CENTER STAGE
November 2016
Short Music Film, Digital
Grace Ming
Written, Directed, Produced by Grace Ming
All music composed and recorded by Grace Ming
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Center Stage” is an original three-part music film by Grace Ming, examining the role of the performing arts and cultural arts in her experience growing up and living as a Chinese-American and Asian-American artist — in assimilation, finding community, and connecting to her heritage. Drawing from anthropological concepts of the performativity of culture, Ming's images and lyrics highlight the influence of media when navigating a hyphenated identity, as well as the importance of representation of identities and cultures in media. The film flows between narrative and documentary styles as she asserts the centrality of the arts to her identity and a distinction of the hyphenated identity from its components.
FILMING AND FOOTAGE
As a full time college student, I was lucky to stumble upon an independent project-oriented class that gave me the opportunity and resources to dedicate my time to entering HBO Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Contest. Starting with pre-production and planning in mid-september, I was extremely proud and fortunate to complete the project in just over 1 month, and couldn't have done it without those around me who lent a hand or words of support. In the course of putting everything together, I was forced to reflect on my ongoing relationship with media as an Asian-American, and the centrality of representation in media's influence on various identities. Working on the film in itself served as a valuable experience that grew my relation to my heritage culture, and my understanding of my identity.
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Part 1 features samples of popular media that I had consumed almost compulsively while growing up and navigating the social-cultural scene around me. I was grateful to work with Wellesley College Freestyle to execute the stage metaphor, and with volunteer actresses and camerawomen to reenact the anecdotal bits. The music and lyrics were composed and recorded for the specific purpose of this film.
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Part 2 features spontaneous footage I had unearthed from my most recent two trips to India, as well as a medley of footage and photos from my involvement with the South Asian student community on campus, including scenes from rehearsals, performances, and cultural events. The music was taken from two sources - a recording I took at a Merasi Folk Singers performance at Wellesley, and a mashup of Bollywood songs I made a couple summers ago while studying Hindi.
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Part 3 features the art of Chinese ribbon dancing, which besides dancing in Chinese school as a small child, I had to figure out through YouTube videos for the shoot. I also took a trip home to NJ for a weekend to capture footage of the Chinese school I went to growing up, including the karate class I went to weekly, as well as footage of a gathering of the Association of Yunnan, NJ, which my family has been a part of for as long as I remember. The music and lyrics in this part were also composed and recorded solely for the purpose of this film.
