PCC creates works of theater and art that reveal beauty, invention, precision, and a commitment to social justice.

Founded by Ping Chong, PCC is a welcoming home and site of experimentation for multigenerational artists. The company creates original interdisciplinary, community-specific work; and cultivates artistry through training and education programs.


We are thrilled to announce the national launch of 

, our arts-infused high school Social Studies curriculum, through a new partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage.

 is derived from PCC’s interdisciplinary production 

, a multimedia theater piece created in 2017 by Ping Chong, Ryan Conarro, Gary Upay’aq Beaver, and Justin Perkins. The show illuminates lesser-known moments of cross-cultural encounter in the epic changing landscapes of Alaska through three lenses: an Alaska Native perspective, an outsider/settler perspective, and a “historical” perspective that tends to show up in Westernized accounts of the state’s narrative.

Alaskan educators who saw the production on tour in rural and urban Alaska in 2018 recognized the potential of its critical and Indigenized perspectives to deepen students' understanding of Alaska histories and cultures, and provide a counter narrative to the largely Western lens typically represented in the state’s social studies curricula. In response to teachers’ call for educational materials, and with support raised by the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) in southwest Alaska, from the AK state Council on the Arts, and the New England Foundation for the Arts, PCC began crafting the nine-week course for 9th graders. The curriculum development team was composed of 

 cast member Conarro, as well as Bunnell Street Arts Center Artistic Director and University of Alaska Anchorage–Kenai Peninsula College art instructor Asia Freeman, longtime educator Nita Yurrliq Rearden who won the 2023 Alaska Federation of Natives’ Culture Bearer Award, and Alaska Social Studies curriculum expert Jen Romer, who is indigenous from three different communities.

The curriculum, which fulfills Alaska History content standards, Alaska Arts Standards, and Alaska Cultural Standards, uses a holistic, arts-integrated approach to invite learners to respond to cultural and historical content by artistically expressing their own personal, familial, and community stories. In so doing, the course helps to acknowledge and uplift the lived experiences of students’ communities (many of which are composed of largely Alaska Native students) as an integral part of Alaska’s unfolding history.

 course in LKSD schools, PCC has partnered with the University of Alaska in Anchorage to house the curriculum locally, and to provide access to teachers across the state, and indeed, the nation! PCC and the university intend to partner further on professional development for educators interested in teaching the curriculum, as well as on revisions designed to broaden the curricula’s representation of the 20 different Alaska Native cultures and histories, and an elementary-level version for 3rd grade teachers. Through the UAA/APU Consortium Library, teachers and administrators who wish to implement the curriculum in their schools can download 

Passages Alaska curriculum launches on Indigenous Peoples' Day

For PCC, summer has meant time for contemplation, deepening collaboration, bringing our ideas to fruition, AND spending much-needed time out of the office — going out into nature and traveling locally and internationally.

May the remaining few days of summer be filled with restorative rest and joy for us all.



Breaking Through: Our Trip to “Dance Camp” In Japan

In early August, PCC Associate Director Sara Zatz, and Teaching Artists Christopher Imbrosciano and Asuka Morinaga traveled to Osaka, Japan to participate in the second edition of “Breakthrough Journey Dance Camp,” an event geared toward enabling people with disabilities in the artistic field to meet, share, and create new connections across the lines of nationalities, cultures, and language. The dance camp was hosted by 

The International Communication Center for Persons with Disabilities (BiG-i)

 and consisted of workshops facilitated by professional choreographers, dancers, and theater makers from across Asia. Participating artists leading the workshops included the Dua Space Dance Theatre from Malaysia, Shunji Takahashi of YOZIGENZ, Kazuyo Morita, and Maki Tabata from Japan, Mary Jane Tang and Shadow Kid B-boy from Hong Kong, and Wonyoung Kim from South Korea.

At BiG-i, I sincerely felt safe and comfortable being able to reside, work, and eat in an entirely accessible environment. It took the daily concern of how to navigate space out of my day. It was pretty liberating and enabled me to be fully present and creative. 

For years, I have been thinking about how I can bring PCC’s teaching artistry process to my home country of Japan, so this was my dream come true! I hope that participants felt that how important to create a safe & brave place, to respect each other, have fun and how valuable it is to tell your story! It was a very valuable experience to meet Japanese participants and artists from other Asian countries and working with Sara, who has been involved in PCC's Undesirable Elements for many years, and Chris, who worked at the same school at the residency program. Introducing my Japanese TA friends and educators, with whom I have worked with for a long time to develop theater education in Japan, to Chris and Sara (and Christina, from afar) through PCC was also very special to me.

 - Asuka Morinaga Derfler

PCC’s workshop was specifically geared towards artists, teachers, educators, and facilitators working in arts and community education in Japan. The rigorous 3-day experience concluded with a roundtable discussion with all the artists, facilitated by Professor Hiromi Sakamoto, of Kindai University School of Literature, Arts, and Cultural Studies a long-time friend and close colleague of PCC: he was an original 

 cast member and co-creator of two UE productions in Japan, 

Over the course of three hours, I felt that everyone grew, not just as performers , but as audiences. Normally, you don't know who is watching next to you at the theater, but through the workshop, I could feel the audience growing as a community. It was a good experience. It was a lot of fun. This was my first experience of people with various disabilities coming together to create a piece of work. I wish I had more time. I am very honored to be able to experience a little bit of Ping Chong & Company. 

- Workshop Participant

Our journey through Dance Camp in 2024, reaffirmed what is possible when building and making in fully-inclusive spaces of Universal design and accessibility. The intention of the gathering, to “create new connections for people from different backgrounds - disabilities, nationalities, cultures and languages..to create new models and values for co-creation in the performing arts.” permeated throughout the week, and will remain with us as we continue to dream forward how to best create spaces of community and belonging.

In early August, PCC ALT Members, staff, and collaborating artists, including Kirya Traber and Chaesong Kim, gathered to explore the past of 

 and envision an expansive future for this foundational PCC program. Over three days, we explored the program's past and its ongoing evolution, imagined new approaches to its form, partnership, and engagement practices, actively grappled with framing and reassessing language, and embraced the possibilities of 

. Each person in the room brought their own background, creative practices, and differing experiences and history with both Ping Chong and Company and the 

 form. Everyone brought something to learn and something to teach in the raw, candid, and vulnerable discussions that ensued. Below some of our team share reflections on their experiences at the retreat!

The retreat helped us in figuring out language and reinventing language to re-examine this platform that has continually shared unheard stories from real people. A deep dive into who it's for and who benefits from it.

It was affirming to bear witness to the impact UE continues to have, and how transformative the experience of working on, creating, or witnessing UE has been to so many and consider how UE can continue to transform with time, reflection, and new creative frameworks, and still retain its essence and power going forward into the future

. - Sara Zatz, Associate Director and Artistic Leadership Team

Something that's still bubbling for me is our reflection on the original intention of this work, which was founded upon authenticity and truth, and the ways in which we could better live up to those goals and get even closer to true authenticity in community-based work. 

It was beautiful to see how UE can be implemented in the future and to redefine the ethics of storytelling in theater.

I also appreciate the thoughtfulness that everyone brought around the language, and the intentions of UE. I think we had a lot more agreement than what I was expecting….. now it's time to play and experiment!

 - Ariana Swei, Education & Community Programs Coordinator

What inspired me in the conversation is the idea that truth brings free-er expression. Seeing Nile's work [the same week] was very helpful as it was so subversive…and had me thinking about the artists we have and the potential we have for healing/community engagement/social justice/human rights/the right to freedom.

The UE retreat offered me the opportunity to reflect on the methodology for interview-based theater that has meant so much to me, and has shaped my career, but also to question what its limitations and growth opportunities are. I said in the room that I feel UE will always be a part of my artistic practice in one way or another, but since our gathering, I can also see myself more boldly experimenting with the form.

I brought immense respect for UE and the Secret Histories arts education program to the retreat. I left the retreat overwhelmingly grateful for the creators and maintainers, and their time and effort dedicated for this practice. It is clear that UE is an invaluable asset that continues to be pertinent 32 years after its conception. I am humbled and inspired by its legacy, and excited to co-imagine its many offshoots and adaptations.

This intense but deeply thoughtful gathering re-affirmed PCC’s ongoing commitment to the 

 work, recognizing the place it holds as a unique generative model and space of community-engaged practices, within the larger aesthetic work and vision of PCC as an incubator that can create and nurture space for bold artistic practices.

And…that’s a wrap for PCC this summer!

 and presented in association with Ping Chong and Company. Development was made possible by Center for Performance Research, The Church in Sag Harbor, and 99 Canal. Featuring 

 Jim Fletcher, Nile Harris, Tony Jenkins, Lei (sis), Jonah Rollins; 

 Marie De Testa.

Performances will take place on August 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Performances will take place at The Shed's Griffin Theater located at 545 West 30th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues.

For sold out performances, an in-person wait list will be available 15 minutes before the show begins.



 is a play. it's an unfinished play about love. More specifically it's a love letter to my lead actor Jim Fletcher, or perhaps it's a love letter to the white downtown theatrical avantgarde of the early 2000’s or maybe it’s my swan song to the one who got away. The performance follows a Board Member at the Shed who falls in love with a much younger commissioned artist named Nile. Running parallel to this is a fictive gesture of a jazz musician, inspired by the cornetist, Buddy Bolden, who was New Orleans’ innovator of jazz until he went “mad” and spent the remainder of his life in a mental asylum. I’ll play the part of Buddy Bolden, I mean Nile, I mean Bolden and play the clarinet and tell you why I’ve gone mad. What did Solange say in the elevator? “There’s a lot to be mad about”. The black box theater can feel like a cage—I mean a stage. And sometimes these institutional invitations can feel like a trap. Why do I feel like I’m losing my mind? Maybe it’s because I love Him.

Nile Harris' minor b at The Shed

Our Artistic Leadership Team is leaning into the importance of our collective collaborations and the reach of our intertwined creative communities, inside and outside of PCC. With PCC as an ongoing artistic home and anchor, this summer ALT members are making new theater, movement, and multimedia projects in partnership with artists and organizations across NYC and beyond. Read on and join us for an exciting breadth of upcoming projects and generative modalities from the creative minds of the ALT.

Artistic Leader Mei Ann Teo is directing the new musical 

 produced in association with ¡Oye! Group and The Sol Project, with support from Musical Theatre Factory, Oye! Group and The Sol Project. With Book, Music & Lyrics by Michelle J. “Micha” Rodriguez, Choreography by William Carlos Angulo and U.J. Mangune, and featuring PCC performer and Teaching Artist Manny Dunn (he/him), Michelle J. “Micha” Rodriguez (she/her), Sushma Saha (all pronouns), and Tieisha Thomas (she/her).

Expect miracles, magic, divine feminine energy, and the healing power of presence and intuition in this joyous new millennial music theater piece. Reshaping the Moses story for women of color grappling with the hazards and challenges of leadership, 

 is told with Bible-fan-fiction vibes, varying degrees of reverence and satire, and a vibrant anthemic musical score rooted in jazz/R&B

 runs June 11-29 at the Connelly Theater.

 is viewable at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival from July 31-August 3

Conceived by PCC Artistic Leader team member 

 in collaboration with new media artist LaJuné McMillian, Snakehips in our DNA is a free, open-gallery experience where visitors can explore the trajectory of dance from the Harlem Renaissance to the present through a stunning video installation of multi-generational and interdisciplinary artists. 

 utilizes new media technology such as motion capture animation, and features interview footage of dancers including Mickey Davidson, Drew Dollaz, Bernard Dove, Roobi Gaskins, Rocka Jamez, Chanon Judson, Michela Marino Lerman, and Maleek Washington, as they respond to the soul and spirit of the legendary Harlem Renaissance-era dancer, Earl ‘Snakehips’ Tucker. This is a tribute and timely meditation on the Harlem Renaissance’s permanence in today’s contemporary culture, coming to Jacob’s Pillow this summer following a two-week appearance in the Apollo’s Victoria Theater in April 2024.

 as part of The Shed’s OPEN CALL in August

 is a performance that inquires about a minor black behavior that refuses capitalization. PCC Artistic Leader 

 and his ensemble use the biography of jazz cornetist Buddy Bolden, who was making music at the turn of the 20th century and spent the majority of his life in a mental asylum, as a theoretical launching point to stage a series of discreet events rejecting and subverting the syntax of the black box theater as a means to examine the orthography of blackness. For Harris, the black box theater serves as a metaphor for containment. Playing with theatrical traditions which have sought an imposed neutrality, the work is, in part, a response to institutional constraints that resonate with the asylum where Bolden was confined.

 is created by Nile Harris and presented in association with Ping Chong and Company. The piece is commissioned by The Shed and presented in association with Ping Chong and Company. Development was made possible by Center for Performance Research, The Church in Sag Harbor, and 99 Canal.


Free tickets will be available starting July 18

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