Writing and Choreographing: The Double Dilemma of Chinese Immigrant Women
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Authors
An, Na
Issue Date
2022-05-01
Type
thesis_open
Language
Keywords
Chinese Immigrant Women in the USA , History of Gender Ideology in China , Choreography and Identity , Chinese Contemporary Dance , Asian Dance Performance , and Poetics of Dance. , Asian American Studies
Dance
Women's History
Women's Studies
Alternative Title
Dance Written
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the double dilemma of Chinese immigrant women. From reflecting on my own experience to interviewing nine Chinese immigrant women to sharing embodied knowledge in dance, this paper is an inquiry into the question, "What does it mean to be a Chinese immigrant woman in the USA?" Through my writing and choreographic practice, my research explores how place, identity, and choreography are closely and mutually interactive. I analyze the dilemmas in two spaces: 'gender ideology in China' and 'Chinese immigrant women in the United States.' From the Mao era to modernizing markets in post-Mao China, from the Chinese Exclusion Act to COVID-19 to Asian Hate, the investigations that I examine in this paper uncover the complexity and contradictions of Chinese women's living circumstances. Reexamining the past is a reflective journey, bringing us to the discussion of how history defines Chinese women and Chinese immigrant women. Tracing back to the past is an extraordinary opportunity to inquire and question whether historical patterns have changed. Incorporating individual voices into my writing and choreographing aims to acknowledge and identify oppression towards Chinese women. My research has been driven and mainly inspired by the dance piece Red choreographed by Chinese dance artist Wen Hui, Kinesthetic City: Dance and Movement in Chinese Urban Spaces written by SanSan Kwan, Women and China’s Revolutions written by historian Gail Hershatter, and several readings by bell hooks.
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