Flow(er) (working title) This is a work-in-progress co-creation project between Dong Mei (Dongmei Dance) and Sammy Chien (Chimerik似不像).
This project seeks to integrate Chinese traditional folk dance from the disappearing tribe Uyghur in the Xinjiang province of China, as well as Qi Gong, a traditional Taoist practice connecting with the energy of our body in order to shift its movement and flow, in a contemporary new media dance performance presentation integrating with digital technologies. This project deals with the context of migration, immigration issues, modernization, ethnic heritage, cultural & race politics and decolonization. One of our goal in this project is to bridge the new immigrant/Chinese speaking community with the European settler community and making traditional art more accessible to the wider audiences today.
Current version:
Co-Choreography/Creation: Dong Mei HuangSammy Chien
Dancer/interpreter: Dongmei HuangJoshua Ongcol Kevin FraserZahra ShahabAlex Tam
Rehearsal Director: Sophia Wolfe
A couple of snippets from rehearsal:
Sammy Chien on Instagram: "Flow(er) rehearsal phase 1 experiments A brand new co-creation. Wow, I feel so blessed to work with such an amazing group of dancers. it's pretty crazy how much we've accomplished within 16 hours of rehearsal. First time co-choreographing with classical dance choreographer who specializes traditional Chinese folk dance, we're integrating it with Hip Hop, Qi Gong and digital technology, in collaboration with the dancers. All POC casts, more than half of the casts are POC queers. I'm learning a lot from working with them, and seeking to weave in the immigration issues that my co-choreographer Dong Mei experiences, with some of my progressive expression, styles and sociopolitical views. seriously, I feel so refreshed, fruitful, inspired and excited in every rehearsal! is that the feeling when you see your choreography come alive as a form of art? We're having a studio showing at the DIV 2017 on Nov 22nd, it's for presenters/producers. We'll try to put on a free showing to share with the community after that. thank you dancers for your trust, open-mindedness, your craft and artistry, thank you Dong Mei for giving me room for experimentations. thanks Soph for rehearsal directions. #transcultural #immigration #POC #queer #xenophobia #racism #decolonization #DanceInVancouver #dance #vancouver #contemporary #classical #hiphop #qigong #technology #newmedia"
Biography of the co-creators online:
Dong Mei http://www.dongmeidance.com/about/
Sammy Chien http://pnr.30d.myftpupload.com/about-me/
Sammy Chien – teaser from Alfonso Chin X. on Vimeo.
preliminary choreographic/costume ideas for this piece