This Invitation
“It began with an invitation from the Fulbright Program to spend a year in Taiwan and now an invitation for the audience to enter into the choreographer’s world: an invitation to dream, to wonder, to be innocent, to feel pain…to sacrifice, learn, re-learn, let go…to die, to live…” Created as the culmination of her year as a Fulbrighter in Taiwan, this work titled This Invitation represents Amber Kao’s journey of returning to the country from which her family came, and her discordant experience as an outsider in a culture where she looks like she should belong. This works alludes to two influential figures in the choreographer’s life that unintentionally led her back to Taiwan this year: her grandmother who immigrated to the United States to raise her and her piano instructor and artistic mentor, Professor Logan Skelton. The dual influence of tai chi dao yin and contemporary dance technique is interwoven throughout this theatrical and choreographic work. This piece comprises a sound score that includes voices of young children and a recording of a poem, both of which the choreographer composed and compiled. This Invitation I have for you this invitation, Feel free to accept or decline. I’d like for
