Anchors Away? 14th Amendment Under Attack

Among my most prized possessions in my rather cluttered apartment is a fraying, green document that declares that Thomas Ding-Moon Lee was born on December 12, 1977 in Boston, Massachusetts, 10:41 a.m. to be precise.

I probably value my birth certificate more than the average Joe because it proves that I am, indeed, a citizen of the United States of the America. Since I’m second generation Chinese, born to immigrant parents, I can’t really take anything for granted.

Am I little paranoid? Maybe. But given the ugly debate over immigration in recent years, better safe than sorry.

The latest example is the effort by some lawmakers in Congress and state capitals to deny citizenship to so-called “anchor babies,” the children born to undocumented workers in America.

You would think that we settled this a long time ago. The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868, states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

But these days, nothing seems set in stone, even Constitutional clauses and established case law.

Including this one: in 1894, American-born Wong Kim Ark sailed to China for a temporary visit. When Ark attempted to return to San Francisco, immigration authorities denied him entry, arguing Ark was not a citizen because his parents were subjects to the Emperor of China.

Officials were enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Act, passed 12 years earlier, that attempted to limit the number of Chinese immigrants in the country.

In a 6-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ark, reaffirming the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Of course, history has proven that citizenship on paper doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a citizen in practice. It took more than a hundred years for blacks to realistically exercise the rights granted to them by the Fourteenth Amendment.

After the Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the federal government herded Japanese people, citizen or not, to internment camps in the southwest.

But history and law aside, it’s today’s venomous climate that makes me queasy. Targeting adult undocumented workers is one thing. But to target new born babies, who really didn’t have any say in the matter, just seems cruel and mean spirited.

And if we undermine the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, where does it end? What could prevent lawmakers from retroactively denying citizenship to people whose crime was being born in the United States to immigrants, documented or not?

Somewhere, Wong Kim Ark is spinning in his grave.

A Truly Global Billy Elliott

As the house lights fell on the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis Friday night, a booming voice announced that Lex Ishimoto would play the lead role of Billy Elliot.

Lex Ishimoto?

Moments later, a skinny boy with black hair and diamond shaped eyes wandered onto the stage sporting a thick brogue and Baryshnikov-like dancing skills.

Based on the movie, Billy Elliot: The Musical is the story of an 11-year-old boy in working class Northern England who longs to be a ballet dancer, much to the consternation of his miner father and older brother.

The producers of this national tour have employed the services of five young actors to rotate the role of Billy. Given the physical demands of the role, that’s not entirely surprising. What‘s surprising are the names of the five actors: Giuseppe Bausilio, Michael Dameski, Kylend Hetherington, Daniel Russell, and Ishimoto.

Ishimoto, a Japanese American from California, would seem like an odd choice to play Billy. It also begs the question: shouldn’t have the producers cast a white actor to play the very white role of Billy Elliot?

Last year, the board of Mu Performing Arts objected to the Minneapolis Children’s Theater casting a white actor in a key Asian role in its production of Mulan.

So why it is okay to cast an Asian American kid as a white English boy and not a white actor as a Chinese general?

It’s a difficult question and in some ways cuts to the very heart of affirmative action in the United States.

Opponents of affirmative action say the policy is little more than reverse discrimination. In a truly race-blind society, merit, not skin color, should be the ultimate factor. After all, didn’t Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have a dream that one day society will judge people not on the color of their skin but the content of their character?

The problem with that argument is that day has not yet arrived…and may never will. Dr. King was speaking of a dream, not of an inevitable outcome. We may never realize that dream but we certainly must try.

In theater, the question is not just about culturally correct casting. It’s about opportunity. The vast majority of actors working in Broadway and national theater are white as is the material they are playing.

While it’s all good to say that a worthy actor can play any role, the sad reality is that you’re more likely to see a white actor portray Hamlet on Broadway or the Guthrie than an Asian American.

Yes, there are more Asian American actors, directors, and playwrights working in theater today. But it’s unlikely their work will boast the commercial appeal of The Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables.

(Quick…name a smash hit Asian American-penned musical. That’s what I thought.)

So when a role like the general in Mulan or Song Liling in M. Butterfly comes along, you better believe deserving Asian Americans will want those opportunities.

Does casting Ishimoto as Billy Elliot detract from the role? Maybe it’s a little distracting in the beginning. But as the musical progresses and you see the breadth of Ishimoto’s amazing talent, you start to care less and less.

Did the producers need to cast Ishimoto? No. But I’m glad they did.

In fact, Ishimoto’s background enhances the material. Where else in the world can a skinny Japanese American kid from California wow audiences on a national tour of a smash hit British musical?

Billy Elliot is a show about a kid that seizes a wonderful opportunity despite his background through hard work and talent. It could easily be the story of Lex Ishimoto.

But Billy’s story is the exception, not the rule. While Billy wins an invitation to the Royal Ballet school in London, the rest of his hardscrabble town must cope with broken lives and decaying mines.

“We can’t all be dancers Billy,” Tony tells his younger brother.

I guess that’s why Billy Elliot is a work of fiction, a dream of sorts.

But what a dream.

photo via broadwayworld.com
entry by Thomas Lee

The Meaning and Message of Taiko

A recent New York Times article described a passionate debate stirring up the yoga community. According to the Hindu American Foundation's position paper, many yoga practitioners are either ignorant of or work actively to decouple yoga and its Hindu base. The Foundation's campaign, "Take Back Yoga," asks that practitioners acknowledge the religion and culture from which it was birthed while also asserting that yoga's benefits are for all. This request provoked reactions from diverse ends of the spectrum including New Age guru Deepak Chopra and R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

As a yoga practioner, I admit freely that I've little knowledge of yoga and Hinduism while receiving so much: centeredness, focus, not to mention a workout that keeps me limber and flexible. I have, however, often asked myself what Indian Americans think of this wholesale, very American co-opting of this part of their heritage. Would a base knowledge help my yoga practice? Of course! It could only help enrich my understanding of the religion from which it came.

I've been wrestling with similar issues for taiko and Mu Daiko, especially as we work towards realizing our mission of "great performances born of arts, equality and justice from the heart of the Asian American experience." I have so many questions and few answers. The New York Times articles ask, "Who owns yoga?" I could ask, "Who owns taiko?"

There are about 200 North American taiko groups. Some approach taiko as an international music form to be shared with and performed by all. Others will cite taiko as an expression of community-building within Japanese/Japanese American/Asian American culture. Some groups are specific outgrowths of Japanese Buddhist churches and many more will cite some combination of the above. The ethnic and racial compositions of these groups vary from those predominately Japanese/Japanese American/Asian American (West Coast and Hawaii) to those with little or no such representation.

Mu Daiko is based on San Francisco Taiko Dojo's philosophies through Rick Shiomi's direct study with Seiichi Tanaka. Another influence, in a less overt way, was Rick's work as a community organizer in Vancouver's Japanese/Asian Canadian neighborhoods. His co-founding of Katari Taiko (Vancouver) and Wasabi Taiko (Toronto) in addition to Theater Mu was a direct response to the need for Asian American artists to have a voice. It was a handful of Mu's Asian American actors who begged Rick to teach them taiko.

At its inception (1997), Mu Daiko was comprised solely of Asian Americans (Japanese Canadian, Japanese American, Korean American, Filipino American, Indian American) and over the years has maintained (without conscious thought) a 50-80% Asian American presence. This percentage includes those of multicultural heritage who identify as Asian American. Mu Daiko audiences are largely non-Asian and draws its performers from the ranks of its students. Currently, 95% of our students are non-Asian. In the very near future, we could be looking at a majority non-Asian presence within Mu Daiko.

Why do we play taiko? Professionals and students alike say they love the sound of the drums, the movement, the great workout and taiko's cathartic nature. A few will say they're interested in Japan, and with the exception of a handful of Asian American students, almost no one will say that taiko is a way to connect with Asian American culture. Like yoga, it appears to be the outside trappings of the art form that are so attractive and compelling. I can't fault any of these reasons--they are certainly part of why I choose to keep learning and performing and composing. But I also play to connect with my Japanese heritage and to be a part of the local Asian American community. Is it possible for Mu Daiko to fulfill its mission through non-Asian taiko artists? Can a non-Asian create work "from the heart of the Asian American experience?"

Like so many other musicians/artists, I want to create and perform with the very best folks around. And, without doubt, we give best service to any art form by finding these best artists. But as with yoga, I also believe that taiko's cultural essence is integral to the art form. However, it comes to manifest itself in the process--through Asian American artists, or through non-Asians willing to immerse themselves in the history and culture--enriches us all.

In order for Mu Daiko to fulfill its mission, we will continue to recruit potential artists from the best students available, regardless of race or gender. We will especially encourage talented Asian American students. Regardless, each player will be expected to share taiko through his/her own Asian American lens or to be a knowledgeable culture bearer, an ally willing to transmit a sense of the "heart of the Asian American experience."

by Iris Shiraishi

Behind-the-Scenes: Cowboy Versus Samurai

In Mu's latest video on our YouTube channel, you will find interviews with some of the cast and hear them talk about working together on such a fun play as Michael Golamco's Cowboy Versus Samurai. You will also hear Sun Mee Chomet bring up one of the more poignant topics of the play: the role of race in romantic relationships.





On Wednesday, November 17th following the evening's performance of Cowboy Versus Samurai, we will be holding a special discussion about the realities and challenges of inter-racial versus intra-racial relationships. The discussion will feature a panel of actors and special guests, and you! Hear from the experts and have your say next week at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio.

Hiroshima mon amour

A few weeks ago, in late September, Hiroshima, the legendary Asian American jazz/pop band, performed at the Hopkins Center for the Arts (view our preview about it here). I say legendary because they've been together since 1980, have received many awards from such respected sources as Billboard, Soul Train Music Awards, and Performance Magazine, and recently received their second Grammy nomination for their most recent CD, Legacy. They have had the kind of artistic success and international renown that most Asian American artists in any field dream about.

Their concert was a terrific mix of their classic and newer songs. For me, it was a trip down nostalgia lane. Hiroshima was a part of the exciting times in the 1980s when many other Asian American artists were emerging, like David Henry Hwang and Philip Gotanda. It was exciting because the band has had the same leaders, Dan and June Kuramoto, through all those years, but have been open to involving a new generation of players like Shoji Kameda of On Ensemble, who Mu Daiko members know very well having worked with him as a taiko performer.

But the most fascinating part of seeing Hiroshima again was the discussion Dan and June led on the night before their concert. It was an open forum where Dan and June donated their time to share their experiences and perspectives on being Asian American artists. They were hungry to contribute and to learn about our community here in the Twin Cities. It was so enlightening to hear them talk about the challenges they've faced over the years, from agents and others thinking they couldn't succeed, to the problems of the music business. They talked about agents trying to put them in coolie hats and ninja outfits, even though their major audience base is actually African American. They talked about how they once toured with Miles Davis. They spoke of famous mentors encouraging them when they were down and of standing ovations in response to their music. They shared stories of how they have faced resistance in Japan, because the very name of their group conjures up so much painful history. Their long journey, like so many of ours, took them from the ridiculous to the sublime, from the worst stereotyping to the finest artistry.

The most inspiring part of the evening was seeing how truly enthusiastic and energized both Dan and June were about Asian Americans working together to deal with the issues facing us all. After the concert, Dan spoke to me about a project he is working on to create a national calendar website for Asian American arts events. I told him Mu would love to be a part of any such planning and was amazed that after all these decades he continues to burn with a deep and palpable passion for the cause of Asian American culture. I realize that not only do we need more talented and passionate leaders like Dan and June Kuramoto, who have had great success in their field and are anxious to share their stories, but we also need more often to celebrate them and their contribution to our culture.

by Rick Shiomi

The year in Asian American theater that was. . . and wasn't

It’s been about a month since the Ivey’s. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s the Twin Cities version of the Tony Awards. Each year I go to this event, I’m assured of something amazing and something horrifying. Not horrifying in a scary way, but in a more confusing and uncomfortable way. This year did not disappoint. I won’t go into any details, because that’s not the topic of this particular blog. What I’ve decided to muse about was the lack of Asian American representation on stage, not only in terms of awards, but also in terms of presenters and entertainment. It wasn’t completely void of Asian Americans. Isabella Dawis did perform in a very strange rendition of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie, along with other young aspiring talent—the lone speck of yellow in a sea of red, white, and blue.

This usually wouldn’t bother me. I’m used to being in events that have little to no Asian American representation. But after a year where Asian Americans exploded on the Twin Cities theater scene, I couldn’t believe there was no recognition. Let me explain. Mu Performing Arts’ productions of The Romance of Magno Rubio and Yellow Face where both on critics’ ‘Best of the Year’ lists, including The Star Tribune. Music Lovers was also on critics’ "best of" lists with me in a leading role. The Guthrie basically had a David Henry Hwang festival by producing M. Butterfly and presenting Mu's Yellow Face in their studio space. Katie Bradley starred in Mulan at The Children’s Theatre a production that ran into controversy for their use of “yellow face.” Yellow Face and yellow face in the same year! David Mura and Laurine Price starred in The King and I at the Bloomington Center for the Arts, directed by Rick Shiomi. Laurine followed that by playing Belle in the Ordway’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Sun Mee Chomet played Lady Macduff in the Guthrie’s production of Macbeth. This would have been an amazing year for Asian American theater even in New York City! This kind of year may never ever happen again. Yet it was not good enough for any recognition at the Ivey’s in Minnesota. We did this in the Midwest! During a recession!

Let me try to put it is some perspective. Mu is usually the only company that produces Asian American plays in the Twin Cities—the way that Penumbra is the main producer of African American plays. David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly was the first time that an Asian American playwright has been produced on the Guthrie mainstage. Rick Shiomi and I were the first non-white directors in the history of the Bloomington Civic Theater. To have this kind of impact in the theater community is a testament to the growth of the Asian American talent pool in this town. This only exists because of 15 years of nurturing from Rick Shiomi and Mu. Yet, the larger population looks over these accomplishments. I believe it is because they have little knowledge of Asian American theater history, therefore cannot contextualize just what an amazing year it was. We did this in the Midwest! During a recession!

Does the fact that we do work that challenges the ideas of race in America, turn off evaluators that go to the theater just to be entertained? Maybe. Does the fact that the Asian American community isn’t assertive enough to demand to be heard allow the majority to ignore us? Maybe. Is it insane to give a theater award to one specific ethnic group? Maybe. But all I know is as I sat in that theater, listening to the wonderful Wendy Lehr accept her Lifetime Achievement Ivey award knowing that the event was coming to a close, I couldn’t help but feel. . . overlooked. Again.

by Randy Reyes

Photo: Randy Reyes as DHH in Yellow Face, (c) Michal Daniel, 2010

A week in the life of a taiko artist

I'm one of a small group of individuals in North America lucky enough to be employed full time as a taiko performer, composer, teacher and administrator. What's it like? Here's a glimpse:

Mon, Oct 18: The alarm rings at 5:30 am and I'm off to a 6:15 yoga class. I chant, "I really need to do this" as I force myself out of bed—the hardest part of yoga! Mu's St. Paul office is the next stop. There's always more than enough to keep me busy facilitating both Mu Daiko and our ever-growing taiko program. I take off for the Studio for a brief practice and then it's time to teach. Intro and Level 3 students do so well! Mu's Artistic Director Rick Shiomi and Theater Mu/Mu Daiko members arrive at 8:30; we're rehearsing for tomorrow's performance at the University of Wisconsin-Plattevillle, where Mu Daiko members will make their "Broadway" debut with Mu actor Katie Bradley. It's a hoot! We run through our taiko pieces and then head home at 10:15 pm to pack.

Tues, Oct 19: I meet Rick at 7:30 and we pick up the rental van. We load up and set off on our five-hour drive south to Platteville. Beautiful bluffs, cows and horses amidst rolling meadows slip by. A quick check-in at the local Country Inn and then it's off to the theater for tech. Accompanied by Mu actor/musician Brian McCormick, Katie and her chorus run through our “big number,” spike placements, and transitions. It's Domino's Pizza for dinner and then everyone gets into costume. We perform well before our small but appreciative audience, then load up and make our way back to the hotel. We finish the evening at the Cancun Fiesta across the street. It boasts the best (or is it the biggest?) margaritas in town. They are indeed VERY big and VERY potent!

Wed, Oct 20: We leave the hotel promptly at 9. At a rest area besides the Mississippi, we discuss a meal stop in Rochester and give Katie Leo a buzz to see if we can meet up for lunch. Katie is a wonderful writer of plays, poetry, and prose, and Mu's former Development Associate who just moved to Rochester. It's good to be able to reconnect over some good food the heart of downtown Rochester. We roll into the Studio parking lot mid-afternoon and unload the vans. Home! Naomi Guilbert and Hiroshi Koshiyama of Fubuki Daiko arrived at our house yesterday to stay for a few days while they visit friends and family. I jump on the treadmill for a quick 30-minute run (I really need to move after the day's long drive) and top it off with a great glass of wine with husband, Naomi, Hiroshi, and our dog Archie.

Th, Oct 21: Another early morning yoga class, and then it's catch-up time in the office. Quick fue practice and dinner at home and then it's on to the regular Mu Daiko evening rehearsal. I meet with a Mu Daiko member at 6 to talk about his new composition, then spend the first part of rehearsal delving into four brand-new pieces premiered at our recent Taiko Lab performances. We talk about ways to get to the heart of each composition through staging, expression, intent, technique, and kata (form). Rick comes in at 8 to rehearse the contingent that will be performing at the Burnsville Arts Center next Thursday. We're sharing the program with Ragamala Dance, the Twin Cities-based Bharatanatyam dance ensemble. Rick and Ranee Ramaswamy, Ragamala's founding Artistic Director, share a long history of collaboration and this concert will be a great reunion!

Fri, Oct 22: I say goodbye to Naomi and Hiroshi as they head back to Winnipeg and then make tracks to the office. I set up a couple of appointments to meet with college students who are writing papers about taiko, advise a potential student about her class placement, talk with Rick about upcoming programs, and reconnect with former Mu Daiko member Rachel Gorton about some shime stands she helped design. I head home early in the afternoon and hop on the treadmill for another run. And then I start working on this blog entry! It's 8:16 pm and I'm ready for that glass of wine and a screening of Princess Kaiulani, a movie about one of the last heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Anything about my home state always piques my interest. Maybe I'll review it for my next entry!

by Iris Shiraishi

Photo (c) Michal Daniel, 2009