Neil Yuen graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2018 with a degree in Contemporary Dance. He has collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Christine Gouzelis, Gabrielle ...
Originally from Mexico, Marely Romero (she/her) is a contemporary dancer, choreographer, educator, and Pilates instructor with over 20 years of experience. Based in the UK since 2022, she has engaged ...
Duration: 50min
Premiered on 23 April 2022 at The House - University of Plymouth
“a swirling portrayal of the exhaustion of exile.” The Guardian
Concept and Choreography: Dam Van Huynh
Sound environment composition: Martyna Poznańska
Vocal improvisations: Elaine Mitchener
Costume Design: Emma Lyth
Lighting Design: Patricia Roldán Polo
Sound Engineer: Michael Picknett
Performers: Paul Davies, Laura Kenyon, Marc Krause, Wai Shan Vivian Luk, Elaine Mitchener, Tommaso Petrolo, Marley Seville
Original cast: Marta Masiero, Ieva Navickaite
Texts by Thich Nhat Hanh, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Mitsuye Yamada, Audre Lorde, Ocean Vuong
Photography: Foteini Christophilopoulou / Brett Lockwood
“Let me begin again.” Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Dam Van Huynh draws upon the words of writers, poets, activists as an awakening to his displaced experience as a child refugee from the Vietnam war. Moving from a state of disorientation into a state of consciousness, Re:birth retraces a personal experience of rediscovery.
The performance unravels a recollection of visual impressions and sensations, a memory book whose pictures and stories long forgotten begin to resurface, a distortion between memories and dreams. Movement responds to a field of light, sound and voice to illude the senses.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
With further support from University of Plymouth and Centre 151
★★★★★ To Do List
“This is a performance which pushes at the boundaries of what dance can be, and there is a thrilling sense of danger in the way the cast (…) allow their bodies to twist and turn with abandon.”
★★★ Guardian
"We’re seeing the confusion and exhaustion of exile, voices drowned out, the disquiet of finding yourself, unwanted, in a new land."
Interviews
London Live
Dam Van Huynh is interviewed on TV by London Live ahead of the London Premiere of Re:birth at The Place.
dance art journal
“Everything about my existence – the fact that I’m speaking through the form of dance and making artwork – is all political because I come from a displacement due to political implications.”
Run Riot
“I think the most important lesson I have learnt through the years is the notion of narrative and re-narrative. To be able to find and narrate my own path and story rather than let others define me, has helped me to liberate my creative thinking, giving me a wider scope of approaches towards making work that interests me (…)”
Upcoming performances: Re:birth
Previous dates:
20 April 2022 – The Old Fire Station – Oxford
23 April 2022 - The House - University of Plymouth
25 April 2022 – Exeter Phoenix
27 April 2022 – Colchester Arts Centre
30 November 2022 - Lancaster Arts
23 March 2023 - The Arts Centre, Edge Hill Universisty
10-11 November 2023 - 3:3 Våningen - Gothenburg, Sweden
Part of Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art
14 November 2023 - The Place, London
Winner of the Asian Arts Award for Best Direction 2018
★★★★ The Observer
"We, and the dancers are forcefully confronted with our frailty, but also, ultimately, with our capacity for regeneration. Life goes on."
Feature in the Guardian
"throughout Dep, I am on the edge of my seat."
Production pictures by Brett Lockwood
Duration: 18min
Premiere - 8 December 2023 at Lyric Theatre, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Concept and Choreography: Dam Van Huynh
Rehearsal Director: Leila McMillan
Performers: Academy Dance Ensemble
Composer: Ian Tang
Set & Costume Designer: Kitty Kong Hiu-kwan
Lighting Designer: Paul Wong Tsz-chung
Sound Designer: Kyle Li Ka-shing
Video Designer: Dan Fong
Production Manager: Priscilla Tsang Pik-kwan
Photography: Tony Luk
Commissioned and produced by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, School of Dance
Life in this world loops between what could be sensed as reality and what could be fictitious. Synthetic is a transcendental journey taking us through an alternate otherworldly space, venturing into a vividly hyper artificial world. Responding to the overload of the senses and hallucinatory visions induced by this fabricated environment, the movement turns into a ritual, eventually plunging us in a deep state of meditation.
Duration: 55min
Premiered on 2 June 2017 at Rich Mix - London
"Pina Bausch meets Bill Viola, then along comes Dam Van Huynh. An intense, beautiful and profound work once seen never forgotten."
- Eighteen London
Choreography: Dam Van Huynh
Music: Martyna Poznańska
Lighting: Antony Hateley
Photography: Pari Naderi, Brendan Bell, Barry Lewis
Performed by: Paul Davies, Marc Krause, Marta Masiero, Ieva Navickaite, Tommaso Petrolo, Marley Seville
“The living need light and the dead need music” - Vietnamese proverb
Đẹp is the Vietnamese word for beautiful. With his latest dance work, the UK based choreographer Dam Van Huynh explores influences from his South East Asian heritage. In Vietnamese culture, death is also a form of rebirth. When a person dies, the family and community enact rituals that will enable the deceased to pass into another realm, a higher state of being.
The work sees a shift in Van Huynh's movement language as it delves ever deeper into the nature of the human condition. The dancers in ĐẸP are nude for a purpose. Fragile and vulnerable, their nudity literally strips them bare. Disrobed, free of distraction, their movement begins at the point where the mind transcends the physical self. Amplified and tracked by Martyna Poznanska's numinous score, the movement in ĐẸP invites the audience to let go, reaching ever closer to the feeling of being alive.
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
With further support by Centre 151, Citymoves Dance Agency, Canterbury Christ Church University
Winner of the Asian Arts Award for Best Direction 2018
★★★★ The Observer
"We, and the dancers are forcefully confronted with our frailty, but also, ultimately, with our capacity for regeneration. Life goes on."
★★★★ Seeing Dance
"A powerful work with a terrible beauty all of its own."
★★★★ Broadway Baby
"A raw and visceral production that transcends the need for verbal communication, Dep looks behind closed doors and stands defiantly in its appreciation of human fragility."
Feature in the Guardian
"throughout Dep, I am on the edge of my seat."
Upcoming Performances: ĐẸP
Previous dates:
2 & 3 June 2017 – Premiere, Rich Mix London
9 November 2017 – Homotopia Festival, Liverpool
25 & 26 November 2017 – Centro Cultural Los Talleres, Mexico City
7-9 December 2017 – Teatro Ocampo, Cuernavaca – Mexico
3 February 2018 – Canterbury Chirst Church University
3-18 August 2018 – ZOO Southside, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
24-25 Aug 2018 – 3:e Våningen, Gothenburg Dance & Theatre Festival - Sweden
11-12 October 2018 - The Lemon Tree, DanceLive Festival, Aberdeen - Scotland
28 February 2019 - Axis Arts Centre, Crewe
6 March 2019 - Lancaster Arts, Lancaster
13 March 2019 - Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester
14 March 2019 - Exeter Phoenix, Exeter
21 March 2019 - The Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk
3-4 May 2019 - Festival del Silenzio, Milan - Italy
Duration: 30min
Premiere 3-4 July 2021 at Hat Fair - Winchester
A collaboration between Etta Ermini Dance Theatre & Van Huynh Company
Direction: Etta Ermini, Dam Van Huynh
Dramaturgy: Etta Ermini
Choreography: Dam Van Huynh
Dance Captain: Tommaso Petrolo
Costumes and Set: Emma Lyth
Music Arrangement: Tommaso Petrolo
Performers: Hugh Cho, Paul Davies, Laura Kenyon, Tommaso Petrolo, Kennet Robertsen, Xanthe Wilson
Photography: Foteini Christophilopoulou
Glam is a 30min vibrant dance and circus cabaret, a humorous outdoor street performance celebrating fabulousness. Audience members are encouraged to join in the fun to dance with the cast in this gloriously fast paced show of acrobatics, hand to hand, disco, feathers, glitter and glamorous make-up!
This colourful performance highlights the power of bringing people together through dance, popular music and invites each of us to celebrate the most fabulous part of ourselves. Inspired by club culture and the journey of the LGBTQ+ community, Glam is accessible to all ages and backgrounds.
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
With further support from Hat Fair, Canterbury Christ Church University and Centre 151
Feedback
“In a surprise to no one, I loved Glam! It kicked out the joy we have all been missing.” Audience member
“I hope that you caught a glimpse of the sheer joy the show brought to our audiences – of all ages. It was definitely one of the hits of the festival.” Andrew Loretto, Hat Fair and Playmakers Director
“Today’s Hat Fair highlight: Etta Ermini and Van Huynh Company’s wonderful Glam. Somewhere between dance, comedy, theatre, acrobatics, drag and tumbling. Absolutely wonderful.” Audience member
“Glam was out of this world!! Yes to all the queens out there. Thank you for being a powerful voice!” Audience member
Upcoming performances: Glam
Previous dates:
3-4 July 2021 - Premiere, Hat Fair - Winchester
11 September 2021 - Whirligig, Theatre Orchard - Weston-super-Mare
26 September 2021 - Journeys – Festival of Dance, De La Warr Pavilion Terrace - Bexhill-on-Sea
10 October 2021 - MÓTUS, Middleton Hall, Centre MK - Milton Keynes
11 June 2022 - White River Place, St Austell - Presented by Carn to Cove
18 June 2022 - Ipswich Waterfront - Presented by Suffolk Pride
9 -10 July 2022 - Mouth of the Tyne Festival, Tynemouth
29-30 July 2022 - Waterside Plaza - Part of Refract, Sale - Trafford
4 March 2023 - Dancin’ Oxford Spring Dance Festival
8 July 2023 - Bourne Free - Presented by Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth
Piece for Vocalist, Dancers and Music Ensemble
Duration: 60min
Premiered on 16 October 2020 at Realschule, große Sporthalle – Donaueschingen, Germany
Duration: 20min
Premiered on 18 November 2016 at HKAPA Lyric Theatre - Hong Kong
Choreography: Dam Van Huynh
Music: Martyna Poznańska
Lighting: Alice Kwong
Costume Designer: Stacy Ip Wing-kwan
Set Designer: Stephanie Lee
Performed by: HKAPA Ensemble
Under this weight is part of Dam Van Huynh's series of works in which he explores the many facets of the self: the physical form and the fragile self, stripped of inhibitions. This piece sees a shift in the artist’s choreographic language delving into universally shared themes on the human condition. Under this weight exposes human reactions when under pressure through expressionistic gestures and emotional form, be it a mental or physical pressure: endurance, resistance, surrender. The work displays a continuous shift between equal forces creating an intense and surreal atmosphere.
Commissioned by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Previous dates:
18-19 November 2016 – HKAPA Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong
9-10 February 2017 – The Place Theatre, London, UK
13 June 2017 - The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, UK
25 August 2017 - G.D. Birla Sabhagar, Kolkata, India
8-11 November 2018 - Boston Conservatory Theater, USA
9, 10, 16 November 2018 - Booker T. Washington HSPVA, USA
Under This Weight (Duet)
24 August 2017 - G.D. Birla Sabhagar, Kolkata, India
14 November 2017, Teatro OCampo, Festival Morelos Tierra de Encuentro, Cuernavaca, Mexico
15 November 2017 – Teatro Complejo Cultural BUAP, Festival Morelos Tierra de Encuentro, Puebla, Mexico
19 November 2017 – Centro Cultural Teopanzolco, Festival Morelos Tierra de Encuentro, Cuernavaca, Mexico
27 September 2018 - Shanghai Magnolia Theatre, Dance Stages Festival, China
Duration: 10min
Premiered on 24 February 2017 at Institute of Contemporary Arts - London
Part of Various Stages Festival
Commissioned by Mahogany Opera
Director/Choreographer – Dam Van Huynh
Composer – Dai Fujikura
Puppeteer – Oliver James Hymans
Vocalist – Elaine Mitchener
Dancer – Tommaso Petrolo
Inspired by Vietnamese water puppetry, Mưa is a ‘movement opera’ turning an age-old practice into a modern form. Múa rối nước, literally ‘making puppets dance on water’, is a tradition dating back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam.
Setting the space for Mưa is a miniaturised theatre filled with water. The characters appear under different identities as performers, puppets or apparitions.
The people who created water puppetry were farmers: when the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of play. Such tradition is deep rooted in Vietnamese popular culture evoking themes of countryside.
This is the backdrop of Mưa, looking at a world long gone from our 21st-century perspective. As the world changes and evolves, artists and scientists find new ways to understand it. Mưa endeavours to examine life experience through music, movement and a 1,000 year-old tradition originated in the deepest rural areas of Vietnam.
