Constant State of Otherness is a multidisciplinary community engagement and performance work rooted in the questions: How have I been othered? How have I othered myself? How have I othered others? Weaving taiko, Japanese dance, video, and storytelling, this work recognizes the isolation, alienation, and displacement that come from not having an easy sense of belonging, both as a physical place and an emotional space. Collaging personal narratives with stories collected from diverse youth and adults, Constant State of Otherness redefines whose stories are told, unpacking, unraveling, and acknowledging our stories to reveal the complexities and nuances of identity.
Recognizing our history, we want to acknowledge and pay respect to the ancestral land where our creative project resides at the confluence of the Columbia River and Willamette River where the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes. We honor the indigenous people on whose traditional land we gather, practice, live and work on.
