Chino and the Dance of the Butterfly

A deft weaving of the author's experience with self-discovery as he realizes a life as a dancer and artist.--El Palacio

Dana Tai Soon Burgess has written a memoir as intimate, delicate, and, ultimately, beautiful as the dances he creates. Anyone interested in how an artist develops should read this book.--Michael M. Kaiser, president emeritus of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Dana Tai Soon Burgess has written a memoir as intimate, delicate, and, ultimately, beautiful as the dances he creates. Anyone interested in how an artist develops should read this book.--Michael M. Kaiser, president emeritus of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Dana Tai Soon Burgess is a spellbinding storyteller in words no less than movement. With this memoir, he entrances readers as he has so long entranced audiences, with scene after scene of an extraordinary and transformative life.--Susan Choi, author of Trust Exercise: A Novel

An inspiring journey of an Asian American artist's transformation from truly humble beginnings to become one of the most distinct voices in American modern dance. Dana Tai Soon Burgess shares the experiences that shaped him as a performer and choreographer, from his encounters with famous artists to his creative challenges, writing with grace, humor, and insight.--Laurel Victoria Gray, founder of the award-winning Silk Road Dance Company

With wonder, appreciation, and self-deprecating humor, choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess recalls how he became a dancer and founded his distinctively Asian American dance company. The book describes how dance, evoked by the flight of the monarch butterfly, can serve as the key to a fully lived life; the migrations of the monarchs symbolize the movement, transformation, and beauty of a life in the arts and a lifetime of learning and teaching.--Patricia P. Chu, author of Where I Have Never Been: Migration, Melancholia, and Memory in Asian American Narratives of Return