Elaine Mitchener is an experimental vocalist and movement artist whose work encompasses improvisation, contemporary composition, sound art, music theatre, physical theatre and performance art. She currently studies with Jacqueline Bremar. ...
Ian Tang (BFA HKAPA, MFA School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong-based cross-disciplinary sound artist and composer. As a composer, his work has spanned ...
Paul trained at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance, graduating with a First Class Degree in 2015. He went on to complete an apprenticeship with Motionhouse Dance Theatre, touring over ...
Ieva was born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1991. There she graduated from A.Martinaitis Visual Art School and Kaunas Dance School. Later Ieva majored in Dance at Idyllwild Arts Academy, CA, ...
Duration: 60min
Premiere - 27 November 2024 at Fruitmarket - Edinburgh
Part of Deep Time, Fruitmarket’s festival of new music
“Mitchener is a genre-crossing virtuoso.” Financial Times
“Dam Van Huynh is in his own very stylised world, and has perfected the art of drawing an audience into it.” CriticalDance
Dam Van Huynh concept, choreography & direction
Elaine Mitchener vocals, movement, music direction
Michael Picknett sound artist
The Rolling Calf:
Jason Yarde saxophone, electronics
Neil Charles bass, electronics
Xhosa Cole flute, saxophone
Photography: Wendy Huynh / Tessa Veldhorst - Musical Utopias
Texts by: Julius Eastman, Jeanne Lee, John Coltrane, Jenny Holzer, bell hooks, Françoise Vergès, Stuart Hall, Mitsuye Yamada, Renee Levine Packer
“But now music is only one of my attributes. I could be a Dancer, Choreographer, Painter, or any other kind of artist if I so wished." Julius Eastman
Moving Eastman is a new dance and sonic performance that takes inspiration from the intersectional life of the Black American composer Julius Eastman.
Eastman, who died in 1990 aged just 49, is a key figure in late 20th century American music, but was marginalised during his lifetime. A black, gay, contemporary music composer, he lived every aspect of his identity to its fullest. His attitude was a total assault on the status quo.
Inspired by his life and legacy, the show responds to Mitsuye Yamada’s quote “invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”, sparking a discussion on who controls the narrative and who possesses the authority to tell their stories.
The piece embodies Eastman's unconventional approach to making art across genres and disciplines in a quest for artistic freedom. The performance is led by British Afro-Caribbean vocalist, movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener with original concept and choreography by Dam Van Huynh. Elaine is accompanied by her long-time collaborators The Rolling Calf: Jason Yarde, Neil Charles, Xhosa Cole.
Supported using public funding by The National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Moving Eastman was commissioned by Fruitmarket as part of Deep Time, Fruitmarket’s festival of new music. With further development support from the Barbican, Hellerau - European Centre for the Arts – Dresden, Musical Utopias – The Hague, Britten Pears Arts, Centre 151 and EMProjects.
"Mitchener doesn’t so much dance to the electronic music (...) as become a pulsing embodiment of it, an astonishing fusion of a cappella song, ragged breathing and shaking limbs. Repeating Eastman’s lines about 'emancipating myself from myself' and being 'black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, a homosexual to the fullest', she inhabits him and his questing, blurring and symbiotic approach to different art forms (...)" The Wire
"British Afro-Caribbean singer-dancer Elaine Mitchener doesn’t dance to the music but as it: a possession, an Eastman." AIR MAIL
Previous dates:
27 November 2024 – Fruitmarket - Edinburgh (Premiere)
Part of Deep Time, Fruitmarket's festival of new music
9 January 2025 - Korzo - The Hague
Part of Musical Utopias
3-4 April 2025 - Barbican - London
8 April 2025 - Hellerau - Dresden, Germany
Part of Dresdner Tage der zeitgenössischen Musik (DTzM)
Duration: 55min
Premiere - 19 March 2024 at The Arts Centre - Edge Hill University - Ormskirk
“This is a performance which pushes at the boundaries of what dance can be (...)” ★★★★★ To Do List on Re:birth
Concept: Dam Van Huynh
Choreography: Dam Van Huynh in collaboration with the performers
Composer: Ian Tang
Lighting Design: Patricia Roldán Polo
Costume Design: Emma Lyth
Sound: Michael Picknett
Rehearsal Director: Tommaso Petrolo
Performers: Paul Davies, Laura Kenyon, Wai Shan Vivian Luk, Divija Melally, Ieva Navickaite, Tommaso Petrolo
Created with input from: Marc Krause, King San Lo, Elaine Mitchener, Giacomo Pini, Marley Seville, MORUA, Dance Bridges Festival
Photography: redManhattan Photography
Texts by: Jenny Holzer, Jayne Cortez, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Mitsuye Yamada, Walt Whitman, Bell Hooks, Thich Nhat Hanh, Audre Lorde, Alan Moore, United States Declaration of Independence
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change.
I am changing the things I cannot accept.” Angela Davis
Exquisite Noise honours the art of assembly. Choreographer Dam Van Huynh explores alternative methods of dissent, drawing on noise to embody defiance and celebrating the power of coming together.
Sounds of protest against inequalities take centre stage, creating a unique sensory experience through music, lights and movement. This is a dance between disruption and communion, an invitation to wake up our collective spirit in an act of solidarity and care.
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
With further support from The Arts Centre at Edge Hill University, Pavilion Dance South West and Centre 151
Upcoming performances: Exquisite Noise
Previous dates:
20 February 2024 – Pavilion Dance South West - Bournemouth (Preview)
19 March 2024 - The Arts Centre, Edge Hill University - Ormskirk (Premiere)
19 November 2024 - The Nuffield Theatre - Lancaster Arts
21 November 2024 - University Theatre - Bath Spa Live
4 February 2025 - Exeter Phoenix
7 February 2025 - Old Fire Station - Oxford
Over the past 12 years Tommaso has built an extensive career as a performer and more recently as a maker. Based in the UK since 2016 he has collaborated as ...
Patricia Roldán Polo has designed lighting in the fields of theatre, circus and contemporary dance collaborating with artists and companies such as Empress Stah, Mattress Circus, Van Huynh Company, Katy ...
Concept: Dam Van Huynh
Choreography: Dam Van Huynh in collaboration with Tommaso Petrolo
Performance: Tommaso Petrolo
Composer: Ian Tang
Lighting Design: Patricia Roldán Polo
Costume Design: Emma Lyth
Sound Engineer: Michael Picknett
Photography: Rocio Chacon
Texts by Walt Whitman, Audre Lorde, Pussy Riot, Alok Vaid-Menon (ALOK), Henry David Thoreau
In Realness is an artistic collage of sounds, collected texts, and movement references which stand in resistance of the status quo. Dam Van Huynh, as a queer Vietnamese artist, raises his voice and opposes stereotypes of Asians as being quiet and internal. He embodies through his piece a dissent from prejudices and inequality and its effects on our society.
Desmond Tutu said 'if you are neutral in the face of injustice, you are on the side of the oppressor'. Remembering such words lifts us out of silence and stirs up collective activism and collective care. Individual voices, brought together, create a body of resistance against oppressive norms and behaviours, amplifying our resilience, building unity and communicative power.
Supported by Centre 151
"An exploration of resistance, queer sexuality, and gender politics performed with impressive range and energy by Tommaso Petrolo" Seeing Dance
"a highly captivating, emotional and explicit work that challenges how we situate ourselves within(out) our society." Dance Art Journal
"In reality Dam van Huynh in collaboration with Tommaso Petrolo create a disquieting work of dance/theatre of epic proportions. An extraordinary feat of physical intensity that borders on the operatic." The Latest
“The voice is a physical organ that sits somewhere between mind and body; Van Huynh choreographs for both with such force that Petrolo’s performance is exhausting and uplifting at the same time (…)” Writing about dance
"As a queer Vietnamese artist, I began the work commenting on gender politics and sexuality but as the work developed it became a larger symbol for inequality experienced by many other groups. I reflected further upon this with the understanding that gathering voices through the piece is to acknowledge the importance of strength in unity when faced with inequality." Interview with Dam Van Huynh in Run Riot
Upcoming performances: In Realness
Previous dates:
13-14 May 2022 – Rich Mix - London
12 March 2023 - UfaFabrik - Berlin, Germany
20 May 2023 – Nonsuch Studios - Nottingham
30 November 2023 - The Arts Centre at Edge Hill University - Ormskirk
13 March 2025 - Brighton Dome - Studio Theatre
Part of Undiscpilined, in partnership with South East Dance
19 March 2025 - Colchester Arts Centre
Production pictures by Holly Revell
Originally from France, Laura (she/her) is a London based and international contemporary dancer and yoga teacher with a Flamenco and partner acrobatic background. Laura completed her Dance degree at Kingston ...