Borderline
The LetterToObama project is a platform for people to present “Letters” to the 44th President of the United States of America through pieces of art. In this world, people are divided along many lines from one another – and these lines are well defined. Art offers an opportunity to give voice to things that have been invisible, behind these many walls we have built. In this issue of “For the 44th on the 4th,” Wan-Jung Wei presents “Where is Your Passport?.” It is accompanied by my second Note(s) to the President, “The Wall.” View both videos below and visit again for the December Fo(u)r4.
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WHERE IS YOUR PASSPORT
WEI WAN-JUNG
Where is Your Passport? from M. Liz Andrews on Vimeo.
Choreography: Wan-Jung Wei
Dance Performance: Brittany Beyer, Hsiao-Ting Hsieh, Hisao-Wei Hsieh, Ching-Tsu Wang
Music Composition: Michael Nyman, Brian Eno
Music Direction: Tien Ling
Photography: Liang-Pin Tsao
Video Documentation: Wen-Hsuan Tseng
ARTIST. STATEMENT.
Where Is Your Passport? is a dance piece about my experience at Anchorage airport in 2010. At this tiny airport, all passengers are put into two lines–one is for “U.S. passport holders” and the other is for “ Non-Citizens.” Compared with the non-citizen line which I stood in, the line for U.S passport holders moved down really quickly. Officers smiled at them with greetings such as” “welcome back.” For non-citizens, the situation was completely different. We receive no greetings but inquiries. “What is your purpose for coming to the U.S.?” All of the non-citizens were treated as potential threat to the U.S. Observing officers’ movement and the passengers’ reaction while waiting in the line, I believe that I found excellent material for a dance piece. Begging and rejection are two motifs in the piece.
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THE WALL
M. LIZ ANDREWS
This refrain is about my desire to move beyond the many lines that separate people from one another in so many ways.
NeverQuiet.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
WAN-JUNG WEI, a native of Taiwan, is an art administrator and dancer with extensive experience on both creative and administrative aspects of theatrical production. When working in Solar Art Management, one of the leading art management companies in Taiwan, Wei contributed in all phases of production including dance performance, set design and marketing. She has brought several world-known acts to Taiwan, including Maria Serrano Flamenco Dance Company and the Disney musical Winnie the Pooh, adding diversity to performance business. Besides working on theater productions, Wei is also one of the founding members of DX5, an award-winning contemporary dance company in Taiwan. She received her B.A in International Relations from National Taiwan University in 2005.
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For the 44th on November 4th, 2010 by M. Liz Andrews, Wan-Jung Wei is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
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