With an arsenal of silver-tongued words and kickboots in tow, Anida Yoeu Esguerra is a force to be reckoned with…She’s a leading voice in the Asian American spoken word movement…Blending artistry with activism, this is one lady whose name you should know. —Today’s Chicago Woman


Living Memory/Living Absence
Performed, Written & Created by Anida Yoeu Esguerra
Movement Director:

Nicole LeGette
Dramaturg & Directorial Support: Robert Karimi
Video Artist:

Masahiro Sugano
Sound Design & Engineer:

Mike Gorgo

 

UPCOMING SHOWS


May 27 & 28, 2006
San Francisco, CA
Time/Venue TBD

 

What people are saying about “Living Memory/Living Absence":

 

Asian Improv aRts Midwest, the region's leader in presenting the Asian American experience through the cultural arts, was pleased to work with Chicago-resident artist, Anida Yoeu Esguerra during her production of Living Memory/Living Absence.  Esguerra's ambitious project marks a significant new phase of her already impressive career - it expressed an attention to developing a uniquely Asian American aesthetic as she continues to represent a dynamic voice that contributes a fresh perspective to the Asian American dialogue.
— Jeff Chan, Director of Development Asian Improv aRts Midwest


The Apsara, dating back to the 8th century, was the classical court dance of Cambodia in which the dancers were the channels through which the King/People communicated with Gods/Heaven. In Living Memory/Living Absence, Anida Yoeu Esguerra is a contemporary Apsara dancer, providing an eloquent channel through which we, as audience members, are able to experience her vivid, tender and sometimes painful memories; the longing for her people; the atrocities they experienced; and her curiosity in what was, is or could be for the country she calls Home. Her work is haunting, both in its beauty and its rawness – a sensitive exploration of both aesthetics and of the interface where these two extremes meet, the area of conflict where so many original and creative possibilities are hatched. After watching her work, you are left feeling like the parent who has conceived a child, held him or her for a few hours, only to have the child ripped away from you, to be left only holding memories of what was mixed with curiosity in what could have been.
— Richard Richards, Actor/Writer/Performing Artist

In Living Memory/Living Absence, Anida Yoeu Esguerra compels us to travel beyond the intellectual safety of statistics about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian refugee experience and become witness to her physical, often sensuous exploration of loss; I held my breath, marveling at Esguerra's skilled weaving of blood-red memory into tapestry, and into hope.
— Sharmili Majmudar, Mango Tribe

 

more photos from the show by michelle alba


“Living Memory/Living Absence” is an exploration of memory and exile, and the pain of these experiences within the bodies of genocide survivors. In this interdisciplinary piece Anida Yoeu Esguerra performs poetry with movement inspired by Butoh set against a video and sound backdrop of her memories in Cambodia. The work traces Esguerra’s poetic fears of returning to a country after 25 years of absence; the incredible joy she felt immersed in ancient Cambodian traditions; and the irreversible legacy of a genocide that lingered in the streets and countryside like stretched shadows without owners. The show is a journey through a landscape of fragmented old memories, an open ache for Home, and the junction of ancient cultures and modern curiosities. “Living Memory/Living Absence” reminds the audience that it is up to the living to remember histories, to create living traditions and to pass along the visible and the invisible stories; that is how culture evolves and survives.

 

Anida Yoeu Esguerra seeks an artistic, spiritual and political exploration of her identity as a non hyphenated Cambodian Muslim American woman. Esguerra is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary artist who believes in pushing artistic and political boundaries. She creates art that mixes the visual, spoken and written into performed investigations of hybrid identities. She is interested in using performance work as a means to transform losses into conversations about healing and understanding. She is a founding member of the critically acclaimed panAsian American spoken word quartet I Was Born With Two Tongues as well as Mango Tribe, an Asian American women’s performance ensemble. Esguerra tours extensively in North America with recent international performances in The Faroe Islands, Delhi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Chiang Mai. Esguerra is co-editor of Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images (Coffee House Press, 2003), ForeWord Magazine’s Gold Book of the Year. In 2002, Esguerra was recognized by PoliticalCircus.com as one of the 30 most influential Asian Pacific Americans 30 years of age or younger. Esguerra’s continued cultural work within the development of dialogue concerning social justice and human rights earned her Insight Arts’ Creative Movements Award for Spoken Word/Poetry. Her much anticipated full length CD, On the Cusp of Phoenix Rising, an experiment in sound and poetry will be released in Fall 2006. She aches for home, a good pair of ass-kicking shoes, and poetry by Audre Lorde. She is proud to call Chicago home but knows the journey never really ends for the refugee. For more information visit www.atomicshogun.com.

 

“LIVING MEMORY/LIVING ABSENCE” SHOW TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • show runs 50 minutes
  • performer is available for a 15min Q&A after show
  • show may also be doubled billed with another local performer in which case there should be an intermission between sets; or show may open with a short (15-20minute) opening act; Anida would like to advance notice and information as to who the act/performer is 
  • THERE MUST BE A STAGE.  No Exception. This particular piece can also be performed in some gallery spaces depending on lighting capabilities of the space.  I do not perform this show on empty conference room floors.
  • INSTALLATION (see attached installation layout/picts): we must be able to suspend a mosquito net from the ceiling; mosquito net is 8 ft (high) x 6 ft x 6 ft, set up a functional pulley line from stage out into the audience, and another clothesline behind the mosquito net to hold up pieces of fabric strips; the mosquito net is also used as a projection screen for the video so space must be conducive to video projections
  • Wireless Lapel Mic (unless theater is small enough or has excellent acoustics)
  • Video Projector w/RCA input (usually default for projectors): projector must have ability to connect to Macintosh Laptop
  • Sound & Light ( I tour with a tech director but may need a soundboard and/or light board operator depending on set up; lighting plot also required in advance)
  • Dressing Room: an area that's easily accessible to the stage, so performer can move in/out of stage quickly for wardrobe/costume changes
  • CD Player to be plugged into sound system
    - setup time & rehearsal time in the performance space; I will need to tech the show and would prefer to do 2-run thru rehearsals

 

Additional Performer Requirements:

 

  • Bottled Waters before and during the performance period
  • please provide samples of any promotional materials, recordings or press coverage used for this event; we’d like to add it to our scrapbook
  • performer is also available for a 15-20 minute Q&A with audience post-show

To book this show in your city please contact: booking[at]atomicshogun[dot]com

 

 

Anida Yoeu Esguerra’s performance in Living Memory/Living Absence brought to life the ongoing struggle within our own (Cambodian) community to make sense of our identity and what we and our elders have lived through. There is no one dimension to this story.  There is joy in being able to remember innocent days lost and pain in realizing just how much we are still losing - years after the war is gone.  Living Memory/Living Absence brought me present to a roller-coaster of emotions that are easily taken for granted.  I only wish more of the Cambodian elders and youths could have come together and see that we don't have to hide who we are. I thank Anida for her bravery and honesty.
— Khem Nuth, Board Member of Cambodian Association of Illinois


At a moment in history when vigilante groups like the Minute Men are murdering immigrants who attempt to cross the US/Mexico border and thousands of Muslim immigrants are being held in detention or deported without due process, Living Memory/Living Absence is a potent reminder of the realities refugees face in America. Although Esguerra tells just one story, her own, her poetry and movement pulled the audience into an internal reflection of our own stories. I have never been to Cambodia, but my own grandparents escaped Eastern Europe during the anti-Jewish pogroms. Watching Esguerra's performance caused me to pause and remember the stories of my own family. Her performance is rooted in particulars, in details:  the sounds, scents and tastes of her return to Cambodia are made live and vivid for the audience, but the story she tells is transcendent.  Living Memory/Living Absence is a tool for human connection, for building empathy and understanding across lines of difference, and turning the tides of anti-immigrant culture and xenophobia. It is poetry and testimony, healing and transformative for both the artist and audience.
— Amanda Klonsky, Teaching Artist at Cook County Juvenile Detention Center