Phil Chan, co-founder of the non-profit Final Bow for Yellowface, joined the studio this month to talk about his work with the organization to improve representation of Asians in ballet and eliminate offensive stereotypes on stage. Phil co-founded the organization alongside Georgina Pazcoguin, former New York City Ballet soloist, and they are both doing great work to advocate for Asian artists within ballet and beyond. Phil is also the author of two books - Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing between Intention and Impact and Banishing Orientalism: Dancing between Exotic and Familiar - as well as a choreographer and a stage director. He directed his first opera this summer, a reimagining of Puccini's 1904 classic Madama Butterfly, and is currently in the process of reworking the famous ballet La Bayadere to appeal to 21st century audiences. We talked about how his own experiences as a Chinese American during the COVID-19 pandemic shaped his approach to his work as a dancer and activist. We also talked about how dancers of any age can push through fear and get into the ballet studio. And, as if he’s not busy enough, Phil is also president of the Gold Standard Arts Foundation, an organization that works to elevate Asian voices in the arts. Phil does so much great work for dance and the live arts, and it was an honor to talk to him!

• Follow Final Bow on Instagram: ⁠@finalbowforyellowface
• Learn more about Final Bow for Yellowface: https://www.yellowface.org/
• Support Asian voices in the arts: https://www.goldstandardarts.org/
• Stop hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: https://stopaapihate.org/donate/
• Donate to Maui's wildfire recovery efforts: https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund

Music in this episode:

Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. ⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠

Source: ⁠http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310⁠

Artist: ⁠http://incompetech.com/⁠

⁠@eblosfield⁠ | [email protected]

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