View source for Ping Chong

{{Short description|American theatre director, choreographer and artist}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Autobiography|date=January 2022}}
{{Undisclosed paid|date=January 2022}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2022}}
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{{Infobox artist
| name               = Ping Chong
| image              = Ping arms crossed by Adam Nadel.jpg
| caption            = Chong in 2011
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1946|10|02}}
| birth_place        = [[Toronto]], Canada
| education          = [[School of Visual Arts]], and [[Pratt Institute]]
| occupation         = Theater Director, Interdisciplinary Artist, [[Choreographer]], [[Playwright]], [[Filmmaker]], and Visual Artist
}}

'''Ping Chong''' ({{lang-zh|c=張家平|p=Zhāng Jiāpíng}}; born 1946) is a Canadian-born American contemporary theatre director, choreographer, video and [[installation art]]ist. Born in [[Toronto]] and raised in the [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Chinatown]] section of Manhattan, Chong is considered a seminal figure in Asian American theatre and the [[Asian American]] arts movement.

==Career and works==
<span class="anchor" id="Works in chronological order"></span>
Originally trained as a visual artist and filmmaker at the [[School of Visual Arts]] and [[Pratt Institute]], Chong studied dance and performance with [[Meredith Monk]] and began his theatrical career as a member of Monk's company, the House, in 1971. Chong was both a performer and collaborator on The House. His co-created work includes ''The Travelogue Series: Paris 1972'', ''Chacon 1974'', and ''Venice/Milan 1976''. His final [[collaboration]] with Monk was ''The Games'' in 1983 which premiered at the Schaubuhne in [[Berlin]], in then-West Germany.

Chong created his first independent theatre work, ''Lazarus,'' in 1972, emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach to theater. His roots are in the visual arts, film, dance, and [[Chinese opera]] (both his grandfather and father were directors and librettists). In the earliest works, such as ''Lazarus'', ''Fear and Loathing in Gotham'' (1975), and ''Humboldt's Current'' (1977), the theme of otherness reflected Chong's personal sense of estrangement from the society he grew up in as a first-generation immigrant in a [[Racial segregation|segregated]] city. Later, the theme became more universal, encompassing a broader range of material. Many of Chong's works concern [[colonialism]] and the collision of cultures and/or issues of cultural diversity, and frequently draw on documentary and interview-based materials (as in the ''Undesirable Elements'' series.)

Ping Chong + Company (originally called the Fiji Theatre Company) was founded in 1975. The company's mission is "to explore the meaning of contemporary theatre and art on a national and international level" and "to create and tour innovative multi-disciplinary works of theater and art that explore the intersections of history, race, art and technology in the modern world." The company has created and toured more than 100 works by Chong and his collaborators, which have been presented at theaters, performing arts centers, and arts festivals around the world.

Key works in Chong's evolution include ''Humboldt's Current'' (1977), from his first decade. It is an early work anticipating Chong's interest in geopolitical and historical subjects. It received an [[Obie award]]. In 1980, Ping Chong formed a small ensemble, and it was with this group of performers, which included Jeannie Hutchins, Louise Smith, John Fleming, and Brian Hallas, that he evolved his performance style. ''A.M./A.M.—The Articulated Man'' (1981) marked Chong's interest in choreographic, non-literary theater. The second decade of Ping Chong's career includes 3 major works back-to-back. ''Nosferatu, A Symphony of Darkness'' (1985), ''Angels of Swedenborg'' (1985) and ''Kind Ness'' (1986). ''Kind Ness'' was the recipient of a USA Playwright's Award in 1988. The 1990s marked major changes in Ping Chong's work. It is at this time that he disbanded his decade old ensemble in order to explore a solo career. From 1990 with the ''East/West Quartet'': ''Deshima'', ''Chinoiserie'' (1996), ''After Sorrow'' (1997), ''Pojagi'' (1999) and in 1992 with the launch of the Undesirable Elements series, the work took a turn towards poetic documentary and historical subjects. The exception to this is the puppet theater works beginning with ''Kwaidan'' (1998) which largely nods toward Chong's earlier allegorical works.

Ping Chong's early interest in puppetry starting with ''Lazarus'' in 1972 was given full expression in the creation of large scale productions of puppet theatre works including, ''Kwaidan'' (1998) which received Unima-USA's Citation of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry, ''Obon: Tales of Rain and Moonlight'' (2002), the sequel to ''Kwaidan'', and ''Cathay: Three Tales of China'' (2005), ''Kwaidan'' and ''Obon'' were both based on Kwaidan, Japanese ghost stories collected and adapted by Lafcadio Hearn. ''Cathay, a'' commission by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was set in China and used three interconnected stories to explore three eras of Chinese history: the Tang Dynasty, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese invasion during World War II, and contemporary China today. ''Cathay'' was named one of the Top 10 Shows of the 2005-2006 Season by NY Theatre Wire and was awarded three Henry Hewes Awards for achievement in theatrical design.

Since 1992, Chong and his collaborators have created over 70 works in the ''Undesirable Elements'' project, an ongoing series of oral-history theater works exploring issues of race, culture, and identity in the lives of individuals in specific communities. The development process includes an extended residency and rehearsal period during which Ping Chong and collaborators conduct intensive interviews with potential participants who are not generally performers, from the local community. These interviews then form the basis of a script, performed by the interviewees, which covers the historical and personal narratives of individuals who are in some way living between two cultures. Chong has often described the series as, "Seated operas for the spoken word." One of the most recent entries in the series is ''Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity'' which started touring in 2016. Beyond Sacred is an interview-based theatre production exploring the diverse experiences of Muslim communities in the United States. The five cast members of Beyond Sacred vary in many ways but share the common experience of coming of age in a post-9/11 New York City, at a time of increasing Islamophobia. They are young men and women that reflect a wide range of Muslim identities, including those who have converted to Islam, those who were raised Muslim, but have since left the faith, those who identify as “culturally” Muslim, and those who are observant on a daily basis. It stars Tiffany Yasmin Abdelghani, Ferdous Dehqan, Kadin Herring, Amir Khafagy and Maha Syed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bricartsmedia.org/events-performances/beyond-sacred-voices-muslim-identity|title=Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity|date=March 16, 2017|website=BRIC}}</ref>

In 2014, Chong and dramaturg, director, and playwright Talvin Wilks created ''Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America'' in collaboration with undergraduate and graduate designers and actors in the University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. Of the work, Chong says, "In response to the recent killings of Trayvon Martin, shooting of [[Murder of Jordan Davis|Jordan Davis]], shooting of Michael Brown and the seemingly endless killings of black men and boys for unarmed offenses, we have designed ''Collidescope'' to be a collision-course view of the legacy and psyche behind this history of racial violence, racism and social injustice in America."<ref>Snyder, Sarah. [http://theclarice.umd.edu/press-releases/tdps-production-collidescope-adventures-pre-and-post-racial-america-contributes "TDPS’ Production of ''Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America'' Contributes to National Conversation about Race Relations"]. Retrieved 2015-03-30.</ref> Subsequent adaptations have performed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Wake Forest University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.umass.edu/hfa/news/collidescope-20-brings-issues-racism-center-stage|title=Collidescope2.0 Brings Issues of Racism to Center Stage {{!}} UMass HFA|website=www.umass.edu|date=April 20, 2016 |access-date=November 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/relishnow/the_arts/performing_arts/collidescope-at-wake-combines-sci-fi-with-america-s-race/article_7f8a604b-6e20-54eb-a2e5-5f7837dd9779.html|title='Collidescope 3.0' at Wake combines sci-fi with America's race issues|last=Cissna|first=Bill|work=Winston-Salem Journal|access-date=November 6, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

There are aspects of Chong's prolific career that have remained under the radar. Primarily an artist of the theater, he also, when the opportunity arose, created works of video art, pure dance works, and installations. The two-dance works are, ''I Will Not be Sad In This World'' (1991), ''Baldwin/NOW'' (2016). Video works include the video adaptation of ''I Will Not Be Sad In This World'' (1992) and ''Plage Concrete'' (1988). His installation work includes ''Kind Ness'' not to be confused with his play ''Kind Ness,'' a commission by [[MIT]]'s List Visual Arts Center in its inaugural season in 1985. Another highlight of Chong's installation work was ''Testimonial'' commissioned for the Venice Bienalle.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Works
|-
! Title !! Year !! Medium !! Collaborator(s), notes
|-
| ''A Universal History of Infamy: Variations on Nocturne in 1200 Seconds'' || 2020 || style="white-space: nowrap;" | Visual art and installation || style="white-space: nowrap;" | Kenya Bullock, Jaime Sunwoo, Matt Chilton, Zakaria Khafagy, Irisdelia Garcia 
|-
| ''Nocturne Remix'' || 2020 || Film and media || Edwin Aguila, Kenya Bullock, Irisdelia Garcia, Zakaria Khafagy 
|-
| ''Collidescope 4.0'' (University of Minnesota) || 2019 || Theater || Talvin Wilks
|- 
| ''Difficult Lives'' || 2019 || Theater || Hiromi Sakamoto and cast
|-
| ''ALAXSXA | ALASKA'' || 2017 || Theater || Ryan Conarro, Justin Perkins, Gary Upay'aq Beaver (Central Yup'ik)
|-
| ''Cage Is Stage'' || 2017 || Visual art and installation || Danny Yunh
|-
| ''Collidescope 3.0'' (Wake Forest University) || 2017 || Theater || Talvin Wilks
|-
| ''Collidescope 2.0'' (UMass Amherst) || 2016 || Theater || Talvin Wilks
|-
| ''Baldwin/NOW'' || 2016 || Dance || Ensemble
|-
| ''PUSH! Real Athletes. Real Stories. Real Theatre.'' ||2015 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers 
|-
| ''Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity'' || 2015 || Theater || Sara Zatz, Ryan Conarro, and performers 
|-
| ''Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America'' || 2014 || Theater || Talvin Wilks
|-
| ''Brooklyn '63'' || 2013 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and performers
|-
| ''Angels of Swedenborg (2011)'' || 2011 || Dance || John Fleming
|-
| ''The Devil You Know'' || 2010 || Puppetry, theater ||
|-
| ''Cry for Peace: Voices From The Congo'' || 2010 || Theater || Kyle Bass, Sara Zatz, and performers
|-
| ''Throne of Blood'' || 2010 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Invisible Voices: New Perspectives On Disability'' || 2009 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers
|-
| ''The Women of the Hill'' || 2009 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and cast
|-
| ''Secret History: The Philadelphia Story'' || 2009 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers
|-
| ''Delta Rising'' || 2008 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and cast
|-
| ''Inside/Out...voices from the disability community'' || 2008 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers
|-
| ''Tales from the Salt City'' || 2008 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers 
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Asian America'' || 2007 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers
|-
| ''Cocktail'' || 2007 || Theater || Vince LiCata
|-
| ''Six Lives'' || 2007 || Theater || Sara Zatz, Bonnie Morris, Michael Robins, and performers
|-
| ''Testimonial II'' || 2006 || Visual art and installation || Michiki Okaya
|-
| ''Native Voices-Secret History'' || 2005 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Ten Years Later'' || 2005 || Theater || Sara Zatz, the performers, Sean Kelley-Pegg, Bonnie Morris, Mai Moua 
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Albuquerque'' || 2005 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers
|-
| ''Cathay: Three Tales of China'' || style="white-space: nowrap;" | 2005–2012 || Puppetry ||
|-
| ''Secret Histories: Seattle Youth'' || 2004 || Theater || Sara Zatz and performers 
|-
| ''BLIND NESS: The Irresistible Light of Encounter'' || 2004 || Theater, puppetry, circus || Michael Rohd, Bobby Bermea, Jeff Randall, Burke Walker
|-
| ''Secret History: Journeys Abroad, Journeys Within'' || 2004 || Theater || Leyla Modirzadeh, Sara Zatz, and cast
|-
| ''God Favors The Predator'' || 2004 || Theater || Michael Rohd
|-
| ''La Clemenza Di Tito'' || 2003 || Music and opera ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Pioneer Valley'' || 2003 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Hanover'' || 2002 || Theater || Michael Rohd and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Berlin'' || 2002 || Theater || Michael Rohd and cast
|-
| '' UE 92/02'' || 2002 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and cast
|-
| ''Children of War'' || 2002 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Reason'' || 2002 || Theater || Michael Rohd
|-
| ''EDDA: Viking Tales of Lust, Greed and Family'' || 2001–2002 || Theater || Victoria Abras
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Madison, WI'' || 2001 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Atlanta'' || 2001 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and cast
|-
| ''Secret Histories/Charleston'' || 2001 || Theater || Talvin Wilks and cast
|-
| ''Obon: Tales of Rain and Moonlight'' || 2002–2003 || Puppetry, theater ||
|-
| ''Secret History'' || 2000 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Washington DC'' || 2000 || Theater || Michael Rohd and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Chicago'' || 1999 || Theater || Michael Rohd and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/East Harlem'' || 1999 || Theater || Emerald Trinket Monsod, Alain Jezequel, and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Hamilton College'' || 1999 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Pojagi'' || 1999–2000 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements: A/P/A'' || 1999 || Theater ||
|-
| ''SlutForArt'' || 1999–2002 || Dance, theater || Muna Tseng
|-
| ''Truth and Beauty'' || 1999–2005 || Theater || Michael Rohd, Jeff Randall
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Newark'' || 1998 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Nocturne in 1200 Seconds'' || 1998 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Seattle'' || 1998 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Kwaidan'' || 1998–2000 || Theater, puppetry ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Yellow Springs'' || 1997 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Rotterdam'' || 1997 || Theater || Dave Schwab and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Los Angeles'' || 1997 || Theater || David Mohrmann and cast
|-
| ''After Sorrow'' || 1997–1998 || Dance, theater || Muna Tseng
|-
| ''Curlew River'' || 1997 || Music and opera ||
|-
| ''98.6: A Convergence in 15 Minutes'' || 1996–2007 || Dance, theater ||
|-
| ''Interfacing Joan'' || 1996–1997 || Theater || Written by Louise Smith
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Tokyo (Gaijin)'' || 1995 || Theater || Hiromi Sakamoto and cast
|-
| ''Testimonial'' || 1995 || Visual art and installation || Fumio Nanjo, Dana Friis-Hansen
|-
| ''Persuasion'' || 1994 || Theater || Anne Basting, Vince LiCata
|-
| ''Chinoiserie'' || 1994–1995 || Music, opera, theater || Michael Matthews, Regine Anna Seckinger, Ric Oquita
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Twin Cities'' || 1994 || Theater || Emerald Trinket Monsod, Cochise Anderson, and cast
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/New York'' || 1993 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Undesirable Elements/Cleveland'' || 1993 || Theater ||
|-
| ''American Gothic'' || 1992 || Theater ||
|-
| ''A Facility for the Containment and Channeling of Undesirable Elements'' || 1992 || Visual art and installation || Carlos Solanas
|-
| ''I Will Not Be Sad in This World'' || 1991/2008 || Dance, film, media ||
|-
| ''Elephant Memories'' || 1990–1994 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Deshima'' || 1990–1996 || Theater, dance || Michael Matthews
|-
| ''Tempus Fugit'' || 1990 || Visual art and installation || Curtis Carter
|-
| ''4AM America'' || 1990–1991 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Noiresque: The Fallen Angel'' || 1989 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Brightness'' || 1989 || Circus || Louise Smith, designers, and performers
|-
| ''In The Absence of Memory'' || 1989 || Visual art and installation ||
|-
| ''Skin - A State of Being'' || 1989 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Quartetto'' || 1988 || Theater || Michael Matthews
|-
| ''Snow'' || 1988 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Plage Concrete'' || 1988 || Visual art and installation || [[Gary Garrels]], [[Jock Reynolds]]
|-
| ''Without Law, Without Heaven'' || 1987 || Theater || Written by Norman Duke
|-
| ''Maraya - Acts of Nature in Geological Time'' || 1987–1988 || Theater ||
|-
| ''KIND NESS'' || 1986–1993 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Nosferatu'' || 1985–1991/2017 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Angels of Swedenborg'' || 1985–1989 || Dance, theater || John Fleming
|-
| ''Kind Ness'' || 1985 || Visual art and installation || Katy Kline
|-
| ''A Race'' || 1983–1984 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Astonishment and The Twins'' || 1984–1987 || Theater || Louise Smith
|-
| ''Anna Into Nightlight'' || 1982–1983 || Dance, film and media, puppetry, theater ||
|-
| ''Nuit Blanche, A Select View of Earthlings'' || 1981–1985 || Theater || Louise Smith, John Miglietta, Tone Blevins, Pablo Vela
|-
| ''A.M./A.M. - The Articulated Man'' || 1981–1985 || Dance, theater ||
|-
| ''Rainer and the Knife'' || 1981–1982 || Theater || Rob List
|-
| ''Humboldt's Current'' || 1977–1980 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Fear and Loathing in Gotham'' || 1975–1982 || Theater ||
|-
|''I Flew to Fiji, You Went South'' || 1973 || Theater ||
|-
| ''Lazarus'' || 1972–1980 || Theater ||   
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.pingchong.org/work/archive/chronology/ Works on official website]
{{Archival records|title=Ping Chong Archive 1971-2008|location= [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts#Billy Rose Theatre Division|Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]|description_URL=https://archives.nypl.org/the/18167}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 2010s}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Ping}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Artists from Toronto]]
[[Category:Canadian choreographers]]
[[Category:American theatre directors]]
[[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American theatre directors of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:American people of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:Artists from New York City]]
[[Category:American choreographers]]
[[Category:Bessie Award winners]]