30 Questions Evoked by Breaking Grounds: a response by Alexander James Yukio Hayashi
A response to Ground Rhythm Dance Project – Breaking Grounds Performance Series II
Friday, March 22, 7:00pm 2019, Co-presented by Ground Rhythm Dance Project and Links Hall*
Featured Performances By: Marceia Scruggs, Dedrick Gray, Jasmin Williams, Maxine Patronik, Christina Morrison, Gabriela Ortiz, Brandy Rogers, Destine Young
image: courtesy of the artist
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The following are 30 questions evoked by Breaking Grounds:
How can the process of “Making” and “Wrecking” scale down to an individual process?
How can the process of “Making” and “Wrecking” scale up to a group of 5 or more?
What does emotion gain when it is translated into movement?
What does emotion lose when it is translated into movement?
What does the familiarity of the vocabulary of a particular genre of dance do to the perception of the meaning of movement?
How did media representation like Rerun dancing on What’s Happening or Soul Train shape a certain era’s perception of what dance looked and felt like?
How does the change in media representation alter the public perception of dance?
What is and is not permitted within traditional, western theater dance spaces?
How do gestural vocabularies act as forms of inclusion?
How can lighting dynamically break down a simple space into a more complex landscape?
Is this the place?
How does repetition of movement reinforce the intent of a work?
How does repetition of movement weaken the intent of a work?
How can ideas of collage (cutting, rearranging, layering, recontextualizing, etc.) be applied to dance making?
How can you reimagine a movement through the lens of the scale of the space?
How can you reimagine a movement through the lens of the scale of the body?
How do you loosen to the point of freedom?
How do you loosen to the point of collapse?
How do you loosen to the point of redemption?
In what ways is identity self-created?
In what ways is identity imposed?
How much of identity is determined by what you express?
How much of identity is determined by what others perceive?
Does the judgement of race by appearance reflect someone’s lived experience?
How do recreations of the “us vs. them” dynamic help deconstruct this false dichotomy?
How do recreations of the “us vs. them” dynamic help reinforce this false dichotomy?
Is the death of the construct of race a real potential outcome of contemporary society?
How can you reclaim the agency to create your identity?
Who are you reclaiming this agency from?
What are you reclaiming this agency from?
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Alexander James Yukio Hayashi is a Japanese American dancer whose movements stem from a foundation in Breaking and Hip-Hop culture. His practice is one of balance, traveling back and forth between tradition and experimentation. With a deep focus on improvisation, Alexander explores how the values of his foundation can expand outside of their original context to add to the breadth and depth of contemporary dance making. Working across contexts, from the cypher to the theater, his earnest investigation of the personal, collective, and political implications of motion serves as a driving force in his creative process.
(*) 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!