The UW–Madison Dance Department and Li Chiao-Ping Dance will premiere a full production of the NEA-funded “Dirty Laundry: A Multimedia Dance Theater Work,” Feb. 6-8 in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall (1050 University Ave.).
“Dirty Laundry” is a multimedia and multi-layered dance work by choreographer Li Chiao-Ping, the Sally Banes Professor of Dance and a Vilas Research Professor in the Dance Department, with composer Byron Au Yong and visual artist Hong Huo. The work 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 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” is now presented in full form, culminating years of research and artistic collaboration.
Purchase tickets at the Campus Arts Box Office (1st floor Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.), by phone at 608-265-2787, or online at www.artsticketing.wisc.edu. The cost is $25 general admission and $19 for students and seniors. Tickets can also be purchased at the door one hour before the performances.