As we tumble into fall, the process of creating IKKAI means once: a transplanted pilgrimage continues to build for its premiere next February in San Jose at the Betsuin Annex and Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco! We have had a very generative rehearsal process. We started the week by having Tomo Sone a dancer from Kyoto, Japan lead an improvisational warm-up and we rehearsed for 5 hours a day. The new cast of dancers both local and from New York have created magic and meaning with movement. As Miles Lassi, our composer, sonically integrates bird songs, wind, and other elements from Manzanar, I'm transported into my first trip to Manzanar with the SJ JACL in 2019. Fabric designer Weston Teruya is fine-tuning large pieces that will become buildings, waves, and gardens. These weeks have felt generous as all the collaborators are bringing their best at a smooth and rapid pace.

I’m recently back from a small trip to Atlanta, Georgia, where we are building NI DO TO, an XR exhibit with Georgia Tech Arts that includes the research which has been integral to IKKAI. We are working on sharing NI DO TO, an immersive extended reality exhibit in the Bay Area. We are also editing the site-specific footage, and audio captured this past April at Manzanar to create Out of the Dust, a dance film. Having a multigenerational cast of Japanese American dancers was meaningful, and we can’t wait to share this film with you. You can get a peek at the film at the NoC Day of Remembrance event in 2023!

I'm incredibly excited to announce the Kenneth Rainin Foundation has awarded us a New Program grant! We also received funding from Japanese American Citizens League NCWNP District Legacy Fund Grants and California Arts Council with an Arts & Cultural Organizations General Operating Grant for my dance company KAMBARA+. Although we were disappointed to hear that we will not receive a full Dance Production Grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, we have received support for reaching the final round of the application and met interested tour partners through this process.