Hyphen+Asian Lunchtime Art Share
Updated Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Hyphen+Asian recently hosted their first Lunchtime Art Share — a space for API artists and arts leaders to share their work and perspectives with you. All were welcome to attend this free, virtual event with API artists and arts leaders Kenny Endo, Brinda Guha, Meena Malik (moderator), and Ova Saopeng,
Missed it? You can watch a video of the event below.
Formed in June 2021, Hyphen+Asian (pronounced HyphenAsian) is WAA’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) affinity group – a collective of API community members and allies with a shared interest in advancing API engagement, opportunity, intersectionality, equity, and programming in the performing arts across the west. Learn more.
Lunchtime Artshare Artists
Kenny Endo (he/him) | Composer & Instructor | Taiko Center of the Pacific, Performer
Kenny Endo is at the vanguard of the taiko genre, continuing to explore new possibilities for this ancient Japanese instrument.
A performer, composer, and teacher, Kenny is a consummate artist, blending taiko with original music through collaborations with artists from around the world.
Brinda Guha (she/her) | Performer, Director, Curator, Administrator | Kalamandir Dance Company; Wise Fruit NYC; Soles of Duende; Dance/NYC
Brinda Guha identifies as a non-disabled, caste-privileged, cisgender and queer South-Asian American. She is a trained Indian Classical Kathak dancer of over 20 years, and has traveled throughout USA and to India, England, and Spain to perform.
During training and performing for years in the Kathak (Malabika Guha) & Manipuri (Kalavati Devi) dance disciplines, as well as Flamenco (Carmen de las Cuevas; Dionisia Garcia) and Contemporary Fusion vocabularies, she co-founded Kalamandir Dance Company in 2010 based in the vocabulary of #ContemporaryIndian. This name is currently under review. Through Kalamandir, Brinda choreographed for many national stages, the North American Bengali Conference at Madison Square Garden, and self-produced and choreographed original feature-length dance productions which earned her artist residencies at Dixon Place (2018) and Dancewave (2019) to continue to develop work. Now, she is represented by CESD Talent Agency and is pursuing artistic direction, performance and arts education. She continues to train in Kathak, Manipuri, Yorchha (est. Ananya Chatterjee), and Contemporary. Brinda also dances with dynamic percussive trio Soles of Duende, featuring Flamenco (Arielle Rosales), Tap (Amanda Castro), and Kathak.
Her dream of having art meet activism was realized when she created Wise Fruit NYC, a seasonal live arts installment (est. 2017) dedicated to the feminine divine and honoring select women-led organizations. Between live installments, Wise Fruit NYC functions as a community-led space for beginner tools in social justice. For her day job, Brinda works for Dance/NYC as the Symposium Coordinator for dance service organization based in the values of justice, equity & inclusion.
Meena Malik (she/her) | Arts Consultant, Facilitator, & Mediator | Meena Malik Consulting
Meena is a recognized vocalist, arts consultant, facilitator and mediator, who is known as a mover and shaker re-defining what community engagement and conversations around equity in the arts look like.
An alumna of the artEquity Facilitator Training, Meena is actively engaged in a national community of practice for anti-oppression work in the arts. Formerly as the Senior Program Manager of Theater at the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), she managed the National Theater Project (NTP), a grant program that supports the creation and touring of devised ensemble theater work. Meena organized and led Beyond Orientalism: The Boston Forum, and is a co-founder and steering committee member of Boston’s first API (Asian Pacific Islander) Arts Network.
As an artist, Meena has performed with Opera Providence, MassOpera, Boston Opera Collaborative, New England Orchestra, among others. She was a founding member and performer with Voci Angelica Trio, an international band that created a musical fusion of world folk and classical music, for 14 years.
With Voci Angelica, Meena toured to the USA’s East Coast, Midwest and Southern regions, Canada, Japan, and South Korea.
Meena holds a Masters in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory and a Masters in Arts Administration from Boston University.
Ova Saopeng (he/him) | Co-Artistic Director | TeAda Productions
Ova Saopeng is an actor, teaching artist, co-artistic director and producer with TeAda Productions.
Born in Savannakhet, Laos, and raised in Hawaii he received a B.A. in Theater from the University of Southern California. He and his partner, Leilani Chan, are co-creators of community based theatrical works Masters of the Currents, a play about the Micronesian community; Refugee Nation, a play about the Lao-American experience; and Global Taxi Driver, about immigrant taxi drivers. These critically acclaimed stage plays have toured the continent from Hawaii to Massachusetts.
Previous works with TeAda Productions include: Kalo Projects, Native Immigrant, TeAdaWorks, Delicious Reality, Refugee State, — all works that focus on highlighting the refugee and immigrant experience. He performed in the world premiere of Global Taxi Driver at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis and the west coast premiere at East West Players in Los Angeles.
He is an experienced teaching artist, facilitating workshops and creating performances with youth and adults from all over the world. Ova was one of six playwrights selected to write for Our American Voice, a part of the Smithsonian Institutes’ exhibit, I Want the Wide American Earth at the Japanese American National Museum exploring Asian American immigration.
Film credits include Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: World’s End; Love is Good; Burmese Refugee; Seeds of Hope; Go to Sleep: A Lao Ghost Story; Naikhoo:Teacher; and WarSol.