Dumb Instrument Dance presents a new ensemble work choreographed by acclaimed Vancouver dance artist Ziyian Kwan. In this full-length piece, Kwan is joined by a team of renegade collaborators who each imbue the work with poetry and verve. Dancing to the metered urgency of live Taiko, a tribe of female bodied artists delves into physical relationships that express vulnerability and strength. In ways both elegant and raw, Public and Private is a decidedly feminist inquiry.
Scenes of intimacy and play are emboldened by Kwan’s penchant for sourcing what is deeply personal or imagined to question what is real. The performers travel within and in so doing, make selectively public, what was previously private. Treasures are revealed and transposed into sound, language and movement.
In Kwan’s own words, her inspiration for Public and Private: “To move forward is predictable. I want to move sideways, upside down, to slide backwards into things that don’t yet exist. I invite a team of remarkable artists into this work, so that we can mine our autonomy and in so doing, invent a microcosm of community”.
Public and Private is made possible through the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, The British Columbia Arts Council, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Mutable Subject, MACHiNENOiSY, and developed with the assistance of Playwrights Theatre Company.
November 13 – 24, 2018
Tuesday through Saturday, Nov 13 – 17 & Nov 20 – 24 @ 8pm
Performance Venue: Left of Main (211 Keefer Street)
$25 General Admission
Tickets: Brown Paper Tickets https://publicandprivate.bpt.me
604 862 2912
Image: Eileen Kage & Erika Mitsuhashi – David Cooper Photography