Asiance Magazine - Articles

Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dance

jaymie — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:16:56 -0700

he Indo-American Arts Council is proud to announce the First Annual Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dance to be held in New York City from August 18-21, 2008. The IAAC Dance Festival will present Indian dance through its multiplicity of forms and expressions, exploring its complexities of aesthetics, sensibilities, issues and perspectives while celebrating its rich tradition and nurturing exciting new dimensions developing in the Indian, American and global contexts. The style of dance presented will range from classical Indian dances such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi to contemporary choreographies, modern and post-modern works by South Asian dancers and choreographers.

Blanc de Chine Hosts Pre-Party Premier for “Pretty to Think So”

jaymie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:35:29 -0700

Blanc de Chine hosted the pre-party for Pretty to Think So which debuted at the Asian American International Film Festival this past weekend. Pretty to Think So, directed by Francis Hsueh and Steven Hahn, tells the story of newfound love and the past which haunts us. From the corporate world of white-shoe law firms to the streets of Chinatown and the Bronx, Pretty to Think So is a journey to a place where romantic passion and human frailty violently collide. It has been making the Asian American Film Festival Rounds and is worth checking out. See the trailer below.

Asian Americans and the elections

jaymie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:44:41 -0700

Now more than ever Ethnic voting patterns have been a major theme in this election cycle. Historically, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibits federal or state governments from infringing on a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”. The United States Congress generally considers the Voting Rights Act, adopted initially in 1965 and extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, the most successful piece of civil rights legislation ever adopted. The Act codifies and effectuates the 15th Amendment’s permanent guarantee that, throughout the nation, no person shall be denied the right to vote on account of race or color. Read on for a great report from Ethnic Technologies and the Asian American vote!

Rainforest World Music Festival 2008

asianceAdmin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:41 -0700

World musicians from around the globe and indigenous musicians from the interiors of the mythical island of Borneo gathered July 11-13, 2008 for the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Sarawack, Malaysia.

Quest Dance Crew practices for upcoming Far East Movement Video

asianceAdmin — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:29:53 -0700

Dance Crews are the hottest things going right now and nothing is hotter than seeing Quest Dance Crew practice for the Far East Movement video, “Dance Like Michael Jackson”. The video, produced by Wong Fu Productions, will be out August 1, 2008. Click to watch the video and see the incredible resemblance to Michael Jackson’s dance moves.

Kevin So and others to perform for Derek Srisaranard

jaymie — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:04:22 -0700

On Tuesday, June 17th, The Sulu Artists Network suffered a serious blow when Derek was struck by an intoxicated driver while crossing the street on his way home. Although they caught the individual who did this horrific thing, Derek remains hospitalized in a comatose state. For those who don’t know who Derek is, he is a talented photographer who has supported Sulu from its very inception. He has helped document what we’ve been doing with Sulu through his skill with a camera. And although we love him for his talents we love him even more because he’s our friend. Through his talent, his loyalty and through his friendship, Derek has given us so much, and now it’s our turn. We dedicate this month to Derek and give back to him by making this show a benefit to help him and his family in their time of need.

Julia Nickson: With Intention and Passion

asianceAdmin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:19:09 -0700

Julia Nickson made her screen debut in Rambo: First Blood, Part II, opposite Sylvester Stallone back in 1985. She’s part of a generation, a small clique of Asian female working actors that included Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita, Vivian Wu and John Chen. Her resume includes several films, including Life Tastes Good, Sidekicks, K-2 and China Cry; three major miniseries, Noble House, Around the World in 80 Days and Genghis Khan; as well as some of the most recognizable TV series of the last three decades - The Division, Nash Bridges, JAG, Walker Texas Ranger, SeaQuest, Babylon 5, Star Trek and Magnum PI. The Singaporean born actress is beautiful, talented, and yes, wise. For more details, read on.

Shanghai Restoration Project

jaymie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:15:43 -0700

In preparation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai Restoration Project will be performing two shows in early August, one in Los Angeles and one in New York City. The Shanghai Restoration Project joins select tracks of music and synchronizes it to video footage of historical and modern day Shanghai. Shot in high-definition format, the clips were produced by Mark E. Lee Productions and filmed by Aasulv Wolf Austad, whose most recent collaboration, Jennifer Phang’s “Half Life“, was an official Sundance selection and received favorable reviews in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. The evening will feature Shanghai Restoration Project producer Dave Liang on keyboard accompanied by vocalists Amos Winbush, Di Johnston, Heath Brandon, Natural Fact, and Shayna Steele. Read on for venues and a clip of this work of art.

Asian dancers Gain Respect

jaymie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:05:40 -0700

For years, there wasn’t much mainstream media outlets for dance crews and choreographers to highlight their work and gain respect. However, that has changed even to the point of red carpet photographers noticing and taking photos of these crews due to the popularity of MTV’s “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew”. The show’s judge, Shane Sparks agrees with this observation. “We’re bringing that recognition. Dancers should be respected just like singers, just like actors in the entertainment industry. From Basketball players to football players, we work just as hard. It’s time right now to walk the red carpet have them shout out Jabbawockeez, Shane Sparks, Dave Scott. It’s time for them to yell out those names and interview them and what’s going on in their life instead of Tom Cruise. You don’t see Tom Cruise everyday. You only see him in movies”, states Sparks. Read on to find out what Shane has to say about Asians representing in Dance.

OTHER, OTHER… Diversity within Diversity

jaymie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:30:56 -0700

Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, the contemporary art center of the Bronx Council on the Arts, proudly presents OTHER, OTHER…curated by Wanda Raimnudi-Ortiz. OTHER, OTHER… is open until August 7th. It features works by 18 artists of African, Asian, Latino, and Native American ancestry working in drawing, installation, mixed media, painting, performance art, photography, sculpture and video, and represent a sampling of 2007 and 2008 Urban Artist Initiative Grant (UAI/NYC) recipients visual arts and media. Participating artists include established and emerging artists like Konrad Aderer, Karina Aguilera-Skvirsky, Keith Anderson, Tomie Arai, Cat Chow, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Edwin Gonzalez-Ojeda, Skowmon Hastanan, Wennie Huang, Janelle Iglesias, Duron Jackson, Teru Kuwayama, Jessica Lagunas, Alfonso Muñoz, Juan Sanchez, Dread Scott, Shen Wei, and Injoo Whang. The Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos is located on the campus of Hostos Community College at 450 Grand Concourse and 149th Street.

The Worst Kind of Wing

asianceAdmin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:07:15 -0700

The wingman. She's always there if you're looking to have a good time when you want to go bar hopping. You can count on her to rescue you from a sticky situation that you can't get yourself out of. She's the best excuse to use when you're trying to ditch that sketchy guy who just won't leave you alone. She's the Thelma to your Louise. Most importantly, she's the best possible candidate that won't try to cock block you when you're trying to score digits from that cute blonde with the big hands. However, picking the wrong partner in crime can either enhance or stifle your interactions with potential guys. The worst kind of wing can steer you wrong and fuck you over.

Christine Choy and Jodi Long at screening of Long Story Short

jaymie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:34:49 -0700

The history of Asians and Asian Americans in American popular culture has been a topic long neglected. Opening her family history, Jodi Long documents the show business careers of her parents, Lawrence and Kimiye Long, who adopted the stage names Larry and Trudie Leung and were vaudeville performers in the 1940s and 50s. Although long time acquaintances, Christine and Jodi came to collaborate on this project through a chance meeting at a nightclub downtown..Jodi asked Christine if she was still making films and would she be interested in putting together hours and hours of unedited film into a cohesive documentary. The result is Long Story Short. Christine Choy is now the Chair of the Graduate Film and Television Department at New York University and is definitely someone you want to know if you are an aspiring filmmaker. Interesting piece of information: One of their film friends from the “old days” is director John Woo. We have a great interview coming up with Jodi Long. In the meantime, you can read more about her film after the jump.

Salman Rushdie honored, again

jaymie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:05:23 -0700

Twenty seven years after its initial publication, “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie has received yet another accolade: on Thursday it won the Best of the Booker prize, based on an online poll in which it was pitted against five other shortlisted titles. The prize was created in celebration of the 40th anniversary of one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards. (NYT)

White on White: Asian American Art Exhibit

jaymie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:07:40 -0700

Number 35 is pleased to present White on White (July 11 - August 8, 2008), a group show organized around the color white. From a blank piece of paper and a glass of milk, bathroom tissue and Fruit of the Looms to porcelain vases and newly fallen snow, white permeates our lives. However, the notion of white art seems somewhat familiar yet a bit anomalous. To many, it brings to mind the history of achromatic abstract paintings, denying subjective representation such as Malevich’s Suprematist Composition: White on White or Philip Guston’s White Painting or Robert Ryman’s various permutations of all-white canvases.

Dance Asian American Style

asianceAdmin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:31:53 -0700

Hollywood, CA - As reality dance shows continue to be a ratings winner for the various television networks, MTV has found its own dance show niche and hit with “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew.” With its second season debuting this past June 19, one can’t help noticing that many dance crewmember contestants are of Asian descent. The first season winners, The Jabbawockeez, consisted of a majority of Asian Americans. With their signature white face masks, their ethnicity melded into the background as their dancing capabilities showed through.

The 72 Hour Film Shootout Award Winners Announced

jaymie — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:24:07 -0700

Congratulations to all the winners of the 72 Hour Shootout! The 72 Hour Shootout is a tough contest, writing, shooting and editing a short film within 72 Hours.(Above: Team PrettyFaceSixPackAbs) Read the winners below.

Jabbawockeez performs for Children's Chance Foundation

jaymie — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:59:51 -0700

MTV’s Best Dance Crew Champion JabbaWockeez (three are Filipino) headlined a fundraising event for Children’s Chance today at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, NJ. Filipinos have been topping and winning US National contests left and right. First the talented JabbaWockeez at the MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” won by a landslide 38 million votes. Melissa Reyes, runner up of the The Pussycat Dolls TV contest wowed everyone with her talent and finally tiny super tykes, Jaryd and Cara at ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” wowed America with their grace and precise choreography at the 9 and under age bracket. Today’s event featured Filipino American super dance groups: Culture Shock D.C, Flo, Ciello, Part Time Models, Project D, FR3SH and Juniors, Rhythmology, Soul’D, SERCisCompany and Major Definition. Children’s Chance Foundation supports current Filipino children Cherrie Mae and Jingle. We have an entire interview with JabbaWockeez along with more information on Children’s Chance Foundation and the children they are helping. (Picture: Phil Tayag, Chris Gatdula, Dorita Urrata - founder of Children’s Chance, Joe Larot, Kevin Brewer)

Rocky Aoki, founder of Benihana, dies

jaymie — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:07:21 -0700

Rocky Aoki, founder of Benihana, died yesterday in New York City, surrounded by his wife, Keiko and six children. Rocky and Keiko were great supporters of this magazine and Japanese culture. Rocky brought the traditional Japanese “teppan-yaki” food preparation style to America cuisine and had a tremendous love for Sake. We JUST interviewed his son Steve, who described his dad in 3 words: Determined, Successful, Inspirational. Our condolences go out to the Aoki family.

"That Asian Thing" Screening

jaymie — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:27:59 -0700

If you are in New York City come out to support Independent Asian American filmmaker Jonald Reyes as his film “That Asian Thing” has been voted into the Independent Features Film Festival and will be screening at the acclaimed Tribeca Cinemas. “That Asian Thing” is a documentary film exploring the issue of low Asian American influence within “mainstream America.” It has become a unified voice by multiple Asian American artists based out of the Midwest Mecca of Chicago, IL. This project is geared to open peoples’ eyes and help them realize that there is an untapped pool of talent with an original image. An evolution is slowly taking place and “That Asian Thing” intends to tell the story that is. Details follow:

Wong Fu Productions & Far East Movement's new video

asianceAdmin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:35:19 -0700

Check out the trailer to Far*East Movement’s upcoming new music video “Dance Like Michael Jackson” with WONG FU PRODUCTIONS and the QUEST DANCE CREW….

Come support Danny Cho at his First DVD taping

jaymie — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:12:13 -0700

Danny entered into an open mic night at a café in the middle of South Central LA and won the top prize of $500. While attending UCLA, Danny performed stand-up at various colleges throughout the nation including UCLA, Yale, USC and Northwestern. During Danny’s senior year of college, he performed at Kollaboration, the biggest Korean-American talent show in the nation. That year was the first and only year that there was a stand-up comedy competition. Danny won the category and he started pursuing comedy more seriously.

America's Best Dance Crew is SoReal

jaymie — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:58:17 -0700

After a success first season of “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew” with the Jabbawockeez taking the title of “America’s Best Dance Crew”, the second season of the show premiered Thursday, June 19, 2008. Starting off with 10 dance crews, three have been eliminated and one more will fall tonight. The underdogs of the dance crew Fanny Pak looks as if they may be able to just survive the next few rounds of eliminations. This crew’s unique style include their strength with dance interpretations of the songs they choose. Their style has more dance, artistry and less hip-hop, b-boy and breakdancing moves. As from this crew the major favorites of this show include SuperCr3w of Las Vegas and SoReal of Houston, TX.

7th Annual Annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas

asianceAdmin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:16:44 -0700

Just like the soaring temperatures that hit the metroplex this time every year, moviegoers can once again look forward to screaming-hot movie options at the 7th Annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas, scheduled from August 14th – 21st, 2008 at Landmark’s Magnolia Theater. With more than 40 films to choose from, movie fans can beat the heat with 8 days of film from 10 countries, including Japan, China, Korea and the Philippines.

Chin Han will star in Roland Emmerich's "2012."

asianceAdmin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:43:38 -0700

Variety is reporting that Singaporean actor Chin Han (“The Dark Knight”) will star in Roland Emmerich’s “2012”. Chin Han joins an ensemble cast that includes John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejifor and Danny Glover. The picture is co-written and to be produced and directed by Emmerich for Centropolis Entertainment and Columbia Studios. It begins shooting in Vancouver in August. Additional producers are Harold Kloser, Larry Franco and Mark Gordon, with Centropolis’ Ute Emmerich and Michael Wimer exec producing. “I have always enjoyed Roland Emmerich’s epic take on sci-fi and disaster movies and really look forward to being a part of this film,” Chin Han said.

Investing: Wrestling with the Bear

asianceAdmin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:38:31 -0700

So we’re officially in a bear market. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, the official definition is a 20% decline. For the Dow, the year high was 14,280, so anything below 11,424 would be a bear market. Given that the Dow today is at 11,384, that qualifies. As for the S&P, that’s teetering on the edge of an official bear market. The year high was 1,576 for the S&P, and so once the S&P fell below 1,260, the guys wearing the zebra outfits called it. Today the S&P is at 1,273, but it’s already been as low as 1,241.

Haley Ishimatsu makes 2008 USA Olympic Team

jaymie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:27:59 -0700

15 year old Haley Ishimatsu has just made the USA Olympic Diving team and is headed to Beijing. Haley was a gymnast before becoming a diver. Haley only started diving in 2004 and trains 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. She is one out of only three female divers to perform a 3 1/2 pike (degree of difficulty 3.6) and was the only female to do that dive at the 2008 World Cup. We’ll update you on her schedule along with more information on the athlete.

Manu Narayan in The Love Guru

asianceAdmin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:28:03 -0700

If you have seen Mike Myers’s latest film, “The Love Guru” you might have been curious to know a little bit more about the South Asian face opposite Mike Meyers. Manu Narayan plays Rajneesh, the young apprentice to Guru Maurice Pitka (Mike Myers). Manu may look like he is a student straight from the land of India but he is truly Asian American having been born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.

Long Story Short is a true story by native New Yorker Jodi Long

jaymie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:28:49 -0700

Long Story Short, a documentary written by Purchase College Alumna Jodi Long and directed by Academy Award nominee Christine Choy, follows a couple, Larry and Trudie Leung, a husband and wife nightclub act in their rise and struggles as Asian American performers before and after World War II. Narrated by their daughter, Jodi Long, and combining a family story with show business history and the ravages of racism, it is a story of pain, passion and perseverance.

"Love and Other Natural Disasters" Audition Notice

jaymie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:37:53 -0700

Director Karen B. Song is looking for actors to cast in 4 One Act plays to be presented as part of Summerfest 2008 at the Manhattan Repertory Theater. All Ethnicities Encouraged to Audition - Character Breakdown - 4 Women 2 Men 20s-40s, 1 woman 50s. Send your headshot, resume, and availability for 7/11 to sarah.nochenson@bucknell.edu by Wednesday, July 9 to receive audition materials, appointment time, and audition location. More detailed information below.

Angela In Japan: Please Show Your Passport

jaymie — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:01:13 -0700

Angela Jung has written a few articles on her travels and adventures....Here she write about a recent trip to Japan where things didn't go as smoothly as planned.