Performers YaliniDream (left) and Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai (right) act out a scene in which their characters pray to Mary Magdalene, portrayed by Adeeba Rana (center) during the “Say You Heard My Echo” event. Photo-illustration by Daniel Green.

Picture Ground Zero. A chain link fence strewn with teddy-bears, cards, flowers and records contrasts the dark blockade of a construction site, with soft whites and bright reds attempting to bandage the damaged scenery. A buzz of impatient commuters and diligent workers fills the scene until an interruption by three enchanting voices. Together, they say:

“In the city that never sleeps, we’ve got no time for memorial poems.”

One of these voices belongs to Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, a Chinese-Taiwanese American writer and artist from New York. Alongside her are performing partners Adeeba Rana and YaliniDream.

Tsai presented her three-act play “Say You Heard My Echo” at the Stevenson Event Center on April 13 through the Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center, Student Union Assembly and Rainbow Theater. The show was produced by Tsai’s associates from Moving Earth Productions, the Asian-American Arts Alliance and director Jesse Jou.

The show explores the impacts of 9/11 on three fictional Asian-American women living in New York City a decade later. Their struggles with survivorship and faith prompt them to call upon three female religious icons: Mary Magdalene, Guan Yin and Aisha. The women undergo separate transformations as the years following 9/11 prompt change in their political, social and personal lives. The ever-present female religious figures act as mirror representations of the characters and help facilitate their fulfillment, guidance and enlightenment.

Tsai, who grew up in the culture of poetry slams in Chicago, has been able to take her love for spoken word around the world to places including Trinidad and China.

“Spoken word poetry at its very best allows people’s authentic stories, relationships to language and rhythms to shine through [in] a unique, culturally specific way,” Tsai said.

Act One illustrates the damaging effect of monotony and silence — a Catholic burlesque dancer’s survival mutes her expressiveness until she becomes immersed in the anti-war movement. The second act chronicles the unsettling downward spiral of a Buddhist Iraq War veteran and hip-hop emcee who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder upon her return home. The final act addresses the issue of families burdened by detention and interrogation as a Muslim librarian struggles to stay connected to her grandfather. Themes such as the fight for cultural pride and struggle for survival occur throughout the play and serve as a primary focus to connect these three female characters to their respective religious icons.

“I was playing guitar … and heard the words ‘say you heard my echo,’ then I saw an image of a woman being pursued by Mary Magdalene in New York City,” Tsai said.

Tsai’s goal is to show the depth of the experiences that marginalized groups undergo, with special investment in the personal aspects of her identity as a woman who is Asian-American.

“‘Say You Heard My Echo’ shows the breadth and depth of my own humanity through the work that I do … The honesty resonates with people far beyond myself,” Tsai said.

After the third act, the women came together just as they did in the introduction. Their presence together was representative of the power in diversity among different cultures as they brought restoration and healing and beckoned for action in unison, “Silence is never silent. All we have is time for renewal. Say you heard my echo. Say you heard my call.”

After the show, Don Williams, the director of Cultural Arts and Diversity at UCSC addressed the audience about the significance of a valued community through performing arts.

“Our goal is to receive a variety of scripts that deal with many cultures and there’s a lot of cultures that are never written about,” Williams said.

Williams is engaged in the ongoing production process of performances that celebrate diverse cultures.

“We here at the UC, especially Rainbow Theater, are always looking to seek Asian-American one-act plays,” Williams said.

“Rainbow! Rainbow!” echoed supporters in the crowd.

The previously barren stage found its emptiness overwhelmed by the powerful presence of everyone involved as a unified body. The performers of “Say You Heard My Echo” were surrounded by the embrace of laughter and liveliness by the student communities of Don Williams and the students of Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center, Student Union Assembly affiliates, and performers from Rainbow Theater.

“No matter how we feel on a given day, we’re never as spiritually or emotionally alone as we may feel,” Tsai said.

To follow Kelly Tsai’s performances and material visit yellowgurl.com.

Through its numerous incarnations, the event has evolved from its original title of “Alternative Fashion Show” to the current “Queer Fashion Show” — and this year’s superhero themed extravaganza is sure to pack some Batman and Robin flavored POW!

“It’s a safe space and we try to get as much involvement as we can,” director Ben Flores said. “And we have fun.”

Courtesy of Molly Solomon.

Auditions for numbers in this spring’s show were held on Jan. 26. The show is scheduled to take place in May as a part of Pride Week, a campus-wide celebration of the queer and allied communities. Past performances of QFS have featured dance, spoken word and of course fashion. And Flores is open to “whatever people want to perform.”

The show is completely student-run and the leadership team of graduating seniors is comprised of Flores, producer Gabriela Espinal, Mariah Corbin, Baldemar Hernandez and David Wilmore. The five listened to proposals from artists on Saturday morning to discern which pieces would be a good match for this year’s production, but their work also extends far beyond the creative process.

“It’s all student-run so as far as performances, anything goes,” Flores said. “But we do have to think about a budget and reserving a venue and the business side of things.”

Though the Porter student activities office does provide some funds and advisors to keep the show on track, it’s up to the directors to make the rest of the magic happen. This involves asking college senates for potential funding, raising the rest of the money themselves through bake sales and reserving a space to actually hold the show. But volunteering their time isn’t a problem for these student organizers with a passion for the cause.

“I had recently come out as bisexual and I wasn’t really okay with myself but when you watch the show, you can relate,” said Flores on his first encounter with QFS in 2011.

QFS has meant a lot to them throughout their time at UCSC, whether they found the show when struggling with their own sexuality or were simply intrigued by the name.

“It’s a community to share and be yourself,” Hernandez said. “And a safe place for people to express themselves. You gain something from it no matter what you do.”

Queer Fashion Show leaders held auditions for numbers on Saturday morning for spring’s show. From left to right: Gabriela Espinal, Mariah Corbin, Ben Flores, Baldemar Hernandez and David Wilmore. Photo by Daniela Ruiz.

A second audition will be held Feb. 2 in the Porter Hitchcock Lounge — time TBD — for those looking to produce a piece. A general informational meeting will be held in the coming weeks for interested performers. Choreographers and designers will be looking for dancers and models from all communities, with no specific experience necessary. QFS strives to be open to as many people as possible.

“It’s really the Queer Family Show,” Espinal said.

All the directors endorse the opportunity as a meaningful way to get involved with a tight knit and supportive community.

“It’s a great way to connect with different people, have fun and make a lot of friends,” Flores said. “If you have the chance, do it.”

Ingraham choreographed a performance based on her journey of loving someone with a terminal illness. For Ingraham, the process was therapeutic but also challenging. The show “3 Weeks: My Father’s Last Dance,” opened last weekend at the 418 Project in downtown Santa Cruz. Ingraham brings the last three weeks of her father’s battle with cancer to the stage through a wide array of movements, music and vocals.

After receiving the title of Next Frontier Artist last March, Ingraham began choreographing a performance to share the experience of her father and their relationship. The Next Frontier Artist is a 418 program for a developing performer who receives the facility for production and rehearsals as well as a team of technical support and artistic mentors to put on their first full-length production.

Ingraham first began to work on her production when she flew to Pennsylvania to visit her father in the hospital.

“I would ask him a bunch of different questions,” she said. “I was just kind of observing how it affected the entire community and family. I created words or feelings around him and created the movement that presented that quality.”

In the performance, movements vary in tempo and feeling. In “Walking Down the Street,” the performers cross the stage at different speeds that range from slow and methodical to sharp and hurried. The scenes continued through the events of the three weeks, with many styles of dance, such as the electrifying movements seen in “Nerve Damage.”

Although the process of production began last March, not all the choreography was planned out over that time period. Ingraham choreographed the final piece of the show a few days before opening night.

“My body wasn’t ready to examine that part, it was fresh and raw,” Ingraham said. “I feel like I was very spontaneous with the movement. I would come to rehearsal and just let my body do what it needed to do.”

Ingraham was not the only participant in the performance who could relate the emotion of dance and movement to her own experiences. Jonathan Parvis, a dancer in the show, had his own experience losing someone close to him.

“I just recently had lost a friend to cancer about a month before the performance,” Parvis said. “So everything is really fresh and poignant to me and at times difficult to work through.”

Parvis said he was honored to work with a friend who was going through her own process of grieving.

“A process of acceptance, the true celebration of life is really amazing to me,” Parvis said.

Another highly premeditated aspect of the performance was the music. Wireless Lovebird, who produced the music and sound design for the performance, accompanied a piano and other tools with sounds that went in harmony with the dances. The instruments were an important aspect of the emotions of the performance, ranging from an untuned piano to a call bell. He views the piece as an important mode of self expression.

“You’re trying to get your point across and find that words don’t work,” Lovebird said. “Trying to communicate with words is a tool that doesn’t really do its job anymore, but thankfully we have our art forms.”

The music accompaniment charged the emotional expression through changing speeds, intensity and volume.

Many of the performance pieces formed a finished puzzle, but Ingraham remembers that her father was the driving force.

“There were a lot of different layers that happened,” she said. “He’s a musician and artist himself and he pushed me to do it.”

The performance schedule will continue into this weekend on Oct. 19–20 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. 

To see all the student groups UCSC has to offer, come to the Office of Physical Education, Recreation Sports (OPERS) Fall Festival on Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 3–6 p.m. on the Upper East Field. You can also check out the Student

Organization Advising and Resources website at soar.ucsc.edu to see a full list of student organizations.

Performance

Grupo Folklorico Los Mejicas. Courtesy Jasmin Avila

Grupo Folklorico Los Mejicas 

Explore and discover dances and culture from regions all across Mexico.

Rainbow Theater

The only multicultural theater troupe in the UC system.

Comedy Joust

It’s safer than a real joust, but still, a dangerous amount of side-splitting laughter has been known to occur.

Acquire a Capella

Whether performing on campus or breaking into song downtown, students aren’t afraid to let their voices be heard in this all-student a capella group.

 

Interest

Photo by Kathryn Power

Model United Nations at UCSC 

Debate and learn about politics and issues from across the globe.

Student Environmental Center 

Get involved in making UCSC more environmentally friendly.

The Brain, Mind, and Consciousness Society 

Explore the inner workings of the mind and the nature of consciousness with other intrigued students.

Animation Club

A club perfect for those who were able to hold back their tears long enough in “Toy Story 3” to think, “I want to do that.”

 

As part of the African Student Union performance of ‘Africa, My Africa,’ members of the organization participate in a fashion show displaying a variety of styles of dress from Africa. Photo by Morgan Grana.

The spicy smell of stewed meat in curry sauce permeated the air. Red, green and yellow fabrics draped around the bodies of young women, contrasting beautifully with the all-white attire of young men. Rhythmic, pulsing, bass-heavy music played in the background.

The scene was set last Friday, when an audience comprised mostly of students almost filled Kresge Town Hall. The African Student Union (ASU) artfully shattered prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions of Africa, African-Americans and the African diaspora through its performance of “Africa, My Africa.”

ASU transformed Kresge Town Hall, bringing the bright colors, inviting tastes and drum-laden sounds of the multicultural African continent to UC Santa Cruz, proving that future ASU events will be a prime setting for cultural experiences you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else on campus.

Although the show was advertised to begin at 7 p.m., activities were not underway until about an hour later. The crowd didn’t seem to mind, however, as almost everyone immediately took a place in the long food line, clearly eager to sample the dishes whose smells were hanging enticingly in the air.

The warm smells and richly spiced tastes of curried lamb, sambusas (a staple dish in the Horn of Africa, somewhat akin to an East Indian samosa) and rice with bright green peas strewn over it kept the attendees happy as ASU members buzzed about in their bright and flowing clothes, preparing to give the audience the show they eagerly came to see.

After the audience was finally seated with their bellies full, the room darkened. The sudden pounding of a lone drum sounded off the first half of the performances, which were devoted to recognizing the diversity of life, identity and culture in multiple African nations — nations represented by the 17 ASU members.

The drummer addressed the audience: “Where did it all begin?” The audience members were then exposed to snippets of culture from across the African continent through live musical performances of renditions of songs from Mali and Sudan. The crowd erupted into cheers and ear-splitting clapping at the song’s final note, and a proud motherly voice shouted, “That’s my Shadin!” from the front row, causing the on-stage vocalist to crack a wide, proud grin.

The event continued with spoken word and poetry readings from different ASU members, evoking with their words issues like media portrayal of Africa, the meaning of specific and pan-ethnic African identities, the African diaspora, the struggles of immigrating to the United States, and other important topics that deserve conversation and attention. The speakers’ poetic and passionate words were received by quick, successive snaps from the audience — a common method of showing appreciation and respect to a spoken word poet.

The loudest cheers and sounds of encouragement, however, came during the fashion show. ASU members strutted across the stage in colorful and stunning attire that was representative of several African regions, including Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and others. The models caused the audience to erupt in shouts, hoots, hollers and smiles of appreciation as they two-stepped and shimmied across the stage to the drum-heavy music that accompanied the show. The performers’ clear and emanating confidence reflected the fact that they had been working on the show for three to four months.

The finale continued in a musical vein. Several ASU members, still clad in their cultural attire, performed a dance that they also performed at this year’s Multicultural Festival. The crowd was brought to their feet, clapping furiously as the performers took their final bow.

ASU’s first cultural show, which member Iman Barre hopes will become an annual event, left audience members perhaps a bit more aware about the African diaspora than when they first took their seats. Recently formed as an organization on campus in fall 2011, ASU hopes to thrive for many generations of students to come, and continue to create enlightening, fun and open spaces where diverse cultures can be explored and appreciated.