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

Founded by Ping Chong, Ping Chong and Company 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.


During the 2020/21 season, we were lucky to have Johnnie Cruise Mercer and Jaime Sunwoo in residence with the company as Creative Fellows . 

The Creative Fellowship launched in 2019 and invites early career multidisciplinary artists with a commitment to social justice to engage with PCC's archival body of work and methodologies; and receive mentorship and guidance on their career and creative goals. 

Each Creative Fellow received support to create a new work inspired by the PCC archive. 

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this year's Fellowship took place almost entirely remotely, until the last few weeks in June 2021, when it became safer to gather in person again. At the end of the Fellowship, Artistic Director Ping Chong, Managing Director Jane Jung, and Creative Fellows Jaime Sunwoo and Johnnie Cruise Mercer met at at the Ping Chong and Company office, to hear culminating reflections from Jaime and Johnnie, and to have a conversation about their time with the company. 

Creative Fellowship 2021 | Culminating Reflections and Conversation

Creative Fellowship 2021: Culminating Reflections and Conversation 


With summer well underway, we take a moment to reflect back on the 2020-21 school year. The year demanded massive amounts of flexibility in navigating shifts in virtual learning, hybrid schedules, and in-person cohorts. We’ve been inspired by the adaptability, resourcefulness, and dedication with which students, teachers, administrators, and PCC’s 20 innovative teaching artists responded to the circumstances, creating meaningful forums for expression, creativity, and connection in a time of isolation for NYC’s students!

Ping Chong and Company’s education team rose to the challenge, reimagining our 

Secret Histories theatrical storytelling residencies 

across 16 classrooms to match the unique circumstances of each partner school.  As a result, 3rd-8th grade students at PS191, PS84, MS247, PS102Q, and PS91 worked virtually with teams of inspiring teaching artists to explore identity, culture, and sense of belonging and connection.  Whether at home or in the classroom, students built bonds and collaborated to transform their stories into original visual, film, audio, and virtual theater performances.

 Secret Histories Program Highlights 


This spring our education team piloted Ping Chong and Company’s first-ever Creative Aging program - a theatrical storytelling workshop series for older adults entitled 

Artful Storytelling: Our Meaningful Histories

 Offered in collaboration with the NYC Educational Alliance and three senior centers on the Lower East Side, and made possible by the Catalyzing Creative Aging Seed Grant from the National Guild for Community Arts Education, the program was designed to enhance quality of life for elders 55+ through creative expression, social connectivity, and making meaning of our personal & community histories.  Participants mounted a moving and meaningful live virtual performance on May 22, and the pilot’s success will be shared as a case study nationally during this July’s 

 hosted by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

Artful Storytelling: Our Meaningful Histories - "Fromings and Goings"


Our education team developed two unique theatrical storytelling curricula for educators this year:

, was created in partnership with New 42/New Victory Theater, inspired by our production of Generation NYZ which premiered there in 2018.  The resource guide, fully adaptable to virtual or in-person learning spaces, offers educators and caregivers tools for inspiring youth to develop community and unleash their powerful voices to the world!  Request access to the guide 

A second curriculum is in development inspired by our 2017  interdisciplinary theater production 

.  Created by PCC creative team members and Alaskan educators and culture bearers, in collaboration with the Lower Kuskokwim School District, the curriculum will offer social studies educators in Alaska a unique approach to studying the region’s histories through student creation of artistic expressions that acknowledge and celebrate their lived experiences as integral parts of Alaska’s evolving history.

As we grapple with recovery and re-emergence from COVID-19,  we look ahead to 21-22 and ask ourselves what role we can play in meeting school and community needs for healing, expression, and reconnection, no matter the age of our students.

Through these and other Ping Chong and Company programs, we remain committed to amplifying learner voices, holding space for community building, and using the tools of arts education to work toward more justice and equity in our learning and community spaces.

2020-21 Education Program Round Up

Process memoir 6: thenowlater (HEART) Prophecy
A charted quest inspired by the question, “What is the distance of love?”


Sunday, June 27th
East Village, Manhattan, NYC 
11am-2pm

 as we engage in small group activities, a street wide sing-a-long, and a facilitated dance jam-flash-mob happening!

, a group of 80 community members brought together to map out and collaboratively chart a journey launched from the question, "What is the distance of love?" This happening will be driven by inner sensation and outward embodiment.

 takes place during and celebrates NYC Pride Weekend, and will conclude with a performance-party premiering 

Registered participants will also receive a custom-made t-shirt and mask designed by TRPNYC Visual Makers Hannah Lazarte and Corbin Graves!

Creative Fellow-in-residence with PCC for the 2020/2021 season

.  PCC has supported the generation of a new work through this Fellowship, and this event is the final presentation of Johnnie's Creative Fellowship.

SCHEDULE: Sunday, June 27th, 11am - 2pm 


East Village, Manhattan, NYC 
Specific Location will be assigned upon registration

11:00am~11:30am — Registration/Ice Breaking Activities
11:30am~12:30 pm — Cohorts Chart their Journeys
12:30pm~1:00pm — Grace Period
1:00pm~1:30pm — Community Facilitated Activities; STREET SING A LONG; DANCE JAM & FLASH MOB
1:30pm~1:45pm — The Illustrious Blacks Happening/Performance-Party 
1:45pm~2:00pm — Closing Reflection and Collective Vision

Registration closes at Friday, June 25th at 11:59pm! 

Registration open for an Outdoor Community Future-Making Workshop & Performance Happening on Sunday, June 27th!

Six NYC Teens Share Their Real-Life Stories of 2020 in a new filmed virtual theater work created in partnership with Urban Word NYC and commissioned by New Victory Theater / New 42

 for a preview presentation of our latest

This filmed virtual theater work shares real-life stories of six Black and POC teenagers —bridging reflections on their early lives growing up in New York City with discussions of the significance of the year 2020-2021 —growing up during a global pandemic and renewed calls for racial justice.

We worked with young performers/storytellers to speak to the hardships and hopes of our shape-shifting, tumultuous present. Throughout the creative process, the youth—some of whom were performing in a theatrical work for the first time—collaborated with Sara Zatz and Kirya Traber

, and who compiled one-on-one interviews and collective conversations with performers into a dynamic script.

Fostering a deep sense of community among participants is fundamental to the 

 process—a particular challenge for remote theater-making. For this work, participants developed community agreements to nurture a sense of trust, sharing intimate stories and perspectives online—and having their words woven together into a single work. Cast members contributed to the editing and revision process, and had final approval over their respective parts of the script.

, the six teens also participated in Urban Word NYC’s poetry workshop, 

Generation Phoenix: Tales of Transformation

 (led by Darian Dauchan, award-winning poet, actor, and Loop Station Vice Champion of the American Beatbox Championships). This provided a space and opportunity to process, share, and explore personal experience in order to find community through the power of poetic storytelling and creative resilience.

The screening is hosted by Darian Dauchan. There will be a Q&A following the screening with the cast and creative team. The film is appropriate for ages 11 and up. 

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eiPF6s9JQ7-gjxPa8N1xqw

The film will remain available for one week after the event. Register 

 to view the film, available after the preview screening on Thursday.

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