area venues, including the Rubin-Frankel Gallery at Boston University, the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, and 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH. She has also exhibited artwork through the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia, the Residency Project through MotorLA in Los Angeles, and VisArts in Rockville, Maryland. 

As a curator and emerging scholar, Condon is interested in Critical Race Art History and issues of representation within visual culture. In 2021, she had the honor of serving as the Hopkinton Center for the Arts’ Inaugural Kris Waldman Curator-in-Residence. Condon earned a Post-Baccalaureate in Fine Art 3D from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2011.

Photo Credit: Phillips Academy