What is a virtual potluck?
Stay home, make yourself some food, and log onto Zoom with us to join our salon!
With the recent developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asians globally are facing extreme xenophobia stoked by fear and ignorance. Its important that we come together and talk about how to foster community even while we socially distance ourselves. We also want to open discussions on how to self-care in these stressful and uncertain times. Join us and our panel of artists while we eat, laugh, and share our stories.
When?
Thursday, April 2nd, 7:00pm EST
Our Artists:
Matt DC
Jody Doo
Diana Huey
Peng Liu
Shu Cao Mo
Bios:
Matt Dela Cruz is a first generation Filipino American performer, writer and educator based out of Seattle. He is a graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City and University of Washington’s B.A. Drama program. He premiered Mr. D.C. (his first solo show) in NYC last June through Pan Asian Repertory and had a short Seattle run of his second solo show called Tita Ester at Copious (which was also presented in Portland). Favorite roles include playing Thomas Jefferson in Journey West! (Copious Love Productions), The Lion in The Wiz (Tacoma Musical Playhouse), being a Top 7 finalist in Season 14 of Stonewall Sensation (The Stonewall Inn), Ollie in Squatch! The Musical (Centerstage Theatre) and Henry in Great Wall (Village Theatre). He won two BroadwayWorld Seattle 2016 awards for “Person to Watch,” and “Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Local),” for his role in The Wiz. Outside of performing, Matt is also a drama teacher at a private school in North Seattle along with teaching at Three Dragons Academy and occasionally at Youth Theatre Northwest.
Jody Doo, born and raised in sunny Singapore, is an actor based in Brooklyn. She is a graduate of Circle in the Square Theatre School. Prior to the big move to NYC, Jody worked as a full time performer at Universal Studios Singapore for 2 years. Jody just finished the run of White Pearl (U.S. premiere) at Studio Theatre in DC. She was also seen on the Off-Broadway stages (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Oedipus), national TV (SYFY The Internet Ruined My Life, National Geographic) and both national and international commercials (Huawei P30 Pro, American Museum of Natural History, Geico, Postmates). She is very proud to be an Asian actor in America during this current climate and is looking forward to share with like-minded artists for this month’s virtual salon!
Diana Huey is a Helen Hayes and Gregory Award winning actor most notably known for playing Ariel in the National Tour of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, where she made headlines for facing racism over her casting as an Asian American actor and her activism for diversity in the arts. @dianahuey
Peng Liu is a Ph.D. candidate in musicology and an instructor of record at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), where he received his Master of Music in musicology in 2016. A recipient of China National Scholarship, Peng obtained his Bachelor of Arts in musicology from China Conservatory of Music in 2014. Peng is currently working on his dissertation that investigates how Anna Caroline de Belleville (1806-1880) as virtuoso pianist, composer, and music entrepreneur, successfully navigated the changing social structures and musical tastes of the nineteenth century in Europe and the U.K. His other research interests include nineteenth-century piano music and culture, women musicians, Beethoven, Chinese and Chinese American contemporary music, music and meaning, and critical studies of race and gender. Peng has presented his research papers at various conferences in the U.S. and U.K., including the American Musicological Society (AMS) Southwest Chapter Conference (2015, 2016, 2019), Music of Asian America Conference (2018), Show & Prove Hip Hop Studies Conference (2018), the Sixth Biennial North American Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music (2019), the Second International Conference on Women’s Work in Music (2019), Musical Women in Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century (2020), and several graduate music conferences. In 2018, Peng was selected as winner of the AMS-Southwest Chapter’s Hewitt-Oberdoerffer award for best graduate student paper. In 2019, he was a recipient of the H. Robert Cohen/RIPM Fund from the AMS and the Continuing Summer Fellowship at UT-Austin to support his dissertation research. During his service as Co-President for UT-Austin’s Association of Graduate Ethno/Musicology Students in 2018-2019, Peng initiated and chaired the 2019 UT-Austin Graduate Music Conference. Currently, Peng serves as a student representative for the AMS-Southwest Chapter (2018-2020).
Shu Cao Mo, Based in Mount Shasta CA, she is a soulful artiste working in the intersection between arts and education for individual transformation and collective awakening.
As regional manager for a SF-based traveling university, she oversaw social innovation challenges in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, New Delhi, and Shanghai; and led teacher training workshops in Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Dali, and Hong Kong. Prior to moving back to Asia, she coordinated public art curricula with The Center for Arts Education (NYC), organized and led education-based arts workshops at China Institute, Asia Society and contemporary art galleries in Chelsea. As curator, she has designed public art interventions in Cambridge (MA), Queens (NY) and produced social art performances in Beijing. Her work has been reported by The Huffington Post, and her social commentaries recorded on Sydney Morning Herald and This American Life (NPR).
Born and raised in Hangzhou, China, Shu Cao Mo received an Ed.M. in Arts in Education from Harvard University and a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Duke University (graduated with high distinction). Her awards include Angier B. Duke Scholarship, Benenson Awards in the Arts, Alex Cohen Awards, and John Hope Franklin Documentary Award.