Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Tong.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My artistic journey began during my early childhood, with ongoing make-believe games, backyard performances, and endless fantastical stories that I would write and illustrate. With a vivid imagination, I fell in love with the creative movement and ballet classes that my mother put me in at age 3. I couldn’t get enough of the chance to imagine and play within the structures of anatomical technique.
I trained at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, where I participated in their Preparatory Dance Company. I mostly studied ballet, modern, and jazz in a concert dance setting. Attached to the BFA program, Cornish’s Prep Dance introduced me to both physical technique and compositional exploration. I grew into an affinity for play and difference within the act of dancing and continued to explore training and dance space at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Since graduating with my BFA in Dance and a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, I have set my focus on developing work as a choreographer, performer, educator, and arts administrator in order to create unexpected and alive dance performance.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As most artists might say, I think a massive challenge has been negotiating how to capitalize on the act that makes me the happiest. When your hobby and passion become your industry, how then do you make space for yourself? I am so grateful to do and shape what I love most every day, whether through administrative work for upcoming shows, education for young dancers in my community, or forming performance in the studio. I never learned in all of my dance training how difficult it is to be your own advocate, performance tool, admin, and creative director… Not to mention other external pressures like social media, graduating during the pandemic, and the inherent ephemeral nature of live performance! I am always learning how to manage myself, wear more hats, and to develop my work in this ever-changing world.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In very few words, I am a New York City-based, independent movement artist working as a choreographer, producer, and performer. I create Movement Collages— experimenting with performance as a medium to decontextualize the every day and to ask questions about what we accept as “regular”. Frequently, I employ elements of clowning, pantomime, puppetry, dance theater, academic theory, and more in my work. I think of each piece that I create as a thoroughly researched and structured thesis, and as such enjoy layering samples of unexpected sounds, scenes, and dance moves. My work can often be identified by its mystery, humor, child-like play, and Asian-ness.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Beyond the logistical support for my dance training– tuition, attire, commuting, encouragement, etc–my family has always been enthusiastic about dancing around the kitchen, which inspires me to return to the organic movement of and community inherent in dance practices. Although they don’t work in the same creative sphere as me, they have all been instrumental in my journey to being a full-time creator and dancer. Other fabulous mentors during my training at Cornish College of the Arts and NYU Tisch Dance always pushed me to be technically better and artistically inquisitive. And finally, all of my peers in the dance world and outside of it who constantly convince me that dancing is a really cool medium deserve all of the thanks I have left!
Contact Info:
- Website: gracetong.com
- Instagram: @graceytong
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPhLDwoP-WDc3HOiTE7EKg
Image Credits
Alice Chacon
Samantha Chapa
t.filmm
Anthony Barton
