Archive

Please take note of the wonderful blog that past Co-Director Sima Belmar created in 2010:
http://dswgberk.wordpress.com

ARCHIVE FROM 2012-13

Presenter: Qing Qing

Qing Qing, Associate Research Fellow at the Dance Research Institute, National Arts Academy, China & Visiting Scholar in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, UC Berkeley. Chinese contemporary dance is increasingly gaining attention in the international dance world. In this presentation, Chinese dance scholar and critic Qing Qing gives an introduction to the state of contemporary dance in China, with screenings of selected video clips for a range of examples. Discussion and Q & A follow. Possible reading, TBA. 

Presenter: nunu Kong

In 2004 Nunu Kong (aka Wu Yan Dan) graduated with a degree in contemporary dance choreography from Beijing Dance Academy. Upon graduation she moved to Shanghai and co-founded the performance collective Zuhe Niao creating a physical theater piece called, Tongue’s Memory of Home, which won the special ZKB festival prize at the Theaterspektakel in Zurich in 2006. Nunu launched her independent project, brand nu Dance, in 2007. Since then she has shown her work at numerous festivals in Asia, Europe, and the USA. She was chosen by the Emio Greco/PC dance company to choreograph their project Beyond China in China and Amsterdam. In 2008 she participated in the EU-project “Chin-a-moves.” She was the first independent choreographer from the PRC to participate in the DanceWeb program of the Vienna Impulstanz Festival, and the first independent artist to obtain funding from the Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation. Since 2008 nunu kong has cooperated with Liu Dao at the Shanghai island6 Arts Center creating LED Electronic Art, combining image, special effects, and processing rhythm, dynamic and expressive movement into a new visual interpretation.

Please see Nunu’s website: http://nunu.we23.org/brand_nu_danceContemporary_Dance_from_China.html

Presenter: Dai Jan

Dai Jian is an artist from China with roots in contemporary dance, classical dance, and wushu art. He has created improvisations, performance installations, and visual art. Dai Jian began wushu training at the age of 5 and has been creating his own work, alongside a career dancing with other professional companies, since he was 18 years old. In 1998 he won an award at the National Dance Competition in China, and in 2000 he won the New Stars in Performing Arts from Guangzhou City for his first solo dance work. He began dancing with New York-based Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2005 and Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2008. He served as Shen Wei’s assistant for the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2012 he was invited to choreograph a solo for the Boston International Ballet Competition. He has also choreographed for Guang Dong Modern Dance Company. He has collaborated with Kirstie Simson and Michael Schumaker, filmmaker Katrina McPherson, visual artist Kimberly Mayhorn, video artist Mimi Gerrard, Yin Mei, and Hou Ying. 

Please see Dai Jian’s website: http://daijian.net/home/