Lemongrass & Anise transports the audience through a combination of dance, storytelling, lullabies, Vietnamese music, and the aroma of fragrant herbs used in Vietnamese cuisine. While honoring the war-torn generations bearing the weight of history, this performance also speaks to the children holding and transcending their inherited stories. Dancers and Bay Area natives Hien Huynh and Yi-Ting (Gama) Hsu are joined onstage by Hien’s mother and father, Muoi Lu and Cuong Huynh, who draw upon their separate accounts of postwar Vietnam and a shared skill for improvisation. Presented with support from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Lemongrass & Anise relates the resilience of the refugee experience, depicting individual and community adaptation and ingenuity in the face of societal barriers and emphasizing the capacity to thrive, despite harsh conditions, with unrelenting love.

Program tickets are free, plus the cost of museum admission.