Navigating With(out) Instruments

A Bay Area book event with traci kato-kiriyama

Saturday, March 12, 2 pm

“traci kato-kiriyama’s Navigating With(out) Instruments will expand your heart and spirit in all directions – in the marrow of your bones, deep into the earth, out into the streets, and into the stars and beyond where our collective radical imagination and our ancestors of past, present and future beckon us to listen more, ask more questions, stoke our hunger for justice, and love in ways that crack us open beyond what we believed possible.” Yumi Sakugawa; author of Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe

In Navigating With(out) Instruments, traci kato-kiriyama uses her present—political unrest, family love and loss, her own cancer diagnosis—to bridge the traumas of the past generations with the hope of the future ones. Often seamless, often with a loud bang, kato-kiriyama moves from genre to genre, from poetry to prose, essay to monologue to letters—framed by US colonialism and war mongering alongside the intimate navigation through memory, death, and transformation—to urge readers to protect and to share their legacies, both personal and communal, as a means of global survival.

Join us for an engaging and inspiring time at this Bay Area release celebration with traci kato kiriyama. The event is co-presented by Omusubi and J-Sei.

traci kato-kiriyama (they+she) is an award-winning multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer, performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, and community organizer.

Join us for a hybrid book event with an online reading, followed by a Meet the Author book sales and signing to follow at J-Sei, 1285 66th Street, Emeryville (near Hollis St).

RSVP on Eventbrite for the ZOOM link.

HOPE & PEACE in 2022!

We invite you to a Virtual Oshogatsu Celebration, a special program with Claudine Naganuma to share her work with Dance with PD and their trip to Kyoto on Friday, January 28th, 1 pm

With more challenges to endure, we call on the Year of the Tiger to bring strength and determination to carry us through.

A special chirashi bento is available by pre-order for pick-up.  Suggested donation: $12  

To RSVP for ZOOM link, email jill@j-sei.org with “Hope & Peace” in subject line.

Peace About Life: Dancing with Parkinson’s

featuring Claudine Naganuma, artistic director of dNaga Dance Company

Friday, January  28, 2022 1 to 2pm PST

Celebrating 20 years with dNaga, artistic director Claudine Naganuma will share about the artistic process, art as a tool for healing, Dance for Parkinson’s and their performance at the World Parkinson’s Congress in Kyoto. Claudine will be joined by Cathy Wake Quides who will share reflections on Dance for PD and performing with dNaga in Japan.

For more information about Dance for PD® or dNaga visit dNaga.org

Photo by Solitaire Miguel, dancer Claudine Naganuma

Book Cover Photo by Matt Haber

Peace About Life, Support the Work

Peace About Life: Dancing with Parkinson’s, a book in both English and Japanese, offers first-hand accounts of struggling, thriving, re-defining identity, and finding peace while living with Parkinson’s disease. Claudine Naganuma, artistic director of dNaga Dance Company and certified Dance for PD® instructor, spent years interviewing dancers living with Parkinson’s disease, as well as some of their neurologists. The interviews were then taken into the studio to inspire and serve as audio for dance pieces.

The book is available for $20 with all proceeds to support Dance for PD free workshops.  Order the book below or make a donation to support dNaga Dance Co.

Next meeting on Zoom – Sep 24 at 4pm
RSVP here (put “J-Sei K-Drama” in the subject line)

We will discuss:

• Miss Night and Day, a Korean series currently on Netflix;
• Recommendations for K-dramas or movies;
• Continue our study of Korean history;
• Pachinko season 2 has started on Apple+, which we will discuss in future (you might also want to rewatch season 1).

Also:

• We are starting a subgroup devoted just to BTS! If interested in joining, please let Jane know (use RSVP link above).
• Don’t forget: you can borrow a DVD. The list (see below) keeps growing!
  

New pilot program to share DVDs and discuss

J-Sei Movie Night members have been asking for a way to share their favorite films and learn about movies and TV shows that are available. During this long pandemic, it seems more important than ever to share our resources and make sure everyone is connecting and flourishing.

In that spirit, we’re initiating a program so that DVDs can circulate to interested folks. At the same time, we’re providing a forum for discussion and feedback, to discuss films, TV shows, and any other media of interest. We’ve also expanded our project to include other Asian and American films and TV dramas in addition to Japanese films and programs.

J-Sei is hosting a series of Zoom meetings to talk about topics of interest. First up is K-dramas: what folks have enjoyed and are currently watching and what makes K-dramas so compelling. The first discussion was held in January 2022. The K-drama genre has proven to be so popular that it is continuing as an ongoing group meeting for fans, both beginners and aficionados!

Take a look at the spreadsheet below. It shows a list of Korean TV dramas available for borrowing; there’s a separate sheet listing Japanese and Japanese American DVDs as well (if you’re interested, please let us know). The sheet shows series title/alternative title, year, synopsis, user ratings, and more. (Titles that are currently loaned out are highlighted in blue.) This resource list has been growing over time to include hundreds of DVDs of all kinds.

If you would like to borrow one or more items on the spreadsheet, please contact Jane Tanamachi (janetanama@yahoo.com). Please be sure to put “J-Sei DVD” in the subject line of your email.

All are welcome to participate — by borrowing or lending a DVD or by adding your feedback and ideas to our ongoing community chat.

Happy Viewing!