British East Asian Choreographers’ Showcase at Greenwich Dance
Over the past year Greenwich Dance (gDA) has been proud to support Step Out Arts, an organisation which promotes East Asian culture through productions and educational projects. As a partner in the British East Asian Choreographers Development Scheme (BEACDS), gDA hosted the culminating showcase in early October 2009, which provided a platform for work in progress by 4 British East Asian dance artists.
BEACDS is a project geared towards the development of emerging choreographers, with funding from Arts Council England. Aware of British East Asian (BEA) underrepresentation in UK’s dance industry, Step Out Arts’ Artistic Director, Jih-Wen Yeh, felt the need to challenge the status quo. She explains “There is a serious lack of encouragement and awareness of opportunities within the BEA dance sector and no significant promotion of choreographic talent. As a result it is difficult for BEA artists to maintain their visibility and stability outside the East Asian community.”
The timeliness of the scheme was illustrated when 25 applications were received from dance artists working in a range of genres from hip hop to bebop jazz to contemporary. Following a selection process Annie Pui Ling Lok, Chisato Minamimura, Khamlane Halsackda and Quang Kien Van were chosen to take part in the project. Each choreographer was offered two weeks of rehearsal space, some funding towards fees or production costs and access to a mentor to support their choreographic process. Greenwich Dance’s role was to contribute to the selection process, offer a sounding board for Step Out Arts regarding the development of the project, provide rehearsal space and a performance space.
This project culminated in two showcase evenings at the University of Bedford and the subsequent week at Greenwich Dance Agency. The showcase at gDA was sold out and proved to be a vibrant and eclectic evening of dance. The audience and sector feedback was overwhelmingly positive, both about the choreography and the importance of the scheme.
Building on the success, Step Out Arts is currently making proposals for a second phase for this project centred around investing in individuals and further contributing to the development of the sector. Watch this space in 2010.