HISAKO’S HOUSE
Hisako’s House is a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary work rooted in Robyn Mineko Williams' exploration of her Japanese American lineage, her family's experiences surrounding the incarceration of WWII and the intergenerational ripples of trauma, love, and resilience that followed. Part live performance and part documentary film, the project blends archival research, dance, film, music, interviews, and documentation. Hisako's House features original music and soundscapes by Macie Stewart and filmmaking by Mike Gibisser.
The 50-minute performance premiered in June 2023 at Robyn’s grandmother’s mid-century home in Lombard, IL. The documentary is currently in production.
Director and Choreographer: Robyn Mineko Williams
Dance Artists: Isaac Aoki, Jesse Obremski, Jie-Hung Connie Shiau, Leah Terada, Stephanie Terasaki
Music and Soundscapes: Macie Stewart
Filmmaker: Mike Gibisser
From Robyn: In 1942, my grandparents, aunties, and uncles were among the 120,000+ Japanese Americans forcibly removed from their homes on the west coast and placed in concentration camps set in remote and desolate locales throughout the West and in Arkansas. They and their families lived in barracks surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers. A few anecdotes about “camp” were mentioned here and there by my family as I was growing up however many of their experiences went untold. Post-war, my family found their way to Chicago, a hub for Japanese Americans during the resettlement period, where they raised their families and remained throughout the spans of their lives. My late grandmother, Nancy Hisako Nishimura, lived for decades in the same midcentury home she and my grandfather built together in Lombard, IL during the late 1950's. It's the house where my family gathered around the dining room table together and a place that has been witness to the stories, dynamics, connections and ripples that I'm attempting to learn about today. It is a very special place to me. I decided to use my grandma's home as a container for building and realization of Hisako's House.
This work is made possible by a 2022 Princess Grace Foundation - USA Special Project Grant and 2023 Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio Residency, supported by the Walder Foundation and DCASE. Special thank you to Densho, Emma Saito Lincoln, Japanese American Service Committee, Jacqui Smalley, Rick Nishimura, Meredith Dincolo and Alejandro Segura, Courtney and Garrett Anderson, Kevin Shannon and Craig Black, The Nishimura Family, The Williams Family, The Yamasaki family, Jason Matsumoto, Paul and Tonko Doi, Alexis Jaworski & Knox and Andrew Murdock.
Photos: Ricardo E. Adame, Jt Williams, Mike Gibisser, and The Nishimura Family