Motherhood, Sacrifice, and Gratitude in Li Chiao-Ping’s “RE:JOYCE”
“RE:JOYCE” by Li Chiao-Ping was presented as a part of Dancing on the Ceiling - Performances by Women of a Certain Age. This concert was created to combat, as Sara Hook says, “the lack of performance opportunities for women of a ‘certain age.’” The works presented over the course of the evening tell sometimes forgotten narratives while shaking the expectations we may have for women in their 60s and 70s.
At the start of “RE:JOYCE,” the stage transforms as a clothesline is pulled from stage right to stage left and a heaping pile of white linens appears downstage right. This establishes a sense of intimacy and nostalgia immediately. Li Chiao-Ping enters, takes garments from the pile and hangs them on the line. The white offers a sense of peace and clarity and the clothesline takes me to someone’s backyard. She slowly unravels the crisp white sheet revealing a projection of her mother dancing in a red sweater, a stark contrast to the white of the fabric and Chiao-Ping’s costume. The quality of the video makes it evident that this was from a different time, perhaps the 70s. This image of Chiao-Ping’s mother literally being projected onto her body sets the tone for the work to come. It brings up a question I find myself grappling with often – what parts of my mother are projected onto me? This specific image of Li Chiao-Ping, gently and tactfully expanding the sheet, has me reckoning with how much of this projection of my mother is involuntary versus an active choice to let her live on through me.
After some time, she hangs the sheet over the clothes line and the video of her mother continues throughout the work. Parallel to this, Chiao-Ping moves through athletic, grounded, strong phrase work. The physicality of her movement breaks expectations that we may have for “women of a certain age.” She commands the stage through this expansive movement across all levels. Meanwhile, another layer to this work is revealed; this dedication to her mother is offered from the unique perspective of a first generation American. A voiceover of Li Chiao-Ping telling the story of her mothers journey to the states from China backs the movement. She explains how her mother was pregnant with her older sister and couldn’t eat while on the boat for many months. As Li explains her mother’s worry for her unborn child while making this pilgrimage to give her future family a better life, we feel the weight of the love and sacrifices Li Chiao-Ping is honoring in this work.
Chiao-Ping continues dancing as she puts on the layers of clothing from the clothesline. During this section, the voiceover speaks of one of the jobs her mother had in the states.She laundered, pressed, and folded clothes. This gives the projection from before, and now the layering of this pristinely clean white fabric over Li Chiao-Ping’s body in motion, additional significance. I picture Li’s mother preparing the fabric she is dancing with and in. Li donning these clothes feels like a showcase of pride for her mother’s work.
As the work comes to a close, the projection of her mother in the red sweater changes to one where she is clearly much older. A phrase is repeated in a language I am assuming is either Mandarin, Cantonese, or another language spoken in China three or four times. Eventually, this phrase is translated to English; “I hope that your life can be easier than mine.” Hearing these words in both languages was moving and profound, but not necessary to understand that this was the message of the work. Li Chiao-Ping’s intentionality in storytelling, props, and movement revealed this work as an homage to the life her mother lived and the life she gifted Li.
This work, and the others presented, display Sara Hook’s words in the program: “We don’t see ourselves as brave or even brash. We do what we do. We dance and will continue to.” The wisdom held by these women’s “collective 400 years of experience” is evident in the subtly commanding nature of the movement and their masterful sculpting of narratives. An important reminder of the value of longevity and dedication to craft.
