Tiger Hands:Asian American Choreographer Taps Into Peking Opera Training
Choreographer Benjamin Akio Kimitch’s first production in five years honors his late mother, a musician and folk dancer. Titled Tiger Hands, it draws inspiration from Peking opera.
Peking opera is rich with symbolic movements and gestures, including ‘tiger hands,’ which, for Kimitch, represents a connection to his formative non-Western dance training.
“I’m Japanese American, but having (...) training in a Chinese art form and being around that culture, it becomes my dance heritage and a way that my body finds joy in moving.”
The creative center The Shed in Manhattan, New York City, commissioned the dance, which taps into Peking opera as a transformative source of beauty and strength.
Catch Tiger Hands at The Shed in Manhattan, NYC, from August 4-6 for FREE (advance reservations required).