New York Times
December 3, 2011
"To get as far as it has, L.A. Theater Works relied on Ms. Friedman, whose company, Ping Pong Productions, specializes in taking international performing arts to China and Chinese troupes to the West. After nearly a decade living and working here, she has learned how to navigate a maze of permits and egos, when to massage cultural bureaucrats and, perhaps most important, whom to call when roadblocks suddenly appear." December 3, 2011 New York Times
Calvin Hunt
General Manager, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
“Alison Friedman is a consummate professional and knows how to work in China better than anyone. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater toured China twice in recent years and enthusiastically engaged Ms. Friedman for each tour. She helped us with all aspects of our tour, logistics, translation, and much more.”
Lane Alexander
Founder and Director, Chicago Human Rhythm Project
"For Ping Pong Productions, the impossible seems effortless and every project becomes an artful collaboration. Their combination of integrity, experience and skills make them a formidable team of natural leaders and ideal colleagues for any China arts endeavor. I remember our projects of bringing American tap dancers to China and Chinese tap dancers to the US with great joy and look forward to future opportunities to work together."
Clark T. Randt, Jr.
Ambassador, Embassy of the United States of America, Beijing, China
August 4, 2008
Ms. Jodi Kaplan, Producer
Ms. Alison M. Friedman, Co-Producer
booking DANCE FESTIVAL beijing 2008
Dear Ms. Kaplan and Ms. Friedman:
My enthusiastic congratulations to you on the occasion of the Booking Dance Festival Beijing 2008. By bringing together on a single stage top dance companies from both China and the United States, this festival trully embodies the Olympic spirit of international friendship and cooperation.
I am proud that Kim Robards Dance and Odyssey Dance Theater will be in Beijing to share the rich and diverse forms of American modern dance with Chinese audiences. This festival also provides a platform for artists from some of China's leading dance companies to share their artistry with audeinces from around the world who have come to Beijing for the Olympics.
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the important United States-China cultural exchanges which serve to deepen mutual understanding and bring our two great peoples and nations together.
With best wishes for a successful festival, I am
Very truly yours,
Clark T. Randt, Jr.
Adam Pillsbury
Editor, Immersion Guides
"The range of subjects that Alison Friedman has tackled reflects her desire to better understand the cultural context in which China's performing artists operate. In the past seven years, this remarkably energetic woman has organized groundbreaking tours by Chinese dance companies overseas and brought foreign choreographers to China. She has worked with government agencies and cultural institutions like the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC. She has produced, directed and choreographed a bilingual version of Stravinsky’s A Soldier's Tale. She has taught tap dance and history, and has written and lectured widely on dance in China.
In other words, Ms. Friedman has watched Chinese dance burst onto the global stage from the front row, upper loge and backstage. She has neither been stuck in a foreign ivory tower, divorced from the Chinese cultural context, nor marooned in China, unable to appreciate how Chinese modern dance fits into the broader world.
This holistic perspective on the shape and trajectory of modern dance in China makes her one of the field's major voices."