Join South Street Seaport Museum and Lenora Lee Dance for Convergent Waves: NYC, an immersive multimedia free dance event abroad the 1885 tall ship Wavertree! The World Premiere will take place on Saturday, May 25 at 1pm, with additional performances on Saturday, May 25 at 3:30pm; Sunday, May 26, at 1pm and 3:30pm; and Monday, May 27 at 1pm and 3:30pm.

Lenora Lee Dance, celebrates its 15th Anniversary with a collaboration with South Street Seaport Museum, presenting the World Premiere of Convergent Waves: NYC. Come aboard Wavertree, where dance performances will unfold against the backdrop of this historic vessel. Audiences will be brought back in time as they journey throughout the rooms and decks of the three-story vessel experiencing intimate and engaging moments with performers in immersive environments transformed by video projection, recorded original music, and text.

Choreographed by award-winning dancer-choreographer Lenora Lee and the talented performers, this slate of dance vignettes has been created to artfully showcase different areas of the ship, while delving into the rich history of this international cargo vessel—the last of its kind—as well as the people who worked on it. Convergent Waves provides insight into the unseen lives of the laborers who helped to build New York City into the global hub it is today and the unexpected role of the sea as a site for freedom for its time from the racial and gender barriers of the era.

Dance will take place in the massive cargo hold, the forecastle where the crew ate and slept, the captain’s saloon, and more. Sign up today to ensure your spot for a unique experience that weaves together movement, history, and maritime spirit.

The audience will not be seated during the one-hour event and will actively move throughout the ship to witness each site-specific performance. Access to Wavertree involves climbing a few stairs, walking up an angled gangway, and descending a few stairs onto the deck. The lower decks are accessible via stairs, while the upper deck requires navigating steep ladder-like stairs.

In the interest of safety for our dancers, performances will not take place in the rain. Advanced registration is encouraged for this free event but walkups will be accommodated as possible. seaportmuseum.org/convergent-waves

Partner Organizations: South Street Seaport Museum, Lenora Lee Dance, Asian Improv Arts, API Cultural Center, Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

Convergent Waves: NYC is part of a multi-city project made possible in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Companion pieces by Lenora Lee Dance include Convergent Waves: Boston, April 2022, Convergent Waves: SF, June 2022.

Performers/Dance Collaborators:

Naoko Brown

IJ Chan

Peter Cheng

Flora Hyoin Kim Han

Lynn Huang

Nelson Enrique Mejia Jr.

Miguel Miranda

Mikaela Morisato

Johnny Huy Nguyen

Caleb Patterson

Brandon Woods

Program:

Vijay Iyer

"Ascent”, “Proximity”, “Prayer” composed and performed by Vijay Iyer

“Ghost Time” composed by Vijay Iyer, performed by Fieldwork

The following are used by arrangement with ECM Records:

"Chorale" and "Geese" Composed by Vijay Iyer. Performed by the Vijay lyer Trio.

"Passage" Composed by Vijay Iyer. Performed by Vijay lyer and Wadada Leo Smith.

"Mutation X: Time" Composed by Vijay Iyer. Performed by Vijay Iyer, Miranda Cuckson, Michi Wianko, Kyle Armbrust, and Kivie Cahn-Lipman

"The Empty Mind Receives" Composed and performed by Vijay lyer and Wadada Leo Smith, published by Kobalt Music Publishing America Inc. and Kiom Music. (ASCAP).

Tatsu Aoki

"Let it not fall" composed and performed by Tatsu Aoki, with Kioto Aoki, Jamie Kempkers, Edward Wilkerson Jr. Courtesy of Asian Improv Records.

Francis Wong

“Revolutionary Process 1.0” (2013) BMI, from the “Trio SF” album (to be released in 2022). Composer and leader: Francis Wong. Performed by Francis Wong, Deszon X. Claiborne, Tatsu Aoki. Courtesy of Asian Improv Records.

Extend Your Visit

General Admission to the South Street Seaport Museum includes access to all current exhibitions on view in the introduction gallery space at 12 Fulton Street and access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree. Free timed tickets for a tour of the 1908 lightship Ambrose are available separately at no additional cost. www.seaportmuseum.org/general-admission

About the Artists

The company is directed by San Francisco (Yelamu) native Lenora Lee (artistic director), who has been a dancer, choreographer and artistic director for the past 25 years. She has been an Artist Fellow at the deYoung Museum, a Djerassi Resident Artist, a Visiting Scholar at New York University 2012-2016, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission Theater, and a 2019 United States Artists Fellow, an Artist in Residence at Dance Mission Theater, Pao Arts Center and ArtsEmerson. Lenora is currently an Artist in Residence at Bunker Hill Community College.

Described by The New York Times as a “social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, and rhapsodist,” composer-pianist Vijay Iyer (music) is one of the leading music-makers of his generation. His honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artist Fellowship, a Grammy nomination, and the Alpert Award in the Arts. His recent album with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Linda May Han Oh titled Uneasy (ECM Records, 2021), was named Best New Music in Pitchfork and was hailed by the New Yorker as “a triumph of small-group interplay and fertile invention.” https://vijay-iyer.com

Tatsu Aoki (music) is a prolific composer, musician, filmmaker, and educator. Based in Chicago, Aoki works in a wide range of musical genres, ranging from traditional Japanese music, jazz, experimental and creative music. Aoki studied experimental filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently an adjunct Full Professor at the Film, Video and New Media Department, teaching film production and history courses. To this date, Aoki has produced and appears in more than 90 recording projects and over 30 experimental films. www.tatsuaoki.com

Francis Wong (music) was dubbed one of “the great saxophonists of his generation” by the late jazz critic Phil Elwood. Few musicians are as accomplished as Wong: for over three decades he has performed his innovative brand of jazz and creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe. A prolific recording artist, Wong is featured on more than forty titles. www.franciswong.net

Naoko Brown (dance – Ninnimissinuok / Boston) is a native of Nagoya, Japan. She was introduced to classical ballet by Michiko Matsumoto, and continued her training with Barbara Banaskowski Smith in Lansing, MI, performing with students of the National Ballet School of Gdansk in Poland, and Vaganova Ballet School in St. Petersburg, Russia. Brown received her B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. She has performed with Michiko Matsumoto Ballet, Urban Nutcracker, Zoé Dance, Contrapose, Prometheus Dance and Jo-Mé Dance. She is currently faculty at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Walnut Hill School for the Arts Community Dance Academy, and Boston Ballet.

I.J. Chan (???) (dance – Ninnimissinuok / Boston) is a dance artist and educator from Boston, MA. She has dedicated her life to training and performing intensively in multiple dance genres and under many choreographers. In her own choreographic work, IJ is interested in intersecting and exploring the Asian-American narrative. She is committed to bringing quality performing arts instruction to low-income and minority youth populations within Boston. She also works as a freelance graphic designer, visual artist and seamstress.

Peter Cheng (dance – Lenapehoking / NYC) (he/him) is a Taiwanese-American dancer, choreographer, and model originally from San Francisco, CA. He has trained with LINES Ballet, ODC/Dance, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Post:Ballet, Sidra Bell Dance NY, Visceral Dance Chicago, Springboard Danse Montréal, Yin Yue, NW Dance Project, Henny Jurriëns Studio, and NVA & Guests. Guest performances include konverjdans, Thomas/Ortiz Dance, LaneCoArts, Project44 Dance, Hivewild, CreArtBox, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater, and ANONYMOUS by Cacho Falcon at the XXV. He currently resides in New York City. @cheng_moves / peterandco.org Headshot by Jason Lam (@jasonlammm)

Flora Hyoin Kim Han (dance – Ninnimissinuok / Boston) is a Korean-American dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Since earning her B.F.A. in Dance from University of Wisconsin-Madison, she has worked with The Click, Prometheus Dance, Jenna Pollack, Lenora Lee Dance, beheard.world, Jennifer Lin, Deborah Abel Dance Company, Lorraine Chapman, and Urbanity Dance. Flora is Assistant Professor of Dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, a Lecturer of Dance at Brandeis University (2021), a senior faculty at Urbanity Dance and Coastline Ballet Center. Flora’s artistic vision is to bring inclusivity, empowerment, and joy to individuals and communities through the power of dance.

Lynn Huang (dance - Yelamu / San Francisco) Trained in modern dance, ballet, and Chinese dance, Lynn has performed with Lenora Lee, Erin Malley, & Philein Wang in San Francisco, and HT Dance Company, Dance China NY & Ella Ben-Aharon/Sahar Javedani in NYC. She studied at Minzu University Dance Conservatory in Beijing, China on a Fulbright fellowship and graduated magna *** laude from Barnard College of Columbia University.

Nelson Enrique Mejia Jr. (dance – Lenapehoking / NYC) is a movement artist, sound designer, and teacher based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Virginia, he received his B.F.A. in Dance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2022. He has performed both regionally and internationally with groups such as Brian Brooks Moving Company, Gaspard&Dancers, Joyce Theater Productions, and Pony Box Dance Theatre.

Miguel Miranda (dance – Lenapehoking / NYC) is a movement artist and choreographer originally from Lima, Peru. Miguel is a recent graduate of Montclair State University, where he received his BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. He is the recipient of Montclair State's Choreographic Excellence Award in 2023. Miguel's choreographic works have been featured in various venues, including the Alexander Kasser Theater, the Mark Morris Dance Center, the Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA), the American College Dance Association National Festival 2023, among others.

Mikaela Morisato (dance - Lenapehoking / NYC) is a dance artist, choreographer and founder of the collective MORISATO. Her experience in concert and commercial dance extends through performance art, digital media and film production. Mikaela trained with Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and has performed works by artists from Batsheva Dance Company, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Barak Marshall Dance Theatre, Cullberg and more. Currently based in NYC, she dances with Peter & Co alongside freelancing and creating with her collective. www.morisato.co

Johnny Huy Nguy?n (dance - Yelamu / San Francisco) is a second generation Vietnamese American multidisciplinary dance artist and son of courageous refugees. His practice is centered on the body, recognizing its power as a place of knowing, site of resistance, gateway to healing, and crucible of imagination. Drawing from fluency in multiple movement modalities rooted in a street dance foundation, he weaves together dance with text, ritual, performance art, and other mediums to navigate the intersections between the personal and the political. He has appeared in the works of Lenora Lee Dance, KULARTS, and Embodiment Project and has performed nationally. www.johnnyhuynguyen.com IG: @johnny.huy.nguyen

Caleb Patterson (dance - Lenapehoking / NYC) is a dance artist based in New York City. He has performed works by several notable choreographers such as Nathan Trice, Rena Butler and Patrick O’Brien during his education at The Joffrey Ballet School in 2014. Alongside being seen in HBO’s Random Acts Of Flyness, he has worked with artists Maleek Washington, Em Greenwell, Kayla Farrish and more. He has performed works by MATHETA dance, LaneCoArts, Spark Movement Collective, MORISATO, Kar’mel Small, and Javier Padilla.

Brandon Woods (dance – Lenapehoking / NYC), from Winston Salem, NC, BFA graduate of UNC School of the Arts (UNCSA). Professional career began performing original works created by Duane Cyrus, Helen Simoneau, Juel Lane and more. In 2014, joined the West Virginia Dance Company that featured works choreographed by Doug Varone. In 2016, was commissioned for an original work created at the Lincoln Center. In 2021, joined the Jose Limon Dance Foundation. Most recent collaborations include performances with StubbornMVMT, O.R.Project, and Variety Pack Collective. Recent creative and instructional works involve associations such as Brooklyn Ballet, Dancewave, Movement Research INC, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange.

About Lenora Lee Dance

For the last 15 years Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) has pushed the envelope of intimate and large-scale multimedia, immersive dance performance connecting various styles of movement/dance, film, text, research and music to culture, history, and human rights issues. LLD’s works are set in both public and private spaces, inspired by individual stories as well as community strength. From the proscenium, to even underwater, the company’s pieces are site-responsive and immersive calling audiences into deep engagement with the work and environment. Through partnerships locally and nationally, LLD’s work has grown to encompass the creation, presentation and screening of films, museum and gallery installations, civic engagement, and educational programming signifying the power of art as a movement for change. www.LenoraLeeDance.com, @LenoraLeeDance

About the South Street Seaport Museum

The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” seaportmuseum.org