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Flash Review 2, 10-6: Hai-yah!
Cutting it Up With Yamamoto-san and Suan-li

By Peggy H. Cheng and Maura Nguyen Donohue
Copyright 2000 Peggy H. Cheng and Maura Nguyen Donohue

"Who's the REAL Asian?" was the main question posed last night at Dance Theater Workshop in "Wan Dollah?," a first-time collaboration between Nami Yamamoto (AKA Yamamoto-san) and Joyce S. Lim (AKA Suan-li). Two Asian women from apparently similar cultures collide in NYC in an investigation of stereotypes, sameness and difference. An interesting question for two Asian American women to tackle, or in this case karate-chop.

Being part of a community in which identity is constantly questioned, it was interesting to consider the possibility of what one's identity can be when it's unchallenged. It seems it took coming to a third not-really-neutral space to expose the specific differences between a Japanese woman and a Chinese Malaysian woman because of the constant focus here on their sameness. Much of the difference was depicted through physical presentations of stereotypes included Yamamoto-san's constant hand-over-mouth giggles and Suan-li's deep-squatting. At the height of their conflicting cultures and physicality, a sudden break would occur, sending them into a Disney-like sing-song "It's-a-small-world-after-all" dance called "We are the sa-a-a-a-a-ame, we are the sa-a-a-a-a-ame!"

The danced duets presented the collaboration at its most seamless. Neither artist's style, as seen in respective solos, dominated the choreography. One duet in particular held Maura's attention for its tight, rapid shifts. The Contact-heavy dance was a clear physicalization of interpersonal, or perhaps international, strife without melodrama. While Peggy, a much less anal notetaker, took note of the lightness and humor in the Superhero/Action Movie duet in which the two women strutted in the style of Bond women with guns and Kung fu maidens posed back-to-back, ready for battle. This duet made great use of slides by set designer Kwi-Hae Kim during which we see the faces of Yamamoto-san and Suan-li superimposed on Supermans.

The role of language in this piece was notable as an example of nationality and displacement. When Suan-li speaks of dreaming in an American accent we realize she's crossed beyond the geography of Asia. Yamamoto-san breaks the facade of her game show smile when she impatiently scolds Suan-li in a torrent of Japanese.

Both performers were engaging and well matched within their different styles. Where Lim's movement is primarily image-based and her movement vocabulary mainly gestural, Yamamoto is a highly activated mover who bounds and tumbles across the stage. Shows continue tonight and next Saturday and Sunday. For more info, please call 212-924-0077.

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