Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company Marks 30th Season

From The Georgetowner:

The dancers, designers and founding choreographer of Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company (DTSBDC) were met with a standing ovation by a sold-out crowd at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, following a special one-night performance on Nov. 30.

The evening opened with an excerpt from “A Tribute to Marian Anderson,” a piece choreographed during DTSBDC’s residency at the National Portrait Gallery. This was followed by “Transformations,” which featured costumes by Project Runway finalist Patricia Michaels, “Fractures” and “Surroundings: A Tribute to Maya Lin” (also created as part of the dance company’s NPG residency). 

The evening culminated in the energetic “Mandala,” inspired by Burgess’s tours to India and Pakistan. A VIP reception was held at the Kennedy Center’s Roof Terrace Restaurant, where Honorary 30th Season Chair, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), mingled with supporters and friends. Aaron Myers, Executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, addressed the crowd and presented a mayoral proclamation, and the dance company’s board conferred awards to major supporters and partners.

Read the article here. 

Book review: Dana Tai Soon Burgess’ ‘Chino and the Dance of the Butterfly’

 Check out Kathryn Boland's review of Dana's memoir in Dance Informa Magazine:

Chino and the Dance of the Butterfly: A Memoir paints a picture of Burgess’ unique path but also reveals truths common to the path of all dance artists. His prose is just as poetic is his atmospheric choreography – lyrical, yet eschewing the needlessly esoteric. Honest and rich, his stories can deeply engage both the heart and mind. 

Read the review, and learn more about the book, here.

New NDI residency, Dana's upbringing highlighted in Pasatiempo for The Santa Fe New Mexican

From the Santa Fe New Mexican:

Joan Ayap performs with former Santa Fe resident Dana Tai Soon Burgess’ Washington, D.C.-based modern dance company. Photo Jeff Watts

Dance dream
Michael Wade Simpson | For The New Mexican
Dec 1, 2023

Dana Tai Soon Burgess is a Korean American choreographer. His Korean given name, Tai Soon, means “great serenity of the family,” and while he has lived in Washington, D.C., for 35 years and worked globally, he was raised in Santa Fe, a place he still calls home.

“It’s the place I still feel most understood,” he says. As an artist who has made a career exploring the stories of “hyphenated people” — those like himself of mixed ethnicity — he finds the layers of cultures of New Mexico bring him comfort. “There is something ancient that resonates for me.”

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