Of Dishes and Dreams is a new evening-length creation choreographed by Spring 2024 Baryshnikov Arts residency artist Keerati Jinakunwiphat. Inspired by her experiences growing up in a family-run Thai restaurant, Jinakunwiphat explores service, synergy, and the balance between order and chaos. Set to an original score by Quaba Venza Ernest and Bryndon Cook, the piece evokes the energetic pulse of kitchens and home-cooked meals. The evening’s visual landscape will be designed by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, incorporating traditional textiles, sculpture, and domestic objects. Together, the dancers transform an everyday space into a sphere of healing and belonging, driven by themes of lineage, community, and the American Dream.
“It’s rare for a young artist to emerge so quickly with a distinctive choreographic voice, but Keerati has that confidence, vision, and originality. You don’t want to miss this exceptional work.” —Mikhail Baryshnikov
Performers
Jennifer Florentino, Zack Gonder, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Alysia Johnson, Claude “CJ” Johnson, Ryan Yamauchi
Creative
Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Choreographer
Bryndon Cook, Music Director
Quaba Venza Ernest, Music Composer
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Set Designer
Dan Stearns, Lighting Designer
Karen Young, Costume Designer
All details subject to change.
Keerati Jinakunwiphat (Choreographer and Dancer) was born in Chicago, IL and received her BFA from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. She has additionally studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montreal. Jinakunwiphat joined A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham in 2016 and performed and collaborated with the company for seven seasons. Jinakunwiphat has presented her own choreographic works at the Joyce Theater, New Victory Theater, MASS MoCA, Lincoln Center, Chelsea Factory and more. She has been commissioned to set and create works on A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham, New York Choreographic Institute, Bang On A Can, Princeton University, Fire Island Dance Festival, and many more. Jinakunwiphat has graced the cover of Dance Magazine as one of “25 to Watch” in 2021. In 2023, she had the honor of becoming the first Asian American woman to be commissioned to choreograph for the New York City Ballet. Additionally, Jinakunwiphat has been awarded with the Jadin Wong Fellowship Artist of Exceptional Merit by the Asian American Arts Alliance and is a 2023 Princess Grace Award Winner in Choreography. In 2024, Jinakunwiphat participated in a residency at Baryshnikov Arts.
Jennifer Florentino (Dancer), born in Paterson, NJ, is a storyteller with a multidisciplinary career in dance, theatre, and film. She received her BFA in Dance from Point Park University and is a current company member of Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot and Aszure Barton & Artists. Some credits include Justin Peck’s Illinoise, Smile 2, Moulin Rouge The Musical, and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Florentino is delighted to be a part of Keerati’s new creation.
Zack Gonder (Dancer) grew up near Chicago and trained at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, under the tutelage of Randy Duncan. He graduated from the Juilliard School in 2018 where he performed works by Austin McCormick, Aszure Barton, Pam Tanowitz, Richard Alston, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Crystal Pite. In 2024, he was in the Broadway show Illinoise, choreographed by Justin Peck, at the St. James Theater, as well as its Off-Broadway runs at the Park Avenue Armory and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He has performed with Pam Tanowitz Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, PARA.MAR Dance, Zvi Dance, and most recently, toured with Twyla Tharp Dance for Diamond Jubilee.
Alysia Johnson (Dancer) is a Dallas native who began her training in the codified techniques of ballet, modern, and jazz. At a young age she pursued performing in the junior companies at Dallas Black Dance Academy while attending Booker T. Washington HSPVA. Throughout high school, Alysia trained at numerous summer intensives such as SAB, DTH, AAADT, & LINES. After graduating high school Alysia obtained her BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School. Since college, Alysia has taught across the United States, specializing in Improvisation & Contemporary Techniques. She has performed with Bruce Wood Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham.
Claude “CJ” Johnson (Dancer), a Chicago native based in Brooklyn, NY, is a dancer, choreographer, and movement director. He studied at The Chicago Academy for the Arts and SUNY Purchase, where he received the Adopt-A-Dancer Scholarship. From 2017 to 2022, he was a full-time company dancer with A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham and was nominated for the Princess Grace Award in 2021. Johnson has performed with renowned companies and artists such as Trisha Brown Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, and Keerati Jinakunwiphat, while also developing his own choreographic work through residencies at Baryshnikov Arts and The Joyce Theater. As a Black queer artist, Johnson creates work rooted in human connection, social justice, and the power of dance to inspire collective understanding and change.
Ryan Yamauchi (Dancer) was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and trained at the Mid-Pacific Institute School of the Arts and SUNY Purchase. Ryan is currently a dancer/rehearsal director with Doug Varone and Dancers and a collaborator with 2nd Best Dance Company. He has also had the pleasure of working with Loni Landon Dance Projects, Santa Fe Opera, Santa Barbara Dance Theater, VA & Guests, and Sidra Bell Dance New York. Ryan is currently on faculty at SUNY Purchase and Peridance Center.
Bryndon Cook (Music Director) is a multidisciplinary artist, actor and music director, releasing music such as Starchild & The New Romantic. Previous creative work includes collaborations with A24, Newark Boys Chorus, Solange Knowles, Maggie Rogers, Telfar, Guggenheim Museum, Sydney Opera House, The Shed and more.
Quaba Venza Ernest (Music Composer), born and raised in Brooklyn, began studying guitar and bass early on, training at Harlem School of the Arts and 92nd Street Y, where he joined a jazz ensemble led by Brian Landrus. Influenced by his father’s work in the Caribbean band “Rain, Drops and Tears,” his sound weaves together Caribbean rhythms, experimental electronics, jazz improvisation, and field recordings. As music director, he guides sonic choices, crafts original scores, and edits sound for live performance and film. His recent compositions include music for Keerati Jinakunwiphat’s commission for A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham and Babou Sanneh’s creation for BAAD Bronx. Through Ernest Records, he supports emerging artists and produces projects at the intersection of music, movement, and sound design.
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (Set Designer) is a Brooklyn-based artist whose transdisciplinary practice spans sculpture, textile, painting, installation, and public art. The daughter of Thai and Indonesian immigrants, she draws on ancestral memory, cultural rituals, and everyday materials to explore themes of healing, resilience, and belonging. Her tactile, research-driven works—often featuring rope, fiber, and cultural talismans—honor unseen labor, women’s work, and the wisdom of immigrant communities. Her major public works include “I Still Believe in Our City,” a citywide NYC series created as Public Artist in Residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights and featured on the cover of TIME Magazine; GATHER at Lincoln Center, a series of ritual-based textile monuments; and Time Owes Us Remembrance at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, a soaring 100-foot textile installation that turns civic space into a sanctuary for mourning and memory. She is a 2024 NYC Artadia Awardee, a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and served from 2023–2025 on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
Dan Stearns (Lighting Designer) is a lighting designer for theatre and dance. Credits include Kyle Abraham, Meredith Monk, Bebe Miller, Bill Young/Colleen Thomas & Co., Jane Comfort & Company, Tami Stronach, LeeSaar The Company, Pavel Zuštiak/Palissimo, Paul Bedard/Theater in Asylum, Scott Ebersold, Tara Ahmadinejad/Piehole, and Sanaz Ghajar/Built for Collapse. He is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Karen Young (Costume Designer) designs costumes for dance, experimental theatre, and video art projects in New York and internationally. Recent costume design for dance includes works with American Ballet Theater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham, the Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Czech National Ballet, Acosta Danza Cuba, and Miami City Ballet. Young also often designs costumes for works by choreographers Kyle Abraham, Brian Brooks, Lucinda Childs, Jamar Roberts, Alejandro Cerrudo, Pontus Lidberg, Sonya Tayeh, and Keerati Jinakunwiphat. Recent design for theater includes Geoff Sobelle’s Home (BAM) and Third Rail Projects’ highly acclaimed immersive show Then She Fell. Collaborations with contemporary visual artists include costume design for the video works of Eve Sussman, Matthew Barney, Michelle Handelman and David Michalek.
Photo Credit: Dustin Dacier