| Stepping East 2010 |
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| Culture | |
| Friday, 15 October 2010 | |
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Step Out Arts selected and showcased six talents this year for their second Stepping East symposium: there are four work-in-progress performances by Lucia Tong, Julia Cheng, Jia-Yu Corti and Yuyu Rau, as well as two further development work performances by Khamlane Halsackda and Chisato Minamimura, both were participants of British East Asian Choreographers Development Scheme last year.
In The Art of Forgtting, Lucia Tong creates a collage of movement, projected imagery, text and soundscape. A stretched net structure takes centre stage, creating a sense of tension and distortion, and on to it monochromic old family and historic photographs are projected. Tong’s choreography interacts with the structure at times, resulting in beautiful textures that add to the emotional backdrop of the piece. There is contemporariness in her movement, which compliments well with the chosen subject – suppressed past memories. The incorporation of text seems to flow less fluidly with the movement. The text plays an important part and it seems that the scientific references can be further stylised physically and vocally.
There is a strong narrative in Julia Cheng’s piece, The Other Side, which makes the painted scenery pieces redundant. The multi-ethnic company of five takes the audience on a journey inspired by the story of Morecambe Bay incident in 1994. A wide spectrum of dance styles is presented, showcasing the versatility of the dancers, and Cheng stands out as the most technically sound and expressive in her movement. Although at times jarring, this mix of styles provides a psychological dimension to the piece. As a performance in general, however, the transition between music and movement styles requires fine-tuning.
 A single act by Khamlane Halsackda is a live art performance, rather than a dance piece per se. Halsackda performs solo, and in total honesty. Under a spotlight, he explores his childhood memories and talks about what love means to him. In full lighting, he changes into different costumes, portraying western and eastern images of a bride. Although a good portion of the performance is text based and without much movement, the ending is very engaging and the transformation of Halsackda into a female image is poetic – in an unexpected way.
Yuyu Rau performs with her counterpart and a singer/musician in Re-encounter.
There is a strong spatial awareness in Rau’s choreography that sets the rhythm of the piece. The interaction of body and live sound is interesting. The ability to regenerate a new body language via simple movements makes it a refreshing performance to watch. One looks forward to see it developed into a longer piece involving more experiments, with deeper investigations into expressing inter-cultural experiences.
With Eurydice by Jia-Yu Corti is a beautiful performance. The opening sequence is a series of captivating moments that turn the body into moving sculptural forms. Guided by a piece of poem, ‘Eurydice’, by Harryette Mllen, Corti’s solo performance strives for purity of movement and space. Space is defined by light and shadow, and the choreography materialises moments in space. The costume is appropriately elegant. It is an abstract piece to be enjoyed independently from the poem, but how long can a poem last?
The evening closes with Chisato Minamimura’s further developed piece, NEW BEATS. A deaf dance artist, Minamimura’s work shares her research into the experience of visual sound/music. There is a strong visual style throughout with vivid use of colours in costume as well as in lighting. This visual soundscape is striking. Repetitive movements and hand gestures generate sounds and these sounds are translated into ‘weights’ that can be visually perceived. Andy Hamer’s excellent lighting design and Lewis Gibson’s sound contribute most to the overall aesthetics, to the extent that it looks more like a light show than a dance performance, especially at the end. Whether you agree with the concept or not, the performance is certainly a musical score, composed visually and played out loud. As one audience points out at the post show talk, it might be more interesting to see it performed without sound, as Minamimura would have experienced.
It is without exaggeration that Stepping Out Arts has made great contribution to British dance scene in the UK in the past two years. This year’s showcase clearly demonstrates high calibre among all participating artists. The programme includes a broad range of dance performances, which represents contemporary development in Asian dance - as an art form rather than a narrowly defined discipline.
Jia-Chiann Ingrid Hu
Ingrid trained with Czech scenographer Petr Perina and received her MA in Sceongraphy from Central St Martins in 2002. Since then she has been working in theatre and in multidisciplinary design, including with Heatherwick studio, and is one of the core designers for the UK pavilion for this year's World Expo in Shanghai. She also reviews art and performances.
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