 will be a full day gathering exploring the archive and artistic legacy of the visionary artist and Pink Fang Artistic Director Emertius, 

from 12pm - 7pm, at the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall

This free, public event on December 6th marks a pivotal collaboration between Pink Fang and Hunter College Theatre Department, a semester-long partnership that includes a co-taught course called 

Multicultural Theatre Performance: Engaging Community Voices and Stories

, class visits, an Artist Lunch for students with Ping Chong, a theater workshop available to the entire Hunter College community, and public screenings of Ping Chong’s archival works followed by talk-backs.

The day-long symposium event will bring together artists, scholars, students, and the public for

conversation, panels, artistic activations,  and a celebratory reception, illuminating the impact, evolution and future of Chong’s groundbreaking interdisciplinary practice that has transformed the landscape of performance in America and beyond.

This symposium is both a celebration and a continuation of Ping’s lifelong inquiry into how art can create understanding across differences and be the basis for pedagogical and intergenerational, community centered approaches.  As we move forward as Pink Fang,  the ongoing preservation and activation of Ping Chong’s archive is a key pillar of our mission and work. By including artistic responses, learning opportunities, and activation around Ping Chong’s archive, this event will illuminate all of the tenets of Pink Fang’s new mission.  

Ping Chong in Conversation with Mei Ann Teo

, Artistic Director of New Work at Pink Fang.

 featuring the following perspectives on the pedagogical influence and evolving study of Chong’s work: Victoria Abrash, MFA (Part-Time Assistant Professor, Theater, Eugene Lang College, New School University), Dong Shin Chang, PhD (Associate Professor, Theatre Department, Hunter College), Claudia Orenstein, PhD (Theatre Professor  Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Yuko Kurahashi, PhD (Professor Emeritus, School of Theatre and Dance, Kent State University) and Christopher Totten (Assistant Director of Education / School Engagement, New 42/New Victory). The panel will be moderated by  Priscilla Page, MFA/PhD  (Associate Professor in Theater at University of Massachusetts Amherst,  and affiliated faculty in the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies and Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledge and Sciences).

 Six artists present original creative responses to Chong’s archive and influence,  Featuring: Nile Harris (Pink Fang Resident Artist), Tomi Tsunoda (Transdisciplinary Artist-Scholar  and Dramaturg for upcoming Pink Fang production of The Table), Kate Freer (Projection Designer and Ping Chong Collaborator), Johnnie Cruise Mercer (Choreographer, Dancer, Educator and Former PCC Creative Fellow), Kirya Traber (writer, performer, and cultural organizer and Pink Fang Artistic Collaborator), and Tuce Yasak (An Artist Who Works with Light and Lighting Designer for upcoming Pink Fang production of The Table)

 Hosted by Hunter College Theatre Department and Pink Fang.

Registration is free and open to the public. 

In the weeks leading up to the symposium, Pink Fang and Hunter College will host a series of free public screenings of Ping Chong’s works, accompanied by discussions with artists from each production and faculty. These screenings will highlight the interdisciplinary aspects of Ping’s body of work, — from dance and puppetry to documentary theater — and to engage with the creative legacy that continues to inspire artists today. In addition, Pink Fang artists will also lead a workshop for the Hunter College community, where  students, faculty and staff are invited to learn some of the process of Pink Fang's interview-based methodologies and community-engaged practices.

Tuesday, November 4, 2025 | Location: Baker Basement (

) and Lang Hall, Hunter North 424 (Evening Screenings)

Inside/Out: Voices from the Disability Community

Co-written and co-directed by Ping Chong and Sara Zatz, this heartfelt documentary theater piece presents the firsthand experiences of seven individuals living with disabilities while tracing the history of the disability rights movement in the U.S. (Run Time: 85 minutes)
Post-Screening Q&A: 

 is Ping Chong’s first pure dance work, focusing on the visceral and animal nature of human experience (Run Time: 20 minutes). 

 reimagines spiritual and corporeal realms in a striking dance-theatre hybrid, originally premiered in 1985 and revived in 2011 for La MaMa’s 50th Anniversary Season (Run Time: 65 minutes).
Post-Screening Discussion: Led by Professor 

(Chair and MFA Director, Dance Department) with 

 (Pink Fang Board Member and Performer in

(Performer in I Will Not be Sad in this World)

Thursday, November 20 | 11:30 AM -1:30 PM | Location: The Peggy Dance Studio, Thomas Hunter Hall

Hunter College Community Workshop with Pink Fang artists 


In this active workshop, students, faculty and staff are invited to learn some of the process of Pink Fang's interview-based methodologies and community-engaged practices, with the goal of activating skills around personal narrative, intercultural communication, and self-expression. Together we’ll explore generative techniques designed to build original theatrical performance from personal stories.

Thursday, December 4, 2025 | 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Location: Lang Hall, Hunter North 424

(2005)
An epic puppet theatre work spanning China’s ancient past, wartime struggles, and modern transformation. Combining over 150 puppets, recorded soundscapes, and video projections, Cathay explores continuity and change across centuries (Run Time: 101 minutes).
Post-Screening Discussion: Led by Professor 

Puppet Artist and Co-Artistic Director of Chinese Theatre Works and Co-founding member of Great Small Works).

Registration for all film screenings are free and open to the public. 

Join us for the Ping Chong Archival Symposium at Hunter College on Dec 6 

Pink Fang creates art at the intersection of performance, community building and social change, rooted in the ethos and artistic legacy of Ping Chong. 

We are a welcoming home and site of experimentation for multigenerational artists. We create original interdisciplinary, community-specific work; and cultivate artistry through training and education programs.


﻿In October, Artistic Director, Engagement Sara Zatz and collaborating artist Sherrine Azab (A Host of People, Detroit) completed a 1-week creative residency for 

, a new theater project exploring experiences of people living with dementia and family caregiving. Over the summer, Sherrine and Sara, along with their colleague Andrew Morton, a community advisor on the project, initiated project development with a series of conversations with other artists who are creating work around dementia and caregiving.

This new work is still taking shape, but it carries forward a history of trust, experimentation, and belief in what performance can hold. Sherrine and Sara sat down to talk about their inspirations, and challenges, entering into this period of creation.  

 Over the summer, we initiated a series of conversations with other artists responding personally and creatively to dementia and caregiving. I found those conversations to be so profound. To share with people who think creatively about the whole world around them, and that creativity helping to navigate the absurdity of dementia. Being in that space with folks who could speak in metaphors has been really moving to me.

 I think one of the particular things about being an artist and a caregiver is that other artists that haven't experienced it, don't know how to respond. I felt so seen being in those Zoom rooms with other artists that knew how hard it is to balance this thing we've been working so hard our whole lives to try to be, which is an artist, and also to care for this person that's helped me make this life. Or it’s the opposite, “it’s really complicated, and I still have to give my time and energy and care and space, and what is that?” There are a multitude of experiences.

  Sometimes, after the intensity of being in dementia-land, I just really need to get outside, be in nature, and walk around a lake.  I've also found really specific objects to hold onto have been really meaningful. I have this rock that I've been carrying with me from the day that my dad got his neurological assessment. It was in a very corporate office park, and there was a planter with no plants in it, and it was just full of polished black rocks, and I took one. And I've been carrying that around; it’s become a kind of meditation stone. It's a literal touchstone of finding myself in the story that is and is not about me.

 I think it's related to nature, but I just need silence. I think I need more silence in my life now than I did before. Because the constant repeating when I'm caregiving is draining in a way that I've not experienced in other social settings. So getting to be quiet, where I don't have to talk, or don't have to repeat, or to not have to figure out how I'm going to get out of this loop. Which, side note, I do think we're interested in how to make these loops beautiful because I think we all have experienced repetition being really beautiful, and so how can I actually find the beauty in this again?

There's this poem that I wanted to share this with you, Sara, because we are gathering things that really move us, and though it has nothing to do with dementia and memory loss, it feels related to how fractured our reality feels right now between, this ongoing war and the craziness of our country, and still trying to find joy and meaning in our everyday lives.

The beginning of this poem says, “I want a word that means okay and not okay. More than that, a word that means devastated and stunned with joy. I want the word that says, I feel it all at once.” 

That feels really right to me about this moment that we're living in, and also being a caregiver, because, one of the things that I mentioned a lot in the artist group was, I've never felt feelings of victory like I have in relation to caregiving, and I've never felt sadness, anger, annoyance, sorrow, joy, accomplishment in this way. And that there's all of that in the spectrum of this journey, this experience. I want to find a way to share those moments and layered feelings.

 There's so much in art-making about dementia, novels and films that's about all the loss and devastation, all of which is real. But also there's a lot of joy, play and humor that is renewed in different ways.  I'm interested in looking at some of those joyful aspects in this process of wanting to make an interview based piece with caregivers and people living with dementia. There is a desire to create a sense of comfort for those who are in grief for their person that they feel like they've lost, even though they're still with them.

 I also want to explore expanding our notion of reality in the moment. Could we build an imaginative experience that considers an alternate reality that a person with memory loss may be in, that we as caregivers or other people in that moment don’t have the privilege to access?  I also want to capture the laughter and the ridiculousness of the caregiver at the same time, and I think there might be moments that may seem disconnected from each other but that mirror these real moments we have experienced of shifts and pivots.

 There is something about the quality of time and the nature of conversation, that requires this ability to let go. I think it's a big part of the step in caregiving, to be like, “okay, we're going to accept that my loved one is saying something that is objectively not true, but that's what makes sense to that person or that they need in that moment,” and just to have this moment of radical acceptance, even if it is not my reality. You start asking yourself what does it mean to be living in my reality, and to be able to let go, because I think we're holding on so tightly, and there's this door that you walk through at some point where you let that go.

 It's important to me that [in the creation of this project] that a sense of performance and theatricality is present, and that that's a part of the container for the audience and participants, and that people understand it's an artistic experience. It gives us the elasticity for some of these interstitial moments that are I'm hoping outside of the everyday. And that we are uplifting the truth through this theatrical experience, that everyone needs and gives care throughout the journey of our lives.

Memory Generation: A Conversation between Sara Zatz and Sherrine Azab

We’re thrilled to share big news: Pink Fang is growing our leadership team with the appointment of three extraordinary new board members who embody the spirit of artistry, justice, and community that defines our work.

 is an Ismaili Muslim researcher, campaigner, and storyteller whose career has centered on building worker and community power. Currently a strategic campaign researcher in the labor movement, he supports workers fighting to grow union density, strengthen public services, and challenge corporate power over our lives. He has previously organized campaigns to take on tech giants, divest from policing and militarism, and end contracts fueling immigration detention. A former paralegal defending Muslim, South Asian, and Arab communities targeted under national security policies, Aly continues to uplift these stories through freelance reporting and performance. In New York City, he creates political street theater as part of the Radical Evolution Street Theatre Crew.

is one of the most prominent Asian American women leaders in higher education and law. At New York University, she served as Chief of Staff, Deputy President, and Advisor to Leadership, and was the architect of multiple pioneering leadership and education programs in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. A trailblazer in law, Yu was General Counsel of the State Bar of California, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and broke barriers as the first Asian American to chair an American Bar Association section. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including Oberlin College and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where she led the board through the pandemic. Her career reflects a deep commitment to leadership development, ethics, and equity.

, born in Oakland, CA, is an actor, musician, and activist whose artistry has shaped both stage and screen for over three decades. A longtime member of La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Group, he co-founded the bold SLANT Performance Group, known for subversive explorations of Asian American identity. His screen credits include HBO/Netflix’s Warrior, Netflix’s The 3 Body Problem, The Knick, and John Wick 2. As an award-winning shakuhachi bamboo flute musician, Perry has studied in Japan and brought the instrument’s haunting sounds to film and television scores worldwide. Beyond his artistic work, he is a fierce advocate for justice, delivering national keynotes against anti-Asian violence and for workplace equity, and has been recognized with awards for his activism.

“Pink Fang is thrilled to welcome Aly, Diane, and Perry to our board,” said the Pink Fang Leadership Team - 

Mei Ann Teo (Artistic Director, New Work), Sara Zatz (Artistic Director, Engagement), and Jane Jung (Managing Director) - 

in a joint statement. “Each of them embodies the spirit of artistry, innovation, and experimentation that drives our work. They join our longstanding and dedicated board of directors who have guided our leadership succession and transition period with vision and grace.

In our first year as Pink Fang, we are in an exciting moment for the company, as we build on a 53-year legacy of artmaking that centers bold voices, artistic experimentation, and community care. From labor and community campaigning to national leadership in law and education, to groundbreaking art and activism on global stages, our new board members bring invaluable vision and experience that will strengthen Pink Fang’s commitment to our artists and community.”

“I could not be more excited to welcome these three extraordinary leaders,” said 

, Board President of Pink Fang. “Their combined experiences reflect the full spectrum of what Pink Fang stands for:  visionary artistry, fearless advocacy, and transformational leadership. With their voices at the table, we are better positioned than ever to build a future where our creativity and social change thrive hand in hand.”

With these new members, Pink Fang continues to expand its reach and deepen its commitment to supporting artists, leaders, and communities through advocacy, performance, and cross-sector collaboration.


Pink Fang Expands Its Board of Directors

This summer, Pink Fang collaborated with 

LaGuardia Community College’s (CUNY) Nursing Program

 to lead a two-part workshop series for nursing students. Facilitated by Artistic Director of Engagement Sara Zatz and Teaching Artist C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek the sessions invited students in their capstone course to reflect on identity, leadership, and their transition into the nursing profession. Drawing from Pink Fang’s signature documentary and interview-based theater methodologies, and C. Meranda Flachs-Surmanek’s extensive background in arts-in-health work, students explored storytelling as a tool for self-reflection, intercultural communication, community-building, and personal narrative—key skills for future healthcare practitioners.

This pilot program represents a continuation and expansion of our long-time partnership with LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, where we previously developed and presented

Inside Out…stories from the disability community

, and a Queens Pride Day staged reading based on and adapted from the interviews in LaGuardia/Wagner’s LGBTQ archives.

For nearly all of the participating students, this was their first ever theater workshop, and a rare opportunity to step outside the academic and clinical rigor of the intensive nursing program to get to know their classmates and to express both the joys and fears of their journey in the program to date.

In their reflections, students shared “It was a great experience. I felt safe and supportive, and this workshop helped me to step out of my comfort zone” and “The workshop helped me to stay focused, be calm, and be supportive of my classmates.”

We are honored to support the next generation of health care professionals through storytelling and community-building. Their stories remind us of the transformative power of care—and of being truly seen.

ANNOUNCEMENT

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