The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) Presents
The Annual Performance Art/ Spoken Word Series
fresh tracks (01)

April 19 - 21, 2001
at the David Henry Hwang Theater

Los Angeles, CA - The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) presents their annual Performance Art/Spoken Word Series, fresh tracks (01) featuring new, daring works by: zero 3, Byron Au Yong, Alison De La Cruz, Melinda Corazon Foley, Lela Lee (Angry Little Asian Girl), Mao's Kids, Erin O'Brien, and Jose "Flipchild" Saenz. This festival of raw, compelling, and fresh performance art, film, and spoken word runs Thursday-Saturday, April 19 - 21 at 8 pm at the David Henry Hwang Theater, Union Center for the Arts at 101 N. Judge John Aiso St. in Downtown L.A. Tickets are $12 general admission, JACCC members $10, Groups $8. For tickets, call the Japan America Theatre Box Office, 213-680-3700, Monday-Saturday, 12 noon -5 pm or Sunday after12 pm on show days.

fresh tracks (01) will continue in the annual tradition to feature the premiere of exciting, new works in performance art and spoken word from the finest emerging Asian American and Pacific American artists.

Making their triumphant return after their debut in last year’s fresh tracks.00, the spoken word trio, zero 3 headlines this year’s series, featuring: Kennedy Kabasares (LA based comedian), Traci Kato-Kiriyama (poet and activist), and Edren Sumagaysay (writer and poet). The scathingly sweet soliloquies of the Angry Little Asian Girl, written and animated by visual artist and performer Lela Lee, are also featured on each night, providing an added dimension of fun to fresh tracks (01). Also returning to fresh tracks with brand new work are Mao’s Kids, Alison De La Cruz, Erin O’Brien, and Jose "Flipchild" Saenz. New to fresh tracks this year are Byron Au Yong and Melinda Corazon Foley

Opening night, Thursday(19) Mao’s Kids will present "HELL," a new performance piece questioning the ideals of spirituality. Mao’s Kids are reincarnated in 2001 with the irreverent Kristina Wong (visit www.bigbadchinesemama.com), playwright and cartoonist Randall Park, and performance artist Peter Lee. De La Cruz will present excerpts from her one-woman show, "Tales from the Hip." zero 3 headlines the program and the Angry Little Asian Girl will screen.

Friday, April 20 - Erin O’Brien unveils a new comedic piece for fresh tracks (01). Erin says, "it is no mystery what makes people straight, this is not to be questioned. However, we have always wondered what makes folks go any other way... you know, gay. This new work will let you in on a few gay secrets so you will have the answers you've been waiting for." Jose "Flipchild" Saenz will present a collection of new poems exploring the intricacies of his obscure life in L.A. zero 3 headlines the program and the Angry Little Asian Girl will screen.

Saturday, April 21 - Byron Au Yong an accomplished new music composer from Seattle, will present a current work exploring voice and water. Melinda Corazon Foley will read excerpts from her recent spoken word pieces. zero 3 headlines the program and the Angry Little Asian Girl will screen.

fresh tracks (01) biographies of the artists:
Melinda Corazon Foley creates what she describes as "crossover poetix and rhythmic plays." She has appeared nationally at: the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, 2000; Chicago’s 1999 National Slam Championship Team, Peeling the Banana, an Asian American collective in NYC; the Pistahan Filipino cultural celebration at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center; and Treasure in the House at Highways in Santa Monica. Melinda has performed her "poetix" on national Danish radio, and at venues including: Oakland’s La Pena Cultural Center; NYC’s Bar 13, and the Nuyorican Poets CafÈ; San Francisco’s Cell, Venue 9, SOMARTS, and the Justice League (where she opened for Spoken Word /Hip Hop recording artist, Ursula Rucker); Boston’s Cantab Lounge; CafÈ Luna Tierra del Sol, and Poetic License in LA; Bar Nun, Mango’s and the Bohemian CafÈ in Washington, DC; Calles y Suenos, Madbar and the Chicago Theater in Chicago; and the San Antonio, Texas-based Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, among others. Her international appearances include the Ink Inc. five-woman touring ensemble of U.S. poets in Denmark and the U.K. 1999.

Erin O’Brien is a queer Vietnamese-Irish-American activist, writer, filmmaker and performance artist. She graduated from UCSB and currently lives in Los Angeles. Erin has performed her solo work for enthusiastic audiences through Southern California at: Highways theater in Santa Monica, David Henry Hwang Theater, the Japanese American National Museum, UCLA, University of California Santa Barbara, University of California Berkeley, California State University LA, California State University Pomona amongst others. Visit her website for more info at www.geobomb.com.

Mao’s Kids, the self-proclaimed "Li’l Rascals of Performance Art," prides itself on bringing performance to unsuspecting "normal folks" and presenting an off-beat, unpretentious take on contemporary human politics. They will be presenting "HELL," an autobiographical exploration of the company members’ spiritual fates. The work will delve into their different religions and faiths as a cross-pollination of myths, urban legends, devout beliefs and private phobias.

Alison M. De La Cruz is a poet, performance artist, producer and ate' (older sister) whose work explores a breadth of issues at the intersections of biracial Filipino American bi-queer woman of color. In 2000, De La Cruz toured her successful one-woman show "Sungka." Projects for this new year include a poetical appearance on LA ENKANTO, a CD of Pinay/Pinoy Spoken Word Artists in Los Angeles; an artist in residence position at Asian Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health's Project Hope and as a poet in residence with the HeART Project in Los Angeles. De La Cruz is also Festival Director for the Los Angeles Festival of Philippines Arts and Culture (FPAC), produced annually by Fil-Am ARTS. In Fresh Tracks 2001, De La Cruz will be performing excerpts from her new one-woman show, "Tales from the Hip."

Lela Lee, "Angry Little Asian Girl," is a cartoonist, actress, and writer. In 1998, she launched angrylittleasiangirl.com and is currently working on books for her expanded cartoon characters, "angry little girls." Lela Lee’s style has been described as "precious moments meets South Park" by the LA Times.

Byron Au Yong is a composer, director, and performer who crosses cultural, aesthetic, and temporal boundaries by weaving folk and new music with ritual, architecture, and dance. His numerous vocal and instrumental works create an evocative, multi-layered, yet fragile music. The spatial placement and physical movement of his performers produce a ritualized surrounding that promotes the transformation of musicians, audience, and venue. He has composed works for The Esoterics, Seattle Kokon Taiko, Uzume Taiko Ensemble, among others. He is the featured collaborative artist under the International Artists Program of the Northwest Asian American Theatre, creating a new work to be premiered in 2002. Periplum Records recently released his debut compact disc "Walking," in 2000. In fresh tracks (01), he will perform a new work exploring water and voice.

zero 3 is Kennedy Kabasares, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, and Edren Sumagaysay - three writers/poets/performers who have been working together since February of 2000. Their original works span social/world issues, womyn’s issues, personal and relationship issues, and extend from stream-of-consciousness meditations to songs about sitting on things. Their mission is to continue writing and sharing and encouraging the world to pick up their pens and just write. They believe that poetry is for everyone and their expression is for everyone.

Jose "Flipchild" Saenz is a writer, poet and performer who recently appeared in the 2001 Sundance Film "The Flip Side." He was also featured in fresh tracks 00. Jose represents the Fakshuns Crew, Western Union M.C.'s, Foundation Funkollective and the P.Y.P. Family.

For further information or to purchase tickets call the Japan America Theatre Box Office at 213-680-3700, Monday - Saturday open from 12 noon to 5 pm and Sundays on performance days from 12 noon.

For press information, please contact Rochelle Fabb at Loud Mouth Productions, (310) 823-6389.