On the Move: National Asian Heritage Celebration

Presented by TD

 

Festival Accès Asie is proud to work with the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (Vancouver) and the Asian Heritage Society of Manitoba (Winnipeg) for On the Move: National Asian Heritage Celebration. A first national showcase dedicated to Asian Canadian heritage.

edition 2021
On the Move: National Asian Heritage Celebration
May 29 — 8:00pm
Free - Online

Description

During the 2nd National Asian Heritage Month Symposium, many participants expressed their desire to develop a national network of collaboration and exchange to strengthen unity between Asian artistic organizations and artists across Canada.

Festival Accès Asie is responding to this call by launching On the Move: National Asian Heritage Celebration based on a collective program bringing together three Canadian cities to celebrate Asian Heritage Month in May 2021.This event will bring together artists from Montreal, Vancouver, and Winnipeg working in the dance, music, and multidisciplinary fields.

On the Move: National Asian Heritage Celebration will be broadcast live on Saturday, May 29 at 8pm. The event will be graciously moderated by Karine Kerr-Gillespie, General Manager of Festival Accès Asie and Jasper Sloan Yip, Coordinator at the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society.

To receive the link, book a free ticket. The event will be bilingual.

Medias

Program

Artists from Montreal

Yemayo | Julio Hong/Le Groupe Herencias

Yemaya is one of the most intelligent and powerful orisha deities. She is the maternal force of life and creation. Can we reduce sexual violence by instilling the characteristics of Yemaya across genders? By projecting four males onto a female deity we find Yemayo. Yemaya masculinized or “Yo” meaning “I” in Spanish.

This subversive group dance performance arose from a contemporary choreography filtered through ballet and traditional dance, music, religion, and daily rituals, Julio Hong questions pervasive notions of masculinity and the contradictions of metro-sexual man. A mutual understanding and shaping of a new equilibrium materialize within this intercultural and intergenerational duality of the sexes.

Indivisible | Nadia Chaney/Le Groupe Herencias

Indivisible is an interdisciplinary interactive performance that arises from stylized animations, neo-traditional musical compositions, contemporary dance, and spoken word poetry. The concept, developed by Nadia Chaney, expresses the theme of an inherent relationship between opposites in a quest for transformation and intimacy. Audiences write or text their impressions during the performance for Nadia, in real time, to remix into lyrical spoken word poetry. Indivisible is a surreal, sublime, and intimate journey that makes transparent the fallacy of irreconcilable differences. We may be broken, torn, and alienated from each other. Indivisible is a testament that we are never apart, never alone, and even our most private dreams matter.

Panj | Himmat Singh Shinhat/Le Groupe Herencias

PANJ is the Punjabi word for five. Punjab means the land of five rivers. The origin of these words is Persian.

PANJ is an interdisciplinary performance that includes original live music, spoken word, text-based narratives, as well as family and archival sound and video recordings and images.

PANJ follows Himmat’s journey to accept the sudden and premature death of his father and the resulting loss of connections to history, culture and identity. In the absence of his father, he turns to his mother, sharing memories to help reconstruct the family history, including the Great Partition of 1947 and its impact on her family.

PANJ explores the connection between water and stillness; unlocking body memories perceived through the five senses, enabling the power to process suffering and trauma to healing. Its deeply personal narrative brings the audience to a place where artistic and therapeutic processes work hand in hand.

PANJ takes the audience through five “movements” in time and space, exploring themes of dislocation, separation and loss, tracing the path of a Punjabi Sikh family through the aftermath of the decolonisation of the British Empire. From the rivers of Punjab, to the banks of Kaniatarowanenneh (the St-Lawrence river), water is the silent witness.

Artists from Vancouver

Vi An | World Music Recording Artist and Film Music Composer

Vi An specializes in spontaneous and intuitive compositions on various Asian long-plucked zithers, including the Japanese koto, Vietnamese đàn tranh, and Chinese zheng instruments. Vi An is self-taught, making her debut in music when she was six years old. Since the age of ten, Vi An has independently produced 25 solo albums, including numerous collaborations with artists, musicians, and theater companies around the world.

Alcvin Ryūzen | Bamboo Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) & Related Arts  

Alcvin Ryūzen Ramos lives on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada, where he teaches, performs, and makes precision jinashi shakuhachi flutes. Born and trained in Japan in the classical Zen Shakuhachi tradition, Alcvin is a genre-bridging artist who transitions between musical genres. He is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist (shamisen, shinobue, shinkin). He is also a recording artist with several traditional and contemporary music CDs to his name. He performs throughout Canada and internationally, and leads the Shakuhachi Roots Pilgrimage to Japan every few years.

Artists from Winnipeg

Bhari Bhari | India School of Dance

This piece is composed of movements from Kathak, an Indian classical dance form. It depicts the relationship between the mischievous Lord Krishna and his love interest Radha. The lyrics describe how Lord Krishna sneaks up on Radha and taunts and teases her, breaking her Matka (water jug) and embarrassing her in front of onlookers.

Dancers Shavira Narrandes and Brittany Young Tenn | Song Bhari Bhari | Singer Shreya Ghoshal | Music Rajeev Mahavir | Lyrics Pt.Birju Maharaj, Tabla Sanjeev Sen, Jeetu Shankar, Hitesh Prasad, Rupak Desai, Malhar Mahavir | Mandolin U-Rajesh | Programmed by Shivam Bagchi | Recorded by Aamair Shaikh-Krishna Studio Mumbai | Mixed and Mastered by Vijay Dayal At Yashraj Studios | Music Label T-Series

 

My New Swag | Great Wall Dance Academy of Canada

My New Swag combine Chinese culture and model dance together.
Great Wall Dance Academy of Canada (GWDAC) is an affiliate of Manitoba Great Wall Performing Arts Inc. GWDAC was established March 2007 and has always been enthusiastic in promoting Chinese culture.

Performers Winnie Pam, Lynn Qiu, Yijie Wang, Zunsheng Yang, Yan Zhang, Lavenia Yuan, Bowen Chen, Carson Chen, Ray Wu, Gary Liu and Julia Zhu | Director and editor Julia Zhu | Videographers Julia Zhu and Carson Chen

Biographies

Le Groupe Herencias

Le Groupe Herencias uses the arts to promote, exchange, and encourage acceptance of diversity in identity, culture, and heritage. They create thought-provoking, publicly-engaged projects and powerful performances that deconstruct common notions of who we are and who we are expected to be. By doing so, they work to inspire the creation of more inclusive societies. This collective is composed of and collaborates with, culturally diverse people of colour (POC) who have experienced trauma, violence, adversity, and/or mental health disorders. They experiment with innovative arts practices to share, learn, and exchange on culture, identity, and heritage to create social change.

Website

Farah Fancy

Farah fuses the arts, therapeutic techniques, and ethnography to reduce shame, and improve self-worth, relevance and resiliency. For 25 years, she has been working with organizations, institutions and communities using the arts and creativity as a tool to resolve structural problems in practice, improve cultural understanding and foster innovation.  Her successes include facilitating programs and workshops for over 10,000 artists and cultural workers, producing over 30 performances, implementing 6 community art projects for social change, co-founding the Dance Movement Therapy Association in Canada and Le Groupe Herencias. Farah promotes a focus on identity, respect and empathy to decolonize ingrained normative behaviors as an indigenous Pakistani (Pathan/Kwadja).

Website

©Alex Tran

Julio Hong

Born in Havana, where he absorbed the rich dance traditions of Cuba, earning a Diploma in Classical Ballet from the National School of Arts (ENA) and in 1994, a Masters degree in Dramaturgy and Theatre from the Superior Institution of Art (ISA). In 1999, Julio joined Compagnie Marie Chouinard, where he danced for 6 years, followed by a year with RUBBERBANDance, 4 years with the popular television show Le Match des Étoiles, and performed in Joe Dassin, Sherazade, Motown and regularly with Cirque du Soleil. Julio then founded the Afro Cuban Association of Montreal and co-founded Le Groupe Herencias. His choreographic style is a fusion of contemporary dance, traditional dance, ballet technique, movements from daily life, and ritual. YemayoOrun SekoThe Aristocrat and Cervantes are only a few of his recent creations.

©Maryse Ulysse

Nadia Chaney

Nadia is an award-winning spoken word poet as well as a community arts facilitator, published poet, musician, creative non-fictionist and an emerging visual artist. Because of her multi-disciplinary interests in the arts some of her favorite projects have included: a music-dance-projection-theatre production called Myrtle Silverspot also for Sistahood (2009); and a painting-music-poetry-science installation A440Hz Electromagnetic Explorations for the Vancouver New Forms Festival (2007). Her visual arts work has included three group shows and a solo show in a café, as well as a five year social practice project of “art manicures.  Nadia is a first generation daughter of Indian parents. She  was born in Saskatoon, grew up in Ottawa, matured in Vancouver and am currently living in Montreal all of which she recognizes as the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples who are its rightful stewards.

Website

©Rob Fairchild

Himmat Singh Shinhat

Himmat is a composer, a professional musician and an interdisciplinary artist of Indian ancestry. His compositions have been used in solo performances, soundtracks for theatre, film, contemporary dance and performance art. Notably, his work has been featured on the CBC national television show “Adrienne Clarkson Presents” as part of the television premiere of “Burning Skin”, a dance performance by choreographer Roger Sinha. His contemporary musical pieces constitute a fusion of his influences and the tensions between them. His work is informed by his education in western classical music; the Sikh religious music, Bollywood soundtracks, Indian classical and folk music that would play in his childhood home; and contemporary popular music.

https://himmatsinghshinhat.com

©Brian Di Croce

Vi An

Vi An specializes in spontaneous and intuitive compositions on various Asian long-plucked zithers, including the Japanese koto, Vietnamese đàn tranh, and Chinese zheng instruments. Vi An is self-taught, making her debut in music when she was six years old. Since the age of ten, Vi An has independently produced 25 solo albums, including numerous collaborations with artists, musicians, and theater companies around the world.

Website 

Bandcamp

Youtube

Instagram

©Vi An Diep

Alcvin Ryūzen Ramos

Alcvin Ryūzen Ramos lives on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada, where he teaches, performs, and makes precision jinashi shakuhachi flutes. Born and trained in Japan in the classical Zen Shakuhachi tradition, Alcvin is a genre-bridging artist who transitions between musical genres. He is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist (shamisen, shinobue, shinkin). He is also a recording artist with several traditional and contemporary music CDs to his name. He performs throughout Canada and internationally, and leads the Shakuhachi Roots Pilgrimage to Japan every few years.

Website

Facebook 

Youtube

Bandcamp

©Noriko-Nasu Tidball

India School of Dance

The India School of Dance, Music & Theatre Inc. was established in 1980. With over 150 students, the school provides lessons in Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Classical Bollywood, and music. It received the First Community Leadership Award presented by the Asian Heritage Society (2019).

Website

Facebook

©Alex Dolynui

Brittany Young Tenn

Brittany Young Tenn and Shavira Narrandes joined the India School for lessons in Kathak, an Indian classical dance style, in 2002 and 2004, respectively. They became two of the first six Kathak dancers to complete an Aradhana, or Indian classical dance graduation, in Manitoba (2009), then continued as instructors in Kathak and Classical Bollywood. Throughout the years, they have participated in various cultural events including Diwali Mela, Folklorama, and Asian Heritage Month. Their competitiveness has awarded them with Gold and Gold Honours from the Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival.

Brittany has also offered her teaching/choreographing experiences to the Indo Caribbean Performing Arts School for 9 years. She holds a B.A. honours degree in Psychology and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree in Clinical Psychology.

Youtube

©Alex Dolynui

Shavira Narrandes

Brittany Young Tenn and Shavira Narrandes joined the India School for lessons in Kathak, an Indian classical dance style, in 2002 and 2004, respectively. They became two of the first six Kathak dancers to complete an Aradhana, or Indian classical dance graduation, in Manitoba (2009), then continued as instructors in Kathak and Classical Bollywood. Throughout the years, they have participated in various cultural events including Diwali Mela, Folklorama, and Asian Heritage Month. Their competitiveness has awarded them with Gold and Gold Honours from the Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival.

Shavira became the first Kathak dancer in Manitoba to complete a Rangmanch Pravesh, a solo graduation (2019), and manages the Kathak department of the India School of Dance. She holds a B.Sc. honours in Genetics, M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, and pursues a higher education in medical sciences.

Youtube

©Alex Dolynui

Great Wall Dance Academy of Canada

GWDAC aims at offering high quality dance classes to help each student develop their passion for dance and reach their full potential. The majority of their dance program will focus on educating dancers to understand and recognize Chinese dance culture, and therefore to establish the esthetics of Chinese dance, and the connection between dance and a healthy life style. They hope to open themselves to possible associations between Chinese dance and western dance; and we also hope to enrich cultural life for the local community by providing different kinds of dance classes and performance opportunities. They invite professional dance teacher from China to teach their students, keep the high standard teaching level.

With

Julio Hong – Yemayo (dance) – Montreal

Nadia Chaney – Indivisible (multidisciplinary) – Montreal

Himmat Singh Shinhat – Panj (multidisciplinary) – Montreal

Le Groupe Herencias / Farah Fancy (producer) – Montreal

India School of Dance – Bhari Bhari (dance) – Winnipeg

Great Wall Dance Academy of Canada – My New Swag (dance) – Winnipeg

Vi An (music) – Vancouver

Alcvin Ryūzen Ramos (music) – Vancouver

edition 2021
On the Move: National Asian Heritage Celebration
May 29 — 8:00pm
Free - Online
in collaboration