In
“Tracings,”
Dana
Tai
Soon
Burgess
and
Company’s
dance
production
chronicling
Korean
migration
to
the
United
States
in
the
early
1900s,
every
move
and
sway
has
meaning.
Even
the
pineapple
lounging
onstage
while
the
dancers
swerve
around
it
throughout
the
piece
is
significant.
“My
parents
came
from
Korea
in
1903
to
work
at
the
pineapple
plantations
in
Hawaii,”
Burgess
says,
explaining
the
origin
of
“Tracings.”
The
37-year-old
artistic
director’s
13-year-old
dance
company
recently
won
the
2005
Mayor’s
Arts
Award
for
Excellence
in
an
Artistic
Discipline.
Dana
Tai
Soon
Burgess
and
Co.
first
won
this
award
in
1994.
Now,
Burgess,
who
is
gay,
is
getting
ready
to
take
“Tracings”
to
an
opera
house
in
Riga,
Latvia,
a
European
country
located
along
the
Baltic
Sea,
northeast
of
Poland.
In
May,
the
dance
company
is
scheduled
to
perform
at
New
York
University’s
Skirball
Center
for
the
Performing
Arts.
Burgess,
a
native
of
Santa
Fe,
N.M.,
earned
a
master’s
degree
from
George
Washington
University,
where
he
currently
teaches
dance.
He
lives
in
D.C.
with
his
partner
of
four
years,
Aaron
Modiano.
Burgess
says
his
work
is
influenced
by
his
interest
in
martial
arts,
visual
arts
and
his
travels
to
places
like
Asia,
Latin
America,
South
America,
the
Middle
East
and
Europe.
Two
years
ago,
“Tracings”
was
performed
at
the
Kennedy
Center
in
conjunction
with
the
Korean
American
Centennial.
The
Smithsonian
Institution
also
was
a
sponsor.
“It’s
great,”
Burgess
says
about
receiving
the
most
recent
award.
“It
means
a
lot
to
know
that
you
have
a
home
and
place
where
your
art
is
understood.”
Daniel
Phoenix
Singh,
who
also
is
a
gay
choreographer
based
in
D.C.,
shares
a
similar
sentiment.
The
National
Endowment
for
the
Arts
recently
awarded
Dakshina/Daniel
Phoenix
Singh
and
Co.
an
American
Fast-Track
Review
Grant
for
$10,000.
The
dance
company
Singh
founded
was
one
of
171
organizations
to
receive
such
a
grant,
which
is
designed
to
provide
financial
support
for
producing
culturally
diverse
art.
“It
validates
all
the
work
we
have
been
doing
without
funding,
so
far,”
says
Singh,
a
32-year-old
native
of
India.
He
works
as
a
network
administrator
for
the
Association
of
American
Colleges
and
Universities
and
also
is
a
member
of
KHUSH
D.C.,
an
organization
geared
toward
supporting
gay
people
in
this
region
who
have
ties
to
South
Asia.
The
Dakshina/Daniel
Phoenix
Singh
&
Co.
is
scheduled
to
perform
“Dancing
Across
India”
and
“Bhangra
Dance
Party,”
which
feature
dancers,
musicians,
and
video
artists,
at
7
p.m.,
on
Friday,
April
1,
at
the
National
Geographic
Grosvenor
Auditorium,
1600
M
St.,
NW.
Similar
to
Burgess’s
cultural
themes,
Singh,
who
has
a
master’s
degree
from
the
University
of
Maryland,
keeps
his
dance
productions
filled
with
Indian
influences
as
well
as
gay
and
lesbian
themes.
The
pieces
usually
include
six
to
10
dancers.
“In
Indian
dance,
there
is
a
lot
of
gestures
and
storytelling,
and
that
has
influenced
my
modern
dance
a
lot,”
Singh
says.
“Most
people
experiment
with
what
interests
them,”
he
later
adds,
“so
being
gay
has
made
me
look
at
relationships
in
my
dance
of
both
men
with
men,
and
women
with
women.”
