Hello! My name is Belly and I am a fourth-generation Japanese American choreographer and dancer studying at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

In May of last year, I started choreographing a duet that would become BOCHA, a dance film invested in exploring the complexities and intimacies of generational care, harm and habit in Asian American households. After casting and working with my two close friends and colleagues, Emmy Cheung and Ellery Donlon, we realized that this project could reach a much wider audience of people like us in a film format. Now, nearly a year after its first conception, BOCHA is coming to life in collaboration with the Movement in Motion Collective, an organization committed to creating spaces for interdisciplinary collaboration between dancers, filmmakers, musicians and other creatives. I am thrilled to be the director and choreographer for this project, and beyond excited to collaborate with my executive producer Arjun Kochhar on the creative process for BOCHA.

About BOCHA

BOCHA is a visual exploration of the dense intimacy of generational wounds, physicalizing what it means to continue a lineage of well-meaning care and unintended harm. BOCHA draws from the everyday physicality of Asian-American mothers and daughters to understand the weight of generational gestures of care and harm. Inspired by the vulnerable and trickling intimacy of being bathed as a child, BOCHA uses the two-figure duet structure as a vehicle to explore themes of familial connections, collective memory and communal healing.

Why We Need Your Support

I am incredibly excited to begin collaborating with the incredible team we have assembled for this project. However, to make this film a reality, we need your help!

In order to give life to BOCHA, we have specific needs in lighting, camera, production design and location to ensure that our artistic vision can manifest in full. In addition to that, we have crafty that must be financially accounted for in order to ensure a happy and healthy cast and crew. Your donation will help turn BOCHA from a dream into a reality!

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our project. Regardless of the amount, your contribution to BOCHA means the world to us and we are immeasurably grateful.