The Oakland Ballet Company came to campus in September to perform works by Phil Chan ’06. Between the dance performances at Kracum Hall, Chan, the Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor of Dance for fall term, offered contextual comments. He described how, with the help of a largely Asian American creative team, he created the evening’s second act, a reimagination of the 1739 Ballet des Porcelaines.
Chan, who is of Chinese and German descent, interpreted a recently discovered score of the baroque ballet that exploited “Oriental” stereotypes for audiences of European aristocrats. By rethinking the costumes, the music, and the choreography itself, Chan flipped the script, putting Asian protagonists at the story’s center.