"Practicing Ambivalence: Taiko, White Women, and Asian American Performance," April 4 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Humanities Center will host Dr. Angela Ahlgren and her talk "Practicing Ambivalence: Taiko, White Women, and Asian American Performance" on April 4.

Experimental Percussionist: Tatsuya Nakatani, April 2 in Lawrenceville.

NextPittsburgh shares news of a Tatsuya Nakatani performance on April 2 at Gardenalia in Lawrenceville. Nakatani, based in the US since 1994, describes his work thus:

Nakatani’s approach to music is visceral, non-linear and intuitively primitive, expressing an unusually strong spirit while resisting genre. He creates sound with both traditional and extended percussion techniques. Utilizing his adapted bowed gong, drums, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects and bells, as well as various sticks, kitchen tools, and his breath he manifests an intense and organic music that represents a very personal sonic world. His approach is steeped in the sensibilities of free improvisation, experimental music, jazz, metal and noise, and yet retains the sense of space and quiet beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music. His percussive instruments can imitate the sound of a trumpet, a stringed instrument, an electronic device…to the extent that it becomes difficult to recognize the source of the sound. He has devoted himself to a musical aesthetic where rhythm gives way to pulse, often in a way that is not always audible or visible, in currents that incorporate silence and texture. Nakatani’s primary music activities include solo percussive performance, his Nakatani Gong Orchestra (NGO), and collaborations with musicians and dancers both in live performance and recordings

The performance, featuring the WRiSt Trio, runs from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at Gardenalia, a garden shop at 3709 Butler St. (map). The cost is $10.

Upwardly Mobile Women in Urban China, March 29 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present Dr. Arienne Gaetano and her talk "Upwardly Mobile Women in Urban China" on March 29.

Oakland's TW Kitchen (台味廚坊) soft opening, March 24.

A new Taiwanese take-out restaurant, TW Kitchen (台味廚坊), is having a soft opening on Sunday, March 24, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.

Come celebrate our soft opening and stop by to taste some FREE food samples from TW Kitchen, featuring various signature Taiwanese dishes. Suggestions and comments are highly encouraged. :)

大家好！請於當天下午3點到6點來與我們一起慶祝。我們將有免費的餐點試吃。先到先得，供完爲止。謝謝！

**First come, first serve. Only until supplies last.

It is located at 192 N. Craig St. (map).

Moon Township's HarbisonWalker International location hiring bilingual English-Mandarin buyer.

Moon Township's HarbisonWalker International location is hiring a bilingual---preferrably trilingual---English-Mandarin buyer.

HWI we are seeking a bilingual buyer to purchase raw materials from our suppliers overseas. This person must be fluent in English, Chinese, and preferably one other language.

This person will be accountable for projects, tasks and categories that are considered integral to the success and profitability of HWI.

The Buyer is responsible for purchase order management. Key aspects of purchase order management include understanding of terms and conditions of purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgement, and tracking, monitoring, and reporting of delivery. The primary responsibility is to support the Category Management team by conducting administrative tasks including but not limited to placing purchase orders, expediting, invoice reconciliation, spot buys, reporting, negotiating new or extended payment terms, and approving invoices.

2018 Chinese film Ash is the Purest White (江湖儿女) in Pittsburgh, from April 12.

The 2018 Chinese film Ash is the Purest White (江湖儿女) will play in Pittsburgh from April 12. A synopsis, from the distributor:

Qiao is in love with Bin, a local mobster. During a fight between rival gangs, she fires a gun to protect him. Qiao gets five years in prison for this act of loyalty. Upon her release, she goes looking for Bin to pick up where they left off.

It will run from April 12 through 18 at the Regent Square Theater, though showtimes have not yet been announced.

Japanese rock band Pinky Doodle Poodle just announced for Pittsburgh, May 22.

via @pinkydoodlepoodle

Japanese rock band Pinky Doodle Poodle will play in Pittsburgh on May 22, part of their North American tour underway since May 2018. The Charleston City-Paper summarized them in this way:

One of the coolest things about the Tokyo duo known as Pinky Doodle Poodle, other than the name, of course, is the juxtapositions in their sound. On the band's new single, "Jump In," the kick drum that starts the song off threatens to cave in the listener's chest, and the guitars are set to "massive eardrum hemorrhage," which makes it all the more jarring when singer Yuria's childlike voice comes in and launches into a stream-of-consciousness self-help pep talk, cooing "Don't miss a chance/ Don't miss your voice/ Everywhere, looking for it/ Don't be afraid."

So there's a lot going on here, all at the same time and louder than a bomb. It's similar to the collision of punk and pop that their label-mate Shonen Knife was so good at in the '90s or the lo-fi dance-rock chaos that the Go! Team creates.

They will play at Howler's in Bloomfield (map), though tickets are not yet available.

2017 Korean film 1987: When the Day Comes at Pitt, March 22.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will present the 2017 film 1987: When the Day Comes on March 22 as part of its annual Korean Film Festival. The distributor summarizes 1987:

In 1987 Korea, under an oppressive military regime, a college student gets killed during a police interrogation involving torture. Government of officials are quick to cover up the death and order the body to be cremated. A prosecutor who is supposed to sign the cremation release, raises questions about a 21-year-old kid dying of a heart attack, and he begins looking into the case for truth. Despite a systematic attempt to silence everyone involved in the case, the truth gets out, causing an eruption of public outrage.

The film will be shown in 332 Cathedral of Learning from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and is free and open to the public. Next Friday the department will present Burning (버닝) as the second installment of the series,

Taiwanese film More Than Blue (比悲傷更悲傷的故事) to remain in Pittsburgh through March 23 (at least).

The 2018 Taiwanese film More Than Blue (比悲傷更悲傷的故事) will play remain in Pittsburgh through at least March 23. The Osaka Asian Film Festival provides a synopsis of the film, a remake of a 2009 Korean hit, which opened in Pittsburgh on March 15:

It seemed like fate when solitary student Zhang Zhe-kai met a rebellious girl named Song Yuan-yuan. These two lonely high school classmates find they become inseparable when they lose their family but their connection blossoms into a beautiful relationship, not quite lovers but very dependent upon each other. She names him “K” and chooses the name “Cream” for herself. They live together and go to college together and eventually get jobs together at the same record company. They are the perfect couple. Things come to a standstill when “K” is diagnosed with leukemia but he’s more concerned about Cream and wants to ensure her happiness before his time runs out by helping her find love little realising she may have already found it…

A glossy remake of the 2009 Korean film of the same name, it proves to be a real tearjerker thanks to the persuasive performances of lead actors Jasper Liu (“Take Me to the Moon” – OAFF 2018) and Ivy Yi-Han Chen who sell the idea of fidelity and timeless love.

The movie is playing at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

IUP hiring language instructor fluent in Japanese and Korean.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is again hiring a foreign language instructor fluent in Japanese and Korean to teach elementary-, intermediate-, and advanced-level courses in those languages. An excerpt from the job posting:

The Department of Foreign Languages at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) invites applicants for an anticipated full-time, and temporary faculty position for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Duties

• Teach elementary, intermediate, and advanced Japanese and Korean.
• The successful candidate may be asked to work at off-campus sites and/or provide instruction through distance education.