The Asian American Ballet Project (AABP) has announced its third annual performance, Receding and Reemerging, taking place at Arrow Street Arts on June 21 and 22, 2025. This mixed-bill concert of original choreography, costumes, and live accompaniments reclaims classical ballet as a space for Asian American stories—stories that speak to legacy, trauma, joy, and resilience.
As the first-ever Asian American ballet company in the United States, AABP is unapologetically committed to showcasing the depth and breadth of Asian American experiences through ballet. Receding and Reemerging responds directly to this moment. It is an artistic meditation on what we carry with us from the past, what we choose to let go of, and what we must reimagine together.
This season’s featured works weave a vibrant tapestry of dance, blending timeless stories with bold reimaginings.
Spectre de la Rose re stages the 1911 Ballet Russes classic within a WWII Japanese American “assembly center,” confronting nostalgia for idealized pasts. The Legend reinterprets a Kazakh folk tale, pitting man against beast in a gripping modern narrative. Mended Vespers explores connection, isolation, and forbidden desire amid the pandemic’s shadow, while Aigul abstractly portrays the Kyrgyz moonflower’s origin, celebrating individual strength and collective power. Entwined Destinies, a duet inspired by the Red Thread of Fate myth, traces the intimate journey of relationships through two dancers and a symbolic red ribbon. Finally, Gabi sa Gubat/Night Jungle transports audiences to a Philippine forest teeming with fantastical creatures, reflecting on the magnetic pull of shared cultural mythologies and their hold on the human psyche.
Together, these six ballets offer a transnational, intergenerational, and intersectional lens on what it means to be Asian American in America right now. These works feature original compositions and live musical performances, including a unique rendition of “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens on the Chinese dulcimer. The concert will feature work and performances by 18 Asian American choreographers, dancers, musicians, and lighting, set and costume designers.
AABP is actively enhancing its programming, nurturing artists who reflect the vibrant diversity of the Asian diaspora, bringing forward stories that have long been left off of American stages, and offering young people a vision of themselves as central to American culture.
Founded in 2022, the Asian American Ballet Project is the very first Asian American ballet company, ever. AABP’s mission is to present Asian American dancers on stage together in all-Asian American productions. AABP aims to tell stories from our unique perspectives and transform how audiences see Asian Americans in performance, from unexpected to accepted. To learn more, visit https://asianamericanballetproject.org/
Receding and Reemerging performances will take place on June 21, 2025 at 7pm, followed by reception & June 22, 2025 at 3pm, followed by talk-back at Arrow Street Arts (2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138). Tickets can be found at https://www.arrowstarts.org/aabp-1
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