Episode #4: Interview with an Artist
1. What is your name?
Jung-Ah Chung
2. What is the location of where you are based?
Victoria, British Columbia
3. Tell us in 25 characters who you are.
I am a female, a dancer, a choreographer, an improviser, an interpreter, a communicator, an immigrant, a Korean, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a listener, an observer, a learner, a cooperator, an emotional being, responsible, patient, loyal, punctual, curious, and relatively critical of myself. I like to eat, sleep, laugh, breath deep and dance (very basic things make me alive!!)
4. Who has been the greatest influence in your life and why?
My daughter. Every decision I make, every step I take in my life is deeply connected to hers, consciously, unconsciously.
5. What was the last book or film you read/saw?
새의 선물/작가:은희경 Gift from a bird/author: Hee-Kyoung Eun
“Growth is stopped at twelve years of age because I got to know that my life isn’t that much generous to me”: from “Gift From A Bird”
6. Tell us a little about the work you are performing at d:mic/fac.
“Excerpts From A Wet Summer”, premiered in 2009 at the ROMP Festival in Victoria, BC. It is a commissioned solo work choreographed by Darryl Hoskins with music composed by Robert Kingsbury. The piece looks at solitude and its connection to placement and time – home and history. Mr. Hoskins approached our initial work together as an exploratory exchange between two dance artists – a time for us to meet. With no specific themes in mind, this shared creative process ultimately revealed a common thread between D.A Hoskins and myself – a time of transition. Whether it be a chapter closing or opening, the intention of this work is to acknowledge and identify a time of reflection, a passage of experience and what we carry on our skin and being – to ultimately explore a growing solitude.
7. Is Toronto a good place to perform in?
Yes! Especially for this work. The piece was created through the heart of a rainy Toronto summer in 2009 and Toronto is home of Darryl. It is very special to come back and share this work in Toronto.
8. What do you do without fail following a show or before a show, to prepare?
In my experience, every work needs different preparation and that depends on what the work is related to. I often drink pop after a show but not without fail though.
9. What is your favourite thing about Toronto?
Definitely cultural diversity. Toronto is also the first city I lived in Canada since I landed and I have many first Canada experiences in Toronto. So I will say that my favorite thing about Toronto is my memory of the first taste of Canada.
See “Excerpts from a Wet Summer” at the Betty Oliphant Theatre as a part of the Baker Series, August 11th at 7 p.m., August 12th at 9 p.m. and August 13th at 4 p.m. To purchase tickets visit: www.artsboxoffice.ca or call: 416.504.7429. For more information click here!