| Stepping Out in leaps and bounds |
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| Culture | |
| Thursday, 23 September 2010 | |
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With the government’s announcement of the budget cuts to the Arts, Step Out Arts (SOA) has successfully managed to make the most of the funding made available to them. Founded in 1995 by Taiwanese born dancer Jih-Wen Yeh, the last two years has seen the growth of this British Asian dance advocacy organization develop into a leader of this space.
Originally focused on Chinese cultural programming to meet the demands for this type of work in the UK, SOA took the initiative in 2009 and launched the British East Asian Choreographers Development Scheme (BEACDS) by creating opportunities for choreographers of Asian descent. Whilst, it was not the first time UK had witnessed a showcase of British Asian choreographers, the results were overwhelming positive. Matthew Bamber, the General Manager recalls, “the showcases had a very good turn out, in particular the London showcase which (was) sold out and subsequently had a waiting list of people wanting to obtain tickets.” More impressive were the survey results which indicated that 97% of the people that attended (of which, most had never attended a dance/choreography event specifically created by British Asian artists before) said that “they would consider attending another dance event in the future which is created by British Asian artists.”
Building on the successful delivery of the BEACDS in 2009, SOA will once again showcase the talents of four emerging British Asian choreographers in this year’s production of Stepping East 2010. This year, the four artists are Jia-Yu, Julia Cheng, Lucia Tong and Yuyu Rau. Bamber described the process in selecting the four artists was “on the basis of who would benefit the most from participating on the Scheme, and how realistic it was to achieve their goals in the timeframe given for each project.” From the judging panel of 5 members, all the participating artists were ranked, and then scored to find the four top applicants.
 The Stepping East 2010 showcase will present the works-in-progress by Step Out Arts' four new Associate Artist choreographers. With their styles and influences ranging from contemporary, hip-hop, Chinese and inter-cultural dance, the four pieces will present innovative choreographic ideas which will not only highlight the artists’ training and talent, but also add texture and freshness given their own cultural background. The event, once again held at Greenwich Dance, will feature further development work performances by two of last year’s BEACDS artists Khamlane Halsackda and Chisato Minamimura as well as a daytime symposium and a networking session for choreographers, dancers, programmers and promoters alike.
In addition to the Stepping East showcase, all eight Associate Artists will feature in Step Out Arts’ new website (www.stepoutarts.co.uk)to further enhance the choreographers’ online profile. There will be options for other dance artists to be included in the future and SOA has plans to develop the website to be a tool that provides training, support and networking opportunities aimed towards the performing artists. Moreover, this website will act as an advocacy agency for the British Asian dance sector, promoting them on a national and international level and aims to create collaborative opportunities for British Asian dance artists.
As the founder of Step Out Arts, Yeh describes, “there is no collective voice championing the art form and making the Industry take notice of the potential talent that is out there. We have Chinese traditional dance companies, and a few contemporary dance companies, but we don’t really have a collective voice that advocates for the sector.” She goes on to say that when people talk about the Asian dance sector, they often perceive it as Indian dance and/or traditional Chinese (i.e. wearing Chi Po and having Chinese dance hand gestures etc) and that this barrier needs to be broken through. “Dance is about freedom of expression, it should be coming from personal experience, training, background and the individual inspiration”.
However, the challenge goes beyond educating the audience’s expectation. Funding, corporate and political support, opportunities, visibility and sustainability are issues that many artists face. Do Asian choreographers and dancers face extra challenges in the UK? Yeh thinks there are two sides to this question. “For Asian choreographers who were born in this country and educated in the country, they are likely to find their way around much easier compared to artists who may have emigrated from the Far East. I’m not saying that it is easy for them, but easier and it’s about having the ‘same language’.” In order to bring about change, Yeh believes that Asian artists need to be more proactive, network and find funding and avenues to showcase their talents through taking part in paid or voluntary projects to increase their visibility.
Despite all the obstacles, Yeh is optimistic that the British Asian dance sector will flourish. Already, she is noticing more internationally recognised dance companies and individual choreographers making an impact in the UK. More importantly, she feels that Step Out Arts “needs to continue to nurture potential talent and raise awareness of the Asian dance sector in either big or small projects and through continuing presence at necessary networks, will hopefully voice out our message into the mainstream.”
Words: Kevin Han
Images: Ludovic Des Cognets
 For full details of the Stepping East 2010 showcases and to view the Associate Artists’ profile, visit: http://www.stepoutarts.co.uk/index.php/professional-development/stepping-east-2010/stepping-east-associate-artists/
To book tickets for the Stepping East 2010, please contact:
Greenwich Dance Box Office: 020 8293 9741 or visit www.greenwichdance.org.uk (2nd Oct)
University of Bedfordshire Theatre Box Office: 0800 3285334 or visit www.beds.ac.uk/theatre (6th Oct)
*** Special Offer ***
Greenwich Dance is offering Dimsum readers discounted tickets to Stepping East 2010. Full price tickets for the London Showcases (2nd October) will be £10 (normal price £15) and bookings will need to be made via phone only - usual Greenwich Dance number 020 8293 9741, quoting Dimsum offer to claim your discount. Offer is subject to availability.
Performances start at 5pm.
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