Maki Shinagawa Archives - TheaterScene.net

Maki Shinagawa

Newsteps: a choreographers series

January 19, 2016

Question: Why are these five young choreographers so unhappy, so full of angst and disquietude? There’s nothing wrong with exploring the darker side of life, but virtually all of the works presented in the 22nd anniversary chapter of Chen Dance Center’s Newsteps were either dreary or darkly agitated which probably should be taken as a sign of the psychological state of today’s younger artists. Even the one piece that seemed to have a dreamy quality quickly turned sour. [more]

H.T. Chen & Dancers: “South of Gold Mountain”

October 23, 2015

"South of Gold Mountain," the latest dance work from the iconic Chinatown-based H.T. Chen & Dancers, is a warmhearted, historically-based piece that illuminated the experiences of the hardy Chinese immigrants who settled in the Deep South during the nineteenth and twentieth century. (“Gold Mountain” is a reference to the Gold Rush area, and subsequently the U.S.A., which attracted immigrants of all nationalities.) It is a corner of American history barely acknowledged, let alone studied or dramatized. [more]