IMPRESSIONS: "The Stranger" by Yang Sun & Poets, A Work in Process at Hi-Arts

Lead Artist: Yang Sun

Dancers: Nicole Arakaki, Angélica María Barbosa Rodríguez, Nikkie Samreth, Yang Sun

Composer & Singer: Qiujang Levi Lu

Dramaturg: Alisya Razman

Dramaturg & Residency Assistant: Alexis Vinzons

Community Cast: Natalia Fernandez, Daniella Marce, Shenghan Gao, Sharon Moreno and Angelina Ng

Set Design: Natalia Fernandez, Yang Sun, Alexis Vinzons

November 7th, 2024 at Hi-Arts

“Is home a land? A language? Are cracks the only things on which [the foundation] balances? [It is] a state as chaotic as it is silent. A silent storm, stuck in my chest…”

These questions and themes surrounding identity linger with me after witnessing Yang Sun’s riveting work in process, The Stranger, at Hi-Arts.The interdisciplinary, immersive work set on Sun’s collective Yang Sun & Poets unites dance, dramaturgy, installation, music and text to compellingly capture immigration stories.

Photo: Elyse Mertz

Each artist involved in The Stranger relates to the experience of moving to the United States. The piece details the frustrations of language barriers, having to defend or question identity, and the navigation of visa applications.

A program note by Yang Sun reads, “Coming to the United States from China for high school, my teenage years have been filled with questions about my place in both the U.S. and my motherland – frustration with the foreign language, [striving] to fit in, anger and helplessness in defending my identity or fears towards indeterminate visa application. Yet, the above is only one piece of a larger story.”

Photo: Elyse Mertz

We gather in Hi-Arts’ downstairs art gallery before the performance, where guides separate us into three groups. We follow our guides upstairs to the building’s lobby, and the performers slowly approach us from a hallway. They wear loose pedestrian clothing and carry medium-sized red, white and blue plaid bags. Their luggage, which appears stuffed, contains pillows.

Being led into the performance space by the performers emphasizes themes of voyage. Hi-Arts’ large studio contains fabrics draped on the walls. One column, part of the building’s structure, situates itself in the middle of the space. Our guides invite us to stand, sit or explore wherever we like, emphasizing that The Stranger has no front.

After we situate, four dancers (Nicole Arakaki, Angélica María Barbosa Rodríguez, Nikkie Samreth, and Yang Sun) and a community cast (Natalia Fernandez, Daniella Marce, Shenghan Gao, Sharon Moreno and Angelina Ng) slowly walk through the room, carrying bags on their shoulders. Samreth leans against the column contemplatively. Rodríguez sits, folding shirts and fabrics meditatively. In a corner of the room, we see the community cast toss even more bags into the space, creating a mountain of luggage.

Photo: Elyse Mertz

Arakaki shatters the stillness. She powerfully plunges herself onto the bags, sliding across the floor. She grabs bag after bag, throwing them across the room. It feels like she is searching for something, particularly as she flits through her pants pockets frantically.

Her frenzy arrests as Rodríguez gently embraces her. They breathe together, and join Samreth and Sun in sweeping dance phrases. The four carry one another and lean into each other’s embrace, joining in understanding and trust.

From gentle gestures to hard-hitting, percussive movements, Arakaki, Rodríguez, Samreth and Sun articulate their emotions – expressing anger, fear, determination and hope – with depth and fortitude. In one particularly heavy scene, the artists fling themselves against Hi-Arts’ walls, unafraid to (unintentionally) travel over seated observers. They push against the walls, rolling along them – us who are seated promptly rise and clear the way for their movements.

Photo: Elyse Mertz

Rodríguez, in a moment alone, captures surmounting frustration as she exhorts pained gasps. She arches deeply backwards while shoving her fist into her mouth, her eyes squeezing shut.

In another gripping moment, Sun addresses the cast via microphone, calling out different tasks: “Pick up. Drop. Flip. Stand. Back to beginning.” The artists follow suit as Sun’s commands increase in speed. Sun’s tone changes as she instructs, “Get a job. Live. Taxes. Learn English. Social Security Number. Driver’s License. Medicare. Medicaid. Transportation. Passport. Back to beginning.” The scene captures the overwhelming nature of necessary to-dos.

A lasting image occurs when Samreth steadily hops across a pathway of bags. The artists quickly assemble more and more stepping stones for them each time they reach the end of their path.

Photo: Elyse Mertz

The tension resolves as the entire cast slowly walks across the space, leaning into one another. They speak in English and their native tongues. “Am I a foreigner in my home land, if I’m remembering everything in English?” Sun asks. 

As they arrive in a clump, shifting gently while forming soft hand gestures, we feel the weighted, non-linear realities of their journeys. While each artist walks their own path, they empathize with each other’s individual experience. They resolve to share and carry forward, as Sun describes, “one piece of a larger story.”