Komorebi

an exploration of mixed race and mixed identities in Washington, DC.

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Listen to Michelle talk about dating a white guy when she first came to the US.

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Listen to Michelle talk about the different parts of her identities.

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Dana talks about how we should be more inclusive when we're talking about diversity. 

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"What are you?" is a question that mixed race dancer and choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess gets a lot. This is what he thinks of it.

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The whole world's a stage for the beautiful Tara Trinity whom we taped recently. The singer, songwriter, and dancer talked to us about not dating when she was in high school because she looked so different from everyone else. One guy told her "I think you're really beautiful and I'm really attracted to you but I could never date you because you're not white."

Of course, now guys are banging down her door and she says that she's told her mixed race teenage niece: "They may not want to date you now but in a couple years you're going to be so hot and they'll be kicking themselves."

Photo Credit: Aria Danaparamita

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Michelle is the Wonton Queen. She learned from her mother and would make fried wontons (with a Trinidadian twist) to sell in high school and college. This weekend, she and her daughters taught me how to make them! 

Photo Credit: Jenny Chen

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We taped Dana Tai Soon Burgess this weekend. Burgess is a talented choreographer and the founder of the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company. He's been described as a "national treasure" by the Washington Post and has served as a US cultural ambassador for the State Dept. for the last 20 years but he doesn't let that get to his head. Burgess lives in a quiet little home in Washington, D.C. with his partner Jameson Paul Freeman and their two dogs who were eager to be involved with the taping.

"I believe that as a choreographer, if you do it well, you put your most vulnerable self out there," Burgess said. "As I continue to make work, I continue to learn about myself and reveal another skin of the onion so to speak."

Photo Credit: Aria Danaparamita

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We shot our first subject, Michelle Phipps Evans, today. Evans is a journalist and communications professional by trade who identifies first and foremost as "Trini" (she was born and raised in Trinidad). Her grandfather is Chinese, which makes her a 1/4 Chinese - a fact that she says she is extremely proud of. "Whenever I make wontons people always say, 'wow these taste so authentic! And I would say, 'That's because they were made by an authentic person!'" said Evans.

Photo Credit: Aria Danaparamita