Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company by Sylvana Christopher

Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company – An Asian American Dance Journey

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

February 28, 2025

Reviewed by Sylvana Christopher

(Cover Photo Credit: Taehyun Hwang)

^Click to hear an audio transcript of this review.

I arrived at Woolly Mammoth Theater (641 D St. NW for future reference) in the nick of time for their inaugural residency, Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company presents three signature works for audiences to simmer: Leaving Pusan, Becoming American and Hyphen. I am proud that I was a student of Burgess while studying at The Washington School of Ballet. My family have long been fans of Burgess, noting the company’s commitment to crafting refined dances informed by a keenly observant cultural lens. 

In Burgess’s first piece, Leaving Pusan a masked dancer enters and the smallest ray of light is shining directly through their right eye opening. A non-masked dancer, Trevor Frantz, enters on the opposite corner of the stage looking directly at the masked dancer with marked elegance and conviction. I first saw this piece performed at The Lincoln Theatre years ago along with the dearly departed and beloved dance critic, George Jackson. 

Upon research, Pusan, formerly known as Busan, is a dazzling metropolis with a floating Diamond Bridge, and beautiful temples surrounded by water, atop craggy mountainous hillsides.

The use of stop-motion makes the choreography well- punctuated.

A little backstory: Burgess’s grandmother was part of the first hundred Koreans to be bought and sold as Christian indentured servants to the Del Monte plantation in Hawaii. Upon research of the Del Monte company and their track record, fairly recent articles track continued human rights violations of pineapple workers in both Hawaii and Kenya. Burgess revealed in an aside that his mother did not wear shoes all through gradeless school on the plantation reflecting the lack of care and resources given to his family growing up. “Palmistry” by Jason Kao Hwang creates searing sounds aiding in the imagining of the pain of handling pineapples and their prickly skin. The image of the white mask and its pursed lips is long lasting. I believe Aleny Serna danced the lead role marvelously and Natasha Ames a supporting role showing acute timing, technique and theatricality. The way the mask is subtly removed and resumed was well rehearsed. I imagine it is designed so the dancer can bite on it and hold it between their lips. The use of stop-motion makes the choreography well-punctuated. Precision and gesture draw us closer to both the beauty and tragedy of Leaving Pusan.

This allusion to the fetishizing of Asian babies is an example of the micro details that distinguish Burgess’s work as exceptional.

The next piece, Becoming American, is framed by three faceless dancers intently inscribing things in space and onto the non-masked dancer. A sampling of Bunraku shadow puppetry in the movement vocabulary recalls the marvelous performance by The National Bunraku Theater at The Kennedy Center just last October 2024. An original adoption photograph is projected on the surface of a petite luggage carrier. This allusion to the fetishizing of Asian babies is an example of the micro details that distinguish Burgess’s work as exceptional.

Main character and dancer, Baylee Wong, portrays an Asian adoptee inspired by a past company member’s true life story. Wong is divine in the way that she moves with a clear sense of longing and mesmerizing focus. The simple white plate given to her by one of the two flanking men contrasts sharply with her own more comforting bowl, highlighting its significance. Trading her creamy, floor-length, billowy gown for a generic, flower-patterned, mid-calf dress symbolized shedding another layer of her identity, conforming to the fashion norms of a specific era in America. Exaggerated cutlery points to a disorienting and ridiculous way of eating. Caressing the bowl feels like giving and changing part of herself as shattered pieces fall around her in the projection art, ensuing with a strangely unsettling family portrait. 

Hyphen begins with small blockages of the face. The dancers slowly crumble to mid then low levels. Sleek well-tailored costumes flatter each dancer with striping along the legs and unique back and front differences. 

Conversations about othering and the act of othering must take place in this ever divisive world. Check out this PBS conversation which highlights intersectionality as a means of understanding the connection between gender and race. Is the use of the hyphen cutting into each other’s identities? As Chamorro, I struggle with which way to clearly identify and argue that it does. 

This final piece is very architectural. Three strong male dancers Tomas Fischer, William Robinson, and Justin Rustle join the ensemble. Interesting shaped red antiquities from Burgess’s collection find a home in this piece. A medium-sized TV and a large screen are used for playing black and white videography of a man talking. I find myself referring to Andy Warhol’s aesthetic, having recently visited the Andy Warhol museum for the second time. The screens become time portals of omniscient faces and mouths. My eye is drawn to Joan Ayap whose composure is breathtaking as are her gorgeous leg extensions. Athletic theatrical movements paint the disconnect of being half one and half another. The company performs explosive floor leaps, turns and jumps with the softest of landings. A beautiful solo by Felipe Oyarzan Moltedo takes center stage. Halfing people with the hyphen as in Korean-American does indeed feel divisive upon reflection of Burgess’s opening prompt. Overall, this was a fabulous performance by the jewel of Washington, DTSBDC. Eager to see next bold moves for the company and their partnership with Woolly Mammoth. Dance companies and queer choreographers may want to follow Burgess’s lead and seek refuge at inclusive DC theater companies.

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Sylvana Christopher (she/her) (@sylvidances) D.C. dancer, educator and choreographer. Sylvana co-founded Glade Dance Collective in 2009 which continues to thrive and currently directs SylviDances. Christopher studied performance and choreography earning a BFA from The Ohio State University with the mentorship of Nicole Stanton.