DIRTY LAUNDRY explores the events preceding the Stop Asian Hate Movement. It highlights the untold stories of Asian immigrant experiences & their “dirty laundry”: inherited/embodied trauma & institutionalized violence/discrimination. For generations, Asian immigrants were forced to assimilate and reckon with the insidious nature of systemic racism, white supremacy, & socio-economic disparities. An honest reading of the past & present exposes how issues around race and inequity are under-reported, downplayed, & ignored.
From legal actions (Chinese Exclusion Act,1882) to the scapegoating of Chinese as the cause of a host of illnesses (Bubonic Plague,1901; COVID-19, 2020), this work investigates the U.S. history of Chinese labor, Asian immigrant experience, treatment of Asians as perpetual foreigners, & more. We are committed to dance as a powerful space for communion – the intimacy of live performance stimulates connectedness, compassion, and transformation.
