Erika Chong Shuch
Encyclopedia
Erika Chong Shuch is an American performance art
ist and educator based in San Francisco, California. She received the 2003 Goldie Award for artistic achievement in dance from the San Francisco Bay Guardian
, which called her “among the leaders in the field", and her show "One Window" was cited by the SF Weekly
as one of the Top Ten Theater Events of 2005 . She has been nominated for three Isadora Duncan Awards
, dedicated to outstanding achievement among Bay Area dance artists, and has served as artist-in-residence the Headlands Center for the Arts (2006), Djerassi (2007), ODC Theatre (2003, 2004), and Intersection for the Arts (2003–present).
, her work combines movement with theater, video, live and recorded music, and occasional puppetry
. Like Laurie Anderson
, she tends to weave a non-narrative fabric of associations that conveys meaning implicitly rather than explicitly, often exploring the difficulties and ambiguities of human relationships. And, like Anderson, even her most serious work is suffused with sly humor.
But where Anderson builds her associative framework primarily of words, Shuch often uses striking visual tableaux and surreal
situations. For instance, her 2006 production Orbit drew an analogy between the human need for interpersonal connection and heavenly bodies trapped in orbit. (The mnemonic that helps astronomers remember classes of stars, she points out, is: Oh be a fine girl, kiss me right now.) Shuch's shows are peppered with over-the-top dance routines archly set to pop-music bric-a-brac. The choreography is decidedly postmodern
and often tortured, with frequent ironic references to social dance and variety-show revues. Her sets frequently take advantage of cinematic lighting and video effects.
Reviewing Orbit, the San Francisco Chronicle
noted: "What makes Erika Shuch's work so arresting isn't the way she intuitively melds movement and theater, or the knack she has for attracting brilliant collaborators, or the Gen Y appeal of her slouchy, all-too-human performers. What's made this still-young choreographer a standout since she emerged in San Francisco six years ago is her childlike audacity in the face of big questions. Shuch is a maker of metaphors, an existential explorer whose characters consider their place in the galaxy through poetic symbols."
Television station KQED documented Shuch's creative process in a May, 2007, edition of its show SPARK. In addition to her own productions, she has directed, choreographed, or appeared in works by Sean San Jose, Octavio Solis, Philip Kan Gotanda, and Daniel Handler
(a.k.a. Lemony Snicket
). As co-founder of the Experimental Performance Institute at San Francisco's New College of California
, Shuch co-directed BA and MFA performance programs during the school's initial years.. She is also a member of Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange, a program of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, under the mentorship of choreographer Joe Goode
.
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist and educator based in San Francisco, California. She received the 2003 Goldie Award for artistic achievement in dance from the San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
, which called her “among the leaders in the field", and her show "One Window" was cited by the SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
as one of the Top Ten Theater Events of 2005 . She has been nominated for three Isadora Duncan Awards
Isadora Duncan Dance Awards
The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards or Izzies honor San Francisco Bay Area dance artists for outstanding achievements in a range of categories including: choreography, sustained achievement, individual performance, company performance, costume design, and set design. The awards are presented annually...
, dedicated to outstanding achievement among Bay Area dance artists, and has served as artist-in-residence the Headlands Center for the Arts (2006), Djerassi (2007), ODC Theatre (2003, 2004), and Intersection for the Arts (2003–present).
Style
Although Shuch's training is in dance and choreographyChoreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
, her work combines movement with theater, video, live and recorded music, and occasional puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
. Like Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
, she tends to weave a non-narrative fabric of associations that conveys meaning implicitly rather than explicitly, often exploring the difficulties and ambiguities of human relationships. And, like Anderson, even her most serious work is suffused with sly humor.
But where Anderson builds her associative framework primarily of words, Shuch often uses striking visual tableaux and surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
situations. For instance, her 2006 production Orbit drew an analogy between the human need for interpersonal connection and heavenly bodies trapped in orbit. (The mnemonic that helps astronomers remember classes of stars, she points out, is: Oh be a fine girl, kiss me right now.) Shuch's shows are peppered with over-the-top dance routines archly set to pop-music bric-a-brac. The choreography is decidedly postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
and often tortured, with frequent ironic references to social dance and variety-show revues. Her sets frequently take advantage of cinematic lighting and video effects.
Reviewing Orbit, the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
noted: "What makes Erika Shuch's work so arresting isn't the way she intuitively melds movement and theater, or the knack she has for attracting brilliant collaborators, or the Gen Y appeal of her slouchy, all-too-human performers. What's made this still-young choreographer a standout since she emerged in San Francisco six years ago is her childlike audacity in the face of big questions. Shuch is a maker of metaphors, an existential explorer whose characters consider their place in the galaxy through poetic symbols."
Career
Shuch's first troupe was known as the Beauty School. She disbanded that group and formed the Erika Shuch Performance Project (ESP Project) in 2002, dedicated to "celebrating the extraordinary within ordinary human experience and we aim to amplify the role of theater as a tool for inspiring social change." The ESP Project has gone on to perform at many San Francisco Bay Area venues, including a long-running residency at Intersection For The Arts.Television station KQED documented Shuch's creative process in a May, 2007, edition of its show SPARK. In addition to her own productions, she has directed, choreographed, or appeared in works by Sean San Jose, Octavio Solis, Philip Kan Gotanda, and Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler is an American author, screenwriter and accordionist. He is best known for his work under the pen name Lemony Snicket.-Personal life:...
(a.k.a. Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
). As co-founder of the Experimental Performance Institute at San Francisco's New College of California
New College of California
New College of California was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President, Father John Leary. After 37 years, it ceased operations in early 2008....
, Shuch co-directed BA and MFA performance programs during the school's initial years.. She is also a member of Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange, a program of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, under the mentorship of choreographer Joe Goode
Joe Goode
Joe Goode was born in Oklahoma City, OK in 1937. In 1959 he moved to Los Angeles, CA where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute until 1961.First recognized for his Pop Art milk bottle paintings and cloud imagery, Goode's work was included along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine,...
.
Productions
- The Future Project: Sunday Will Come, San Francisco, October 2009
- After All, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, February 2009
- 51802, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, September 13-October 13, 2007
- ORBIT (notes from the edge of forever), Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, July 13-August 19, 2006
- One Window, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, April 14-May 7, 2005
- All You Need, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, April 1–18, 2004
- vis-à-vis, Magic Theatre, San Francisco, Feb. 20-23, 2003
- Choose Something Like a Star, The Store, San Francisco, Oct. 12-21, 2001
Choreography
- June in a Box (written and directed by Octavio Solis, performed by Campo Santo), Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, February 2008
- The Adverbs (written by Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket), directed by Sheila Balter
- Word for Word, Theater Artaud, San Francisco, February 2006
- Notes to my Sixth Grade Self (written by Julie Oringer, directed by Nancy Shelby)
- Word for Word, school tour, January 2006
- Under The Rainbow (written and Directed by Phillip Kan Gotanda), Asian American Theater Company, San Francisco, February 2005
- Fist of Roses (written and Directed by Phillip Kan Gotanda, performed by Campo Santo), Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, November 2004
- First Love (written by Charles Mee, directed by Erin Mee), Magic Theatre, San Francisco
- Summertime (written by Charles Mee, directed by Kenn Watt), Magic Theatre, San Francisco
Directorial Experience
- Angry Red Drum (written by Philip Kan Gotanda), Asian American Theater Company, San Francisco, April 2008
- Domino, (written by Sean San Jose, performed by Campo Santo, Yerba Buena Center For the Arts, San Francisco, December 2005
- The Ballad of Pancho and Lucy (written by Octavio Solis, performed by Campo Santo), Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, October 2005
- Time Passes Slow (co-created with Tommy Shepherd and Dan Wolf), Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, May 2004
Teaching
- Co-Founder, Co-Director, Faculty, Experimental Performance Institute, New College of California
- Guest Choreographer, UC Berkeley, BRAVO Program, 2008
- Guest Choreographer, University San Francisco, Performing Arts and Social Justice Program, 2007
- Dancers’ Group Summer Intensive, 2005, 2006, 2007
- Intersection for the Arts’ Alternative Theatre Institute, 2003–2007
- San Francisco School of the Arts, creative writing program 2003, 2005, 2007
- Cal State East Bay Renaud Wilson Dance Festival, 2006
- Rumplepeg Winter Dance and Performance Intensive, 2007
Awards
- Center for Cultural Innovation, Planning Grant, 2008
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Honorary Fellowship, 2008
- Dance USA Award, Irvine Foundation, 2007
- Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Emerging Choreographer’s Award, 2006
- James Irvine Foundation, Dance: Creation to Performance Grant, 2005
- Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange, 2004–2005
- San Francisco Bay Guardian’s 2003 GOLDIE Award in Dance
- Winner of The Dorothy June Romano Robertisini Banana Slug Award for Surrealism, Humboldt Film Festival, for the film “To Hellen Bach”