Dumb Instrument Dance presents the premiere of Ziyian Kwan’s newest creation Public and Private

Choreography and Performance: Ziyian Kwan
with Dance Artists: Delia Brett, Hayley Gawthrop, Erika Mitsuhashi, Deanna Peters
Live Taiko: Eileen Kage

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”.

About Dumb Instrument Dance
Dumb Instrument Dance is a collage of activities: a platform for experiments with choreography, a collection of commissioned works, and a conduit for other than usual dance actions. Under the Artistic Direction of Ziyian Kwan, the company produces original works and presents its repertoire through live performances. Recent highlights include presentations in BC, Quebec and Ontario of The Neck To Fall, The Mars Hotel, Kwan Yin, Still Rhyming and A Slow Awkward. Through these productions and others, Dumb Instrument Dance focuses on creation across forms, inviting collaboration with emerging to senior artists from diverse backgrounds. “I am my heart’s dumb instrument”, Denton Welch

About Ziyian Kwan
Ziyian Kwan has worked as a Vancouver based dance artist since 1988. As an interprète, she has performed close to 100 original creations by an eclectic range of choreographers on international stages and in 2014, received the Isadora Award for her work as a performer. As a choreographer, Ziyian creates work that promotes collaboration with colleagues in the fields of dance, literature, music and visual art. Over the years she has also built an extensive repertoire of commissioned work and has especially enjoyed participation in projects that cross genres.