If these walls could talk: The Angel Island Project

By Peter Schurmann, American Community Media

A new ballet inspired by the music of celebrated Chinese choreographer Huang Ruo – set to premier at the Oakland Ballet in May – tells the story of immigrants from across Asia who were imprisoned on Angel Island throughout much of the early 1900s. Many of them carved their experiences in the form of traditional Chinese poems into the walls of their wooden barracks. Their terse, often stirring words bring to mind headlines of immigrants detained today as part of the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign. American Community Media Editor Peter Schurmann spoke with Oakland Ballet Artistic Director Graham Lustig about the performance and its significance at this moment. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

How would you describe the Angel Island Project?

Composer Huang Ruo took his inspiration from the poetry that’s carved into the walls at Angel Island by detainees held for weeks, months, some for almost two years. They were left there…despondent in a netherworld between their homeland and this promised dream. The work takes us on a journey that begins with those people…we speak about the hopes and the dreams…with so many risks, and so much uncertainty and potential danger. We go through the war of interrogation, and how one woman was kept there for almost two years. We come to dances that represent the spirit of humanity, of determination, of fortitude. And we come to a place which gives us a sense of spiritual peace, of arrival, of celebration, of knowing who we are, where we come from and why we came here together.

As a dancer yourself, how does one translate these poems into movement?

The reason the barracks at the immigration station on Angel Island are still standing today is because of those poems. They would have been torn down long ago if those poems weren’t there. These immigrants, they left us their voices. Dance is a language in itself, one connected deep into our soul. Yes, there’s technique, all these wonderful physical attributes, but what we create ultimately, is something that has a spiritual, soulful connection. We have seven different Asian American Pacific Islander choreographers contributing to the 90 minute long oratorio. I’m projecting that these choreographers have taken the spirit of those words, and are translating them in their own way through the bodies of the dancers.

This specific production originally premiered in 2020. What’s changed since then?

The composition was first performed on Angel Island with six poems. Huang Ruo has since added two more. So there are now eight different sections…a fuller version.

You’ve had a long career in dance. What makes this performance special for you?

The scale of it, it’s very big. We have 16 choral members. We have a string quartet. We have a conductor. We have 12 artists on stage performing. But the Dancing Moons Festival, of which this performance is a part, is the first program ever given by a ballet company that features Asian American Pacific Islander composers, choreographers, dancers and designers. Ballet is not particularly known to be inclusive, and I’ve always wanted to make sure that everybody feels welcome to our programming. So the purpose of this program is to showcase our respect and appreciation for…the talent of AAPI artists.

There are so many parallels between the poetry and the dance, and today’s headlines about mass deportations. Do you see a through line?

I’m not a politician. The Oakland Ballet is not a political organization. We’re not trying to grind a political ax. There is relevance, great relevance. There is symbolism. I don’t need to lecture anybody on what the value of the arts needs to be or can be. You have to show up. You have to have an open heart, an open mind, and you’ll see something. So, I hope people will show up, and that we’ll be able to show them something that is beautiful and transforming.

Speaking of the arts, Oakland made steep cuts to arts funding on the back of massive cuts by the Trump administration targeting programs for underserved communities. How is the company faring under all this?

If we weren’t in crisis because of the pandemic and the lack of recovery after the pandemic, we are getting double whammied now. Oakland City Council eviscerated all arts funding in December, so no one’s getting anything. And since the pandemic, many of our most steadfast corporate supporters have – what they elegantly call – pivoted away from arts funding. We’re facing some very, very tough times. What keeps me awake at night is just the sheer fear of where we’re going and how I can make a difference to save the arts in Oakland – be that the Oakland Ballet or all of us together in the arts.

The poetry is why the barracks on Angel Island are still standing. There’s a metaphor there about arts and our society, don’t you think?

Whilst we’re still dancing, we still exist.

The “Angel Island Project” is at 3 p.m. May 4 at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. For tickets ($43-$86), visit oaklandballet.org. The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation hosts a website where you can explore the barracks and find translations of the poems.