About Mieke D
MIEKE D (she/they) is a mixed-race genderqueer femme of Asian and European descent. She is an experimental dance, theater, and performance artist committed to making work that is personal, political, and playful. As an educator and cultural worker, they hope to destabilize rigid definitions of race, gender, and nationhood, while celebrating the inherent resilience and intelligence of the body. Recent Philadelphia-based collaborations include Half Magic (director) with Joseph Ahmed, Philly Education Stories (deviser-performer) with Simpatico Theater and Teacher Action Group at Theatre Exile, and Philly Asian Histories: A Living Museum and Neighborhood Showcase (co-director) with Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists and Asian Arts Initiative. Also: Ping Chong & Company, LAVA Brooklyn, Helix Queer Performance Network, Taylor Mac, The Foundry Theatre, La Pocha Nostra, Cornerstone Theater Company, the Theatre of the Two-Headed Calf, Zavé Martohardjono, A Beautiful Desperation, Dixon Place, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and multiple student showcases as an MFA candidate in Devised Performance at Pig Iron Theater / University of the Arts. BFA: Experimental Theater Wing, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.
In one way or another, I have devoted my life to the art of storytelling and listening. I have a passion for the practice of gathering, sharing, and preserving personal and collective histories, which is strengthened by the skills and experience I have gained as a performer and a theater-maker for more than a decade.
My passion for storytelling began with my grandmother, whose experience crossing cultures and continents has instilled in me a personal understanding for the importance of oral history, as have the stories she has begun to share with me. This year, I have begun to record her stories.
Over the last seven years, I have helped to produce community-based theater projects in New York, California, and Mexico. I have worked for multiple organizations fighting for racial and economic justice in working class immigrant communities and communities of color. In every instance, oral history has formed the backbone of my work in the nonprofit arts and social justice sectors.
As a teaching artist, I seek to combine leadership development, community engagement, and theater-making in order to support young people to become their fullest, healthiest selves. As a bilingual theater artist with a background in community organizing and education, and a lot of experience performing, creating, and producing theater, I am passionate about marrying my theater-making experience with social justice principals and a community-based approach.
As a queer woman of color rooted in many communities, I am devoted to collaborative and devised creation process, where marginalized voices and experiences are held at the center. And I am committed to participating in projects such as these as a director, producer, performer-creator, teacher, and documentarian.
