MUDA presents: Year 31  

Year 31: The Installation

YEAR 31 is a durational, site-specific installation comprised of 12 dance films that examine the interplay between hair, identity, and self-worth. Based on MUDA Co-Founder Danielle Yasuda’s 31st year, this project exposes her experience of extensive hair loss as a means to unearth the shame, guilt, and isolation felt by those without hair and include anyone who falls outside mainstream beauty standards.

The installation aims to provoke essential dialogue around what is perceived as “normal”, why, and how society uplifts or degrades its members based on preconceived white, euro-centric notions. YEAR 31 challenges the stereotypical representation of the ‘ideal female aesthetic’ in American media. 

YEAR 31 combines film, botanical styling and live choreography to create a multi-media installation that will uplift buried and historically marginalized populations. This immersive experience will elevate relevant themes such as acceptance, tolerance, and inclusion. 

The Company
MUDA consists of two first-generation American women of color. Danielle Yasuda is a multifaceted choreographer, botanical artist, and designer. Maritza Navarro is a choreographer, director, and producer. As MUDA, they create multimedia dance work that presents diverse and inclusive stories that highlight mental health, questions of identity, and family themes, specifically the generational impact of immigration and racism.

Please Support Year 31!

We are working towards a goal of $50,000 which facilitates finishing the last 6 films of the series, plus the cost of the live installation. 

We have seen first-hand the impact that immersive theater can have on changing an audience’s mood, mind, and beliefs -by facilitating a sense of empathy and understanding in those who are not represented in our stories and creating a sense of belonging for those who are. We hope this installation will do the same. 

YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS DIRECTLY FUNDS THE FOLLOWING

Donations go towards the many hands involved in filmmaking: from Directors, DP’s, Dancers, Designers, Editors, Costume Designers, Location, Rehearsal Fees, Advisory Boards + so much more. 

Can’t donate monetarily? Please consider other options such as sharing our story with people in your circle, inviting your friends to our workshops or reposting our events. 

All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law through our fiscal sponsor Dance Resource Center.

COLLABORATORS FOR THIS PROJECT INCLUDE

Nathan Kim, Chris Nelson, Eve Cohen, Letxia Cordova, Elif Koyuturk, Megyn Cawley, Selena Lobatto, Rachel Turner, Melissa Schade, Brin Hamblin, Emmie Bauer–Sanchez, Ansley Rubinstein, Jaqueline Browne, Jackie Nii, Emily Roe, Aerica Siegel, Elizabeth Tramontozzi, Rosalie Tucker, Emily Wanserski, Andrew Pearson, Yara Figueroa + growing

Artist Biography:

MUDA is a movement company and dance duo. We make moves for film, live performances, and still images. We make dance to move you. We believe that dance tells a story and we move bodies to narrate the experience of living. We are gardeners. We live to excavate and find the hidden and untold. We seek to start a conversation about the everyday. The beauty, the sadness, the rawness that is life itself.

“As two women of color who both live with anxiety disorder, we work to incorporate diverse and inclusive stories in our craft, daily. We make dance about mental health, identity, our families who immigrated here for better lives and so much more…”

– Danielle Yasuda + Maritza Navarro

Please visit our website to learn more about MUDA.