Ayako Kato & All-Stars present “Self-Centered Selves”
21 March 2019 Co-presented by Ayako Kato and Links Hall *
Featured Performances By: Ayako Kato, Darling Shear, Jasmine Mendoza, and Hannah Gail-Neufield
image: courtesy of the artist
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It started with a cup of tea.
A simple thing intrinsically.
But when that order went awry,
We’re left with just one question – “Why?”
Was the mix-up just at least a
lackadaisical barista?
A simple case of bait and switch?
Green for Grey, an honest glitch?
Or was the problem really based
on assumptions laced with race?
Ayako and her All-Star dancers
Implored the audience for answers.
So through their own respective moods
and introspective solitudes,
one by one they took their turn,
with their own unique concern,
And begged we gently scrutinize
Through their softly focused eyes.
They each would then extemporize,
The messages internalized.
So with that, certain truths unfurled
About our complicated world,
Every micro aberration
Has a macro implication.
And yes, this world’s unfairly fraught
With 22’s in which we’re caught.
So like a symbiotic brother,
One can’t survive without the other.
Without life’s foibles summing up,
What’s left then, brewing in our cup?
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(*) PRJ is partnering with Links Hall to celebrate their 40th anniversary by providing a platform for artist-to-artist responses to the work that is presented as part of the Pay-the-40th-Forward season. Thank you, Links Hall, for all that you do for the dance and performance communities in Chicago. Congratulations on 40 years!