Bring Mango Tribe to you! Contact us and download our press kit and banners for your website.

Rewriting Myths:

Using storytelling, movement and theater this workshop was used during the development of The Creation Myth Project  to explore "What is an APIA Creation Myth?"  Participants share and unravel stories they've been told of life, death, and transformation.  They move to collectively create new myths holding onto to elements of empowerment and transforming elements of oppression.

ART AND RESISTANCE: We Will Not Take This Lying Down

Mango Tribe offers a series of one-day workshops on the subject of non-traditional means of dealing with violence. The classes are open to the public and will focus on dance, spoken word poetry, creative writing, visual art and video documentation. Members of the community are encouraged to use interdisciplinary arts as a tool for healing and combating violence. Through this workshop series, Mango Tribe seeks to build community, empower individuals, and promote critical discussion on the topic of violence.

The following workshops have been offered under this series:

Claiming Voice, Story, and Body thru Performance
How does your perception of who you are conflict with images and stereotypes of who you are not? This workshop addresses the violence related to a fragmented identity. We will explore wholeness within contexts of self, community, and spirit. Mango Tribe members from New York city will facilitate this workshop. It will consist of movement, writing, and performance exercises that inform each other. As we blurr the boundaries of art forms we strive to break boundaries within ourselves claiming our voices, stories and bodies. Workshop participants are asked to dress in comfortable clothing and to bring their journals and/or writing materials.

Writing the Body: Capturing the Inner Rhythm
Rhythm is the guiding principle for music, dance, and poetry. This interactive workshop will explore the intersections between inner rhythm, spoken word, and specific forms of movement including Indian classical dance (Bharat Natyam), modern dance, and break-dancing. Learn the history of these dance movements and how they relate to a larger struggle to resist violence. Come prepared to move and interact! Wear comfy clothes and sneakers!

Resisting the Seduction: Beyond Becoming Barbie's Oriental Friend
Stereotypes of Asian Americans are no longer simply the seductive images of the Orient made for consumption by white audiences. Instead, they have become internalized into complex ideals we have about identity, community, and gender. In America, the construct of what is "beautiful" weaves its way into our psyches with images of what the feminine should be, with parallels of breast implants, skin bleaching and eyelid surgery. The use of stereotypes in mainstream culture continues to endorse a violent dismemberment that focuses attention on particular body parts and features often preserving the fantasy of the oppressor's self as unified, coherent, and rational. This workshop will address the violence of internalized cultural oppression through the use of writing and visual images. We will examine the complexities of the Asian American woman's identity based on the convergence of racist and sexist ideals surrounding beauty. We will combine elements of visual collage and writing to deconstruct ideals of beauty and reconstruct whole, complex and honest images of ourselves.

Breathing Power into Performance
Fusing popular theater exercises with meditation and dance, this workshop will provide participants with the tools to tell their own stories through their own creative ways -- whether through monologues, movement or spoken word. As APIA women, we gain strength from the herstories of the powerful and courageous women before us -- from the babaylans, spiritual leaders in pre-colonial Philippines who were executed by the macho Spanish rulers, to Yuri Kochiyama, who in her 80s continue to raise her yellow fist against the powers-that-be. In this workshop, we hope to reconnect our struggles with each other as women, as well as with those who continue to inspire us, and include our own narratives in the making of Herstory. If you have monologues or scenes you wish to share or workshop, please bring them, along with your journal and pen. Wear comfortable clothes and be prepared to breathe.