Metaphor as a way of thinking permeates daily life. It affects how people understand and experience everything. It also plays an important role in artistic creation. The idea of creating highly personal but commonly understood metaphors was central to the research and creation of Ink. I created this work to find out how I—as a Chinese artist with unique personal experiences, educational experiences, and cultural perspectives—can explore metaphors that would resonate with predominantly Western audiences. This research specifically addressed the metaphorical meanings of the colors black and white and drew from my visual artistry to compose dances, stage setting, and costume design.

This document explores a community dance project at an orphanage in Mexico and the investigations following. This project researched how dance can be used to create a transformative and empowering experience for the participant and what discoveries of identity are made through dance. The research took place at an orphanage in Texcoco, Mexico and at Arizona State University. The participants in this research include three dance artists from Arizona State University and 10 ten-year-old children from Mexico. The portion that took place in Mexico was conducted in daily three-hour classes over the span of two weeks. For five months following the two weeks in Mexico, weekly rehearsals were held and a culminating concert was performed on November 20th–22nd of 2015.