UW Dance Department + Li Chiao-Ping Dance

media release:  The University of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Department and Li Chiao-Ping Dance (LCPD) will premiere the full production of the NEA funded “DIRTY LAUNDRY: A Multimedia Dance Theater Work” February 6-8, 2025, at the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall.

"...physical virtuosity and emotional radiance accumulates into a powerful proclamation of self and identity." Cap Times

“Dirty Laundry” is a multimedia and multi-layered dance work by choreographer Li Chiao-Ping, composer Byron Au Yong, and visual artist Hong Huo that investigates the history of Chinese labor, systemic racism, and generational trauma through a balance of expressive choreography, visual imagery, spoken word, text and soundscapes. Through this work, Li Chiao-Ping tells the untold stories of struggle and survival that characterized the Asian experience in America—the institutionalized violence and the treatment of Asians as perpetual foreigners. 

Dancers Katelyn Altmann, Gelline Guevarra, Piper Morgan Hayes, Elisa Hildner, Kaori Kenmotsu, Cassie Last, Li Chiao-Ping Mayu Nakaya, and Elisabeth Roskopf bring their personal histories to life on stage, creating a vivid tapestry of resilience, pain, and humanity, that transforms into a shared, communal act of remembrance and healing. 

Filled with the athletic and dynamic choreography Li is known for, this emotionally charged production will leave audiences with a deeper understanding of the Asian immigrant experience, while witnessing the transformative power of live performance. Through the seamless integration of dance, film, and sound, "DIRTY LAUNDRY" invites viewers to reflect, engage, and envision a future rooted in empathy and interconnectedness.

This production has been many years in the making, stemming from Li’s earliest autoethnographic investigations of personal/familial stories and cultural histories. The 2016 Presidential election added fuel to Li’s immigration research, resulting in the 2017 work "LANDED." The pandemic and rise in anti-Asian hate sparked the 2022 work "HERE LIES THE TRUTH" and now "DIRTY LAUNDRY." In March 2024, Li presented “I CHING 20: On Seeing and Being Seen,” an early iteration of this work. Following enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and critics, "DIRTY LAUNDRY" is now presented in full form, culminating years of research and artistic collaboration.



PERFORMANCES


THU FEB 6 at 8:00 p.m.


FRI FEB 7 at 8:00 p.m.


SAT FEB 8 at 2:30 p.m.

LOCATION

Margaret H'Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Avenue, Madison



Purchase tickets at the Campus Arts Box Office, 1st floor Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street, by phone at 608-265-2787 or online at www.artsticketing.wisc.edu, $25 general admission and $19 students and seniors. Tickets can also be purchased at the door one hour before the performances.

ABOUT LI CHIAO-PING

Li Chiao-Ping is the Sally Banes Professor of Dance and Vilas Research Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been praised by critics in the New York Times, Village Voice, Dance Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and San Francisco Bay Guardian, calling her work “…marvelously imaginative…engrossing, intelligently put-together piece of work.” As a performer, Dance Magazine said “Li Chiao-Ping in performance is a case of the dancer transcending the dance…When Li’s onstage, you don’t want to blink.” Known for her originality, trademark physicality, humanism, and visual design, Li Chiao-Ping creates layered works that combine multiple art forms to explore themes of culture and identity. Read more about Li Chiao-Ping here.

ABOUT LI CHIAO-PING DANCE


Li Chiao-Ping Dance (LCPD) was founded in 1991, the year Li premiered her renowned, solo evening work, “Yellow River,” in the Mozart and His Time Festival at Theater Artaud in San Francisco. Critics called it a “...marvelously imaginative...engrossing, intelligently put-together piece of work.” (The San Francisco Bay Guardian) LCPD gave its first company concert in Madison in 1995 at the Isthmus Playhouse. As a resident company at Overture Center for the Arts, LCPD produces two to three major performances each year.

Reflecting and supporting the artistic vision of Li Chiao-Ping and promoting acceptance and respect through our work, LCPD pushes the edges of contemporary/modern dance while producing and presenting highly original performance works. The company offers stimulating, thoughtful, creative, and educational workshops and touring programs for community and pre/professional dance artists, including diverse populations, youth, and older adults.

For the past 20 years, Ms. Li’s work has been presented and screened throughout North and South America, from New York City to Buenos Aires. LCPD has performed at many festivals including Jacob’s Pillow (MA), Bates Dance Festival (ME), American Dance Festival (NC), Dance Now (NY), Highways (CA), Movable Beast Dance Festival, Women on the Edge Festival (CA), Cleveland Dance Festival, and 2000 Feet Festival. LCPD has been presented at The Kennedy Center, Simon Fraser University, York University, Theater Project, Links Hall, UCLA, Julia Morgan Theater, Dance Mission, Alverno College, UC Santa Barbara, University of Utah, University of Maryland at College Park, Hollins University, James Madison University, Duke University, Illinois Wesleyan University, UW- Milwaukee, Virginia Commonwealth University, New York University, Dance Place, Symphony Space, DTW, Joyce SoHo, P.S. 122, ODC Theater, Theater Artaud, Highways Performance Space, ODC Theater, CounterPULSE, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, among others. For more visit www.lcpdance.org.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


LCPD’s work and events are made possible in part by the generous support of Altrusa International of Madison; Dane Arts with additional funds from the Frautchi and Rowland Foundations, Diane Ballweg, and the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation; University of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Department, the OVCRGE, WARF,  Vilas Trustees, and the School of Education Virginia Horne Henry Fund; Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from Wisconsin Arts Board; National Endowment for the Arts; and LCPD’s Circle of Friends.