Racial Discrimination against their own race???

Recently Da·Da·Dance Project was recommended by Patricia Aulestia (President of the Mexican Dance Federation) to be participate in a festival in Korea (my greatest effort to be respectful by not mentioning the name of the festival).  The festival was looking to invite a couple of foreign companies to come perform a 15 min. piece at their gala in October 2009.  Our communication was all smooth in the beginning even if the organizer insisted on communicating in Spanish and only with Guillermo, entirely ignoring the female director of the company who obviously speaks his native language.  We know how this thing works…. We know that many festival organizers like to bring foreign companies in order to to encourage international exchanges and multiculturalism.  All for a good cause.

At first, the contact person was asking us about Mexican duet to be presented at the Gala, which at first we didn’t understand the term “Mexican Duet”.  We asked him if he meant “a work” by a Mexican choreographer.  He denied he used this term while it clearly was written in his email.  Then in his next correspondence,  he said since I presented my work in Korean back in 2003, he wouldn’t be able to consider us for this venue, unless Guillermo finds another person (no Korean) to travel with and perform at the event.  We had to explain the concept of our company.  The company is a duet repertory company run by two co-directors, so there are other choreographers’ works, but no other dancer.  However, we wrote him that we would be presenting a work by Guillermo in this occasion.  Finally he wrote back to us, saying because I, Eun Jung, is a native of Korea, regardless it is a work of Guillermo or of mine, I cannot be invited to perform.   Also he was inventing that I was born in Daegu, Korea, where I presented my work in 2003 and because I was born there, it is not even a question that I could come present at their festival.

Today we disregarded the invitation.  It was an humiliation and insult to a certain degree.  We are not products that can be replaced by another race or gender.  We work together for artistic reasons, not for selling our brand image in a market place.  Rather, shouldn’t they be proud that a Korean artist is working in the field, getting recommended by a foreign organizer, collaborating with a foreign artist and working actively in a foreign land?

I feel very discriminated and betrayed by my own race.  I have lived, studied, worked, created work here in the states since 1991.  I did my best to advance with my career, my artistry, and my own personal life.  I have received enormous support from generous, kind people around me both in the United States and Mexico.   I am becoming a US citizen this month.  I have been proud of my own ethnic background and always have worked and presented myself as Korean artist.  At the same time I recognize that I am not perfect, nor better than others.

All artists need to be valued equally for their artistic endeavor and effort regardless their popularity, preferences, race and gender.  However, I am having a difficulty getting over this bitter taste in my mouth and feeling extremely offended by this incident.

Any comment?  Isn’t this considered to be “racial discrimination”?  This is the second time that I was recommended for something and got turned down because I was a native of Korea.  Isn’t there something wrong about this?  Does this happen in other parts of the world?

- This post was written by Eun Jung