Originally set to premiere in the Spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world, disrupted our plans, and also brought new opportunities and relevance to the themes we had been exploring.

Constant State of Otherness is an engaging, multi-layered performance work rooted in questions of identity and self worth – how we identify ourselves and how we label others. Through taiko, Japanese folk dance, song, and personal story, six performers guide the audience through a four-part journey inspired by experiences of isolation and displacement that come from not having an easy sense of home.

Rooted in ancestral wisdom and survival, Constant State of Otherness resists simplistic translations of language, cultural ways and the complicated emotions that otherness evokes. Weaving personal narratives from the ensemble with stories collected from diverse youth and adult community collaborators from across the country, Constant State of Otherness redefines whose stories are told, unpacking, unraveling, and acknowledging our stories to reveal the complexities and nuances of identity. By allowing stories to fractally unfold through the resonance of drum, voice and movement, Unit Souzou offers an invitation to find our shared longing to belong.

We are grateful to our co-commissioning presenters and residency partners – The Myrna Loy (Helena, MT), Dance Place (Washington, DC), Asian Arts Initiative (Philadelphia, PA), Caldera Arts (Sisters, OR), and Risk/Reward (Portland, OR) – and our major funders – National Performance Network/Visual Artist Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund, MAP Fund, Puffin Foundation, and New England Foundation for the Arts, National Theater Project Award.

We truly hope to see you at one of the shows!