SLOWLY, SURELY
Slowly, Surely is my long-gestating response to the world’s sudden and total online overhaul during the pandemic. Everything about our day-to-day—even sensory experiences like art viewing, interactive learning, social gatherings—was forcibly transposed into the digital realm. Along with it, social expectation, comparison, uncertainty, miscommunication, became amplified. Overwhelm and insecurity in virtual and real worlds compounded on each other. The beginnings of this work emerged as I grappled with our new normal, negotiating with digital obligation and the persuasive (and literal) pull of screens and devices. With my focus scattered and my physicality bent out of shape, I began reimagining and reconciling with my innate impulses. Throughout this prolonged recovery process, I'm guided by this thought:
In the moment, the effort of healing is painstakingly tedious; only in hindsight does progress—personal, communal, societal—become recognizable.
PERFORMANCES
nov 6, 2023 @ WIP004, evening shared with Lindsey Red-tail, G-son Studios, Los Angeles, CA
oct 13, 2023 @ ARC Pasadena, part of Art Night Pasadena, Pasadena, CA
Concept and Dance
Tom Tsai
Projections & Lighting
Jeanne Valleroy/Panda Roja Design
Cinematography
Meena Murugesan
Orlando Agawin
Sound Design
Eddie Lu
RGRY
Costume Design
Andrew Palomares
Dramaturg
Ajani Brannum
Supported in Part by
City of Pasadena Arts and Culture Commission MiniGrant
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
California Arts Council LA County Individual Artist Fellowship
ARC Pasadena
Special Thanks
Derek Jones, William Lu, John Pennington, Heather Li, Los Angeles Performance Practice, Sierra Madre Playhouse
ARTIST BIOS
TOM TSAI is a dance artist, filmmaker, educator, and activist. His upbringing in post-martial law Taiwan drew him to Breakin’ and Hip Hop Culture, where he learned the radical creativity of cultivating his own identity. Tom’s creative and teaching work is committed towards dignified portrayals of identities experiencing erasure. He honors lineage, embraces cultural collision, and infuses personal and political determination with integrity, empathy, and earnestness. Tom has been privileged to perform his solo works nationally, and internationally in London, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Singapore. His work has received support from the California Arts Council, City of Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, Ghost Light Residency, and Dance Resource Center’s Homegrown Residency @ The Music Center. He is a chief collaborator with Dancing Through Prison Walls (Artistic Director: Suchi Branfman), a project that amplifies the experiences and imaginations of those impacted by the carceral system.
JEANNE VALLEROY is a production/stage manager and a projection/sound/lighting designer based in Los Angeles. In addition, she is the assistant project manager for Panda Roja Design. Some of her favorite shows she has worked on are: Assassins (Long Beach Landmark Theatre), Spring Awakening (Windward School), Cowboy Elektra (Rogue Artists Ensemble), Joy Luck Club (Sierra Madre Playhouse), Einstein (Santa Monica Playhouse), Princess Magic (The Complex), I Carry Your Heart (Bootleg Theater), Solve It Squad Returns (Tin Can Brothers), My Mañana Comes (The Fountain Theater), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Long Beach Playhouse).
MEENA MURUGESAN (they/them) is an award winning video artist and movement artist living on Tongva-Kizh land, or Los Angeles. Meena creates experimental non-linear narratives at the intersection of live performance, video art installation, and social issues. Grappling with the practices of improvisation, somatic bodywork, brahminized bharatanatyam, collage, projection mapping, and contemplative documentary, Meena centers an anti-racist, anti-caste, feminist, queer, melanin-rich creative liberatory practice. They are directing a speculative multichannel video art installation entitled Dravidian Futurities about Dravidian-African connections, casteism, colorism, trance/possession art rituals, and re-earthing a sunken landmass called Kumari Kandam or Lemuria. Meena is a current founding member of two collectives: SADA (South Asian Dance Artists, Mellon awardee 2021-2026) and SiriusShapeShifters (with d. Sabela grimes). Meena's dance, video art, or collaborative video projection design work has been presented at Getty Museum, Underground Museum, Broad Museum, MOCA LA, ODC, Abrons Arts Center, Gibney, NYLA, 651 Arts, EMPAC, Jacob's Pillow, SOPHIENSALE, Black Star Film Festival, ICA Philadelphia, Tangente, MAI, etc.
ORLANDO AGAWIN is a distinguished Filipino-American artist based in Los Angeles, who combines dance and videography. Graduating from Long Beach State with a dance degree, Orlando uses filmmaking to enhance his choreographic passion. His impressive portfolio includes collaborations with top artists like Christina Aguilera, Post Malone, Labrinth, and Billie Eilish. He's worked with esteemed choreographers like Toogie Barcelo, Gigi Todisco, Micaela Taylor, and Jay Carlon. Orlando's professional reach extends to TV and branding, affiliating with Puma and 'Empire.' His videography expertise shines in projects with DCCD and GGTV, seamlessly merging dance and visuals to create captivating content.
EDDIE LU is a music producer from Taipei, Taiwan.
RGRY is a music producer from Taipei, Taiwan. He is currently recovering from COVID.
ANDREW PALOMARES began his dance career in 2003 with Mexican folk-dance companies and quickly added Ballet, Jazz, and Modern techniques to his training under Michelle Jenkins. While obtaining his B.A. in Dance from California State University, Long Beach (2010), he attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance: Summer Intensive and, on full scholarship, the ODC Audition Summer Intensive. He has trained with and performed works for John Pennington, Keith Johnson, Nate Hodges, Sophie Monat, Lorin Johnson, Holly Johnston, Alex Ketley and Christian Burns. In addition to dance, Palomares has over 15 years of experience as a freelance costumer. He currently dances and designs for Keith Johnson/Dancers and Pennington Dance Group.
AJANI BRANNUM (they/them) is a former concert dancer working between performance, writing, audio/video, pedagogy, and divination. Their practice salvages psychic material from the various histories they embody as a black, queer maker with Southern roots. Through an ongoing process of learning-in-public, they improvise a repertoire of movements toward liberation - honoring and extending the ancestral wisdom that animates their work.
Ajani has presented work at REDCAT, ODC, Human Resources Los Angeles, Highways Performance Space, Los Angeles Performance Practice, in classrooms, on tabletops and screens, and when no one is looking. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, they hold an AB in English and a Certificate in Dance from Princeton University, and a PhD in Culture and Performance from UCLA. They are also an alum of the Cecilia Weston Spiritual Academy, helmed by Jade T. Perry.