This show helps us rediscover comedy in classical Chinese dance, and in traditional forms writ large. Classical Chinese dance is a created tradition that draws from country folk dances and Chinese regional opera, both of which have strong comedic traditions. However, classical Chinese dance as created in the 1890s-1940s all the way to today still privileges very serious, elegant, and upper class stories, real or imagined.

This show will help us rediscover laughter and physical delight in Chinese dance, by going back to our source traditions in Chinese folk dance and regional opera, as well as poking loving fun at the Russian ballet-inspired strictures of so many classical Chinese dance studios today. 

In this resourcement of Chinese dance, we’ll connect new audiences to Chinese dance and culture through the universal human need to laugh, and bring people back into traditional arts who’ve been pushed away by ahistorically serious and severe teachers. 

Bay Area Independent Chinese Dancers is a collective of Chinese dancers, choreographers and allies who use traditional arts to tell our original stories firmly rooted in our own experiences of the Bay Area and throughout the world. Our conservative art forms introduce traditional audiences to new ideas about belonging in the larger community, while our engagement with local history and current issues bring new audiences to Chinese dance. We are the premier home for Chinese dancers to pursue independent, boundary pushing, solo and small group work that doesn't fit in conventional studio environments.

Our goal is not to replicate the traditional studio model, but to focus on original choreographies and solos that fit better around a working adult’s schedule. We believe that after 20 years, our dancers have the technical skill to tell their own stories, and if they base it on their lived experiences in the Bay Area, that voice will shine even brighter.