Who is in your art/dance/cultural history constellation? Who are some of your artistic influences?

I often attribute my luck to spirits inviting the right people into my life. I like to think that spirits weave my artistic constellation, bringing me into proximity with people whose practices teach me how to be in the world with others. In New York City, I’ve been lucky to have many artistic mothers: Jennifer Monson, Daria Faïn, Julie Tolentino, Juliana F. May, Moriah Evans. My work is also unimaginable without the Vietnamese pioneers who opened up possibilities for experimentation before me: Ngọc Đại, Lê Vũ, Lại Diệu Hà, Vũ Đức Toàn, Ngô Thanh Phương. I’m situated somewhere inside this strange, transpacific family tree.

“In my curatorial and cultural organizing work across the years, I have come to think of dance, art, cultural history as a constellation of relations rather than a straight historic line. This ‘constellation view of art/dance/performance history’ honors the transmissions we have received directly from teachers as well as potent places, life-changing performances, paintings, and/or poems, among a myriad of other influences that shape who we are as artists at any given moment. Obviously, there is no one set of influences for any of us but I have found this kind of reflection can be a joyous practice and a way to honor the people, places, and works of art that have inspired us along the way!”

–Judy Hussie-Taylor

In this spirit, we asked our Fall Season artists, like Anh, to share their own lineages.