artist statement

Ship Happens started because our Dance course was cancelled. That’s just the truth. At my school, Business and STEM programs are very popular with parents and students and their accomplishments are celebrated loudly. Robotics competitions get banners, announcements, and constant recognition, while Performing Arts courses like Dance and Drama are treated as optional credits. When Dance was cut, I was placed in Drama instead. Honestly, it felt unfair. It felt like something important to me had been taken away. At first, when I thought there would be a Grade 12 Dance class, I wanted to create a Hip Hop showcase about Ching Shih, a pirate queen who commanded one of the largest fleets in history. She was more successful than many famous male pirates, yet almost no one at our school had heard of her,  even though many of us share a Chinese background.  I wanted to tell her story through Hip Hop and structure it in three Acts, almost like an opera but  told through movement.

When I ended up in Drama class instead, the Drama students started helping me plan what parts of Ching Shih’s  life to stage, and the project slowly became something else. The planning conversations, rewrites, choreography experiments, and stress started to mirror the leadership and chaos in Ching Shih’s world. At some point, we realized the more honest story was about us trying (and sometimes struggling) to tell hers. One of the most challenging aspects of the process were that because of music rights laws, we had to find a hip hop musician willing to share the rights to their music so that I could create my choreography.  

What means the most to me,  and what I will honestly never forget,  is that the Drama students chose to believe in my vision. I had never taken Drama before. I walked into their space feeling hesitant, worried that I didn’t belong, and they didn’t make me feel that way for a second. They welcomed me and listened to me. They researched Ching Shih’s life and worked through the ideas with me. They willingly wrote spoken word poetry about her life. They stayed when it got hard, even when we didn’t know how it would turn out. They didn’t give up. They helped carry something that started as just my idea and turned it into our story. 

Through this entire process I learned that the Performing Arts aren’t just about performing. They’re about people choosing to support each other, especially when things seem impossible and when it seems like we should just quit.  And honestly,  that has meant more to me than I can put into words.  As a really small Performing Arts community in our school, we hope this show proves that what we do matters.