Can You Hear Me Now? | Dance & Talk
Fri 14 Mar 2023, 08 pm – 09:30 pm
THE LYRICÍST STUDIO
125 Pasteur St., Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, HCMC
Ticket link
From the organizer:
This performance is not only about making space for drowned-out voices but also for sounds that would otherwise go unnoticed in our fast-paced world. Le Mai Anh and Chinh Ba’s first performance would use poetry and installations to amplify the sounds of the dancer moving and breathing, creating a more personal connection with the audience’s sense of hearing. Meanwhile, the latter will combine pop and rap with Kim-Sanh Chau’s choreography to express messages from the usually silent Asian diaspora community.
Program 1: TÂM NỐI
Choreogrpaher: Lê Mai Anh and Performer: Lê Mai Anh & Chinh Ba
Medium: sound, poetry and video performing
The interdisciplinary collaboration with Chinh Ba places “Tâm Nối” (Heart Connection) in the context of the sound, visual, and vocal space of poetry. Sound feedback experiments reflect the presence of Heart Connection, visual arrangements through video calls reflect its social nature, and Chinh Ba’s voice and poetry constitute the third voice of the work, a voice from the heart and into the heart.
“Tâm Nối” focuses on issues related to the connection between humans and all the life around them, as well as between humans and the inner world of the self. The work attempts to penetrate into the light and sound, then overflows through the frames, circling around the thoughts and emotions of the viewer in a very empathetic and inclusive way. In the end, it touches and connects everything.
In modern society, with countless instant changes, it is a challenge for humans to find the center of balance and maintain an ideal balance for the body, mind, and soul. When one of these three is significantly imbalanced, the quality of material and spiritual life of humans will also be affected. “Tâm Nối” leads us to seek a harmonious relationship with our kind nature.
Program 2: Bleu Neon
Choreography & performance: Kim-Sanh Châu
Music: Hazy Montagne Mystique, JONAIR, and Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective
In a distant, fictional Vietnam, the echoes of pop music on cassette tape reverberate against the sounds of modern Vietnamese rap. Châu Kim-Sanh inhabits this space, metamorphosing through bodily states generated by the presence of colored neon lights. Of this evening blue erupts a purpleness: “bầu trời màu tím xẩm” – an uncertain translation. Eyes closed, the neon haze returns her to the sensation of her ancestral land. Saigon, like many cities in South-East Asia, is flushed with these vivid lights. Here, embodied memory and the imaginary take a ride on a Honda Dream II motorcycle, across a humid sky whose wetness whips the face.
This solo is performed in its entirety from the squat position – a typically Asian posture. Audio recordings bespeckle the choreography, navigating between fantasized nostalgia, loss of language, and sexual objectification – all three widely experienced by Asian diasporic populations. In Southeast Asia, rap culture is increasingly popular – giving a voice to a population marked by silence. Rap here is a prayer.
Meet the artists
Moderation and translation: Dat Nguyen
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