VC Tang

Artist Statement

I am storyteller and cultural practitioner who spent 30+ years immersed in community and ritual at the Berkeley Thai Buddhist Temple; reared by performers and monks, and taught by visiting faculty from Ban Somdej Rajaphat University. I grew up touring the street fair, food festival, and Asian heritage events circuit throughout Northern California, collaborating with the Chinese New Year Parade, Asian Art Museum, and San Francisco Giants. In Thailand, I performed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Theatre and Cultural Centre as lead producer of a Thai-American intergenerational performing troupe’s heritage tour. As an emcee, I contextualize Thai folk dances and mythology and translate Thai classical theatre for English-speaking audiences.

While Thai arts keeps me steeped in ritual, for nearly a decade, I have trained with Grandmaster Wong Wai Yi in contemplative Taijiquan martial arts that harken themes of Yin Yang paradox in my stories. My voice and writing style are influenced by sci-fi and fantasy blockbusters, writings of Chinese martial artists, Thai poetics, the teachings of Zen teacher and strategist Norma Wong, and mentorship of writer/dramaturg Sharon Bridgforth.

I want to give audiences down-to-earth, immersive, and accessible performances that break free from Western staging norms, bring Asian American arts outside metropolitan centers and downtown evening shows to more closely resemble the meditative atmosphere in which traditional Asian temple arts are practiced. They take place outdoors, in nature, simply loving the land and each other. This work brings cultural practitioners into the climate change conversation to weave an interdependent ecosystem of artists, laypeople, scientists, and policymakers to heal our planet. I hope to share wisdom from dance, martial arts, and ritual practices that reconnect us to land, body, and spirit as alternatives to busy-ness, extraction and shortcuts. My work answers the challenges of arts advocacy, economy, climate change, and racial belonging with the same call.

My work is meant for everyday urbanites who are just as moved by Marvel movies as museum galleries. With irreverence and adoration, I make old Asian practices appetizing. Akin to eating that comfort dish made by an auntie or three-star, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, I am a go-to, story eatery for anyone who is hungry - propagating familial clusters that eat, meditate, move, talk story, and care for each other and our planet. My stories look towards a horizon when our livelihoods are joyful, our artists and practitioners masterful, and Bay waters are restored to their pristine blue.