Belgian-German contemporary dance choreographer Arco Renz — who recently staged Hanoi Stardust with Nguyen Duy Thành, Vũ Ngọc Khải and the Vietnam National Opera Ballet — shares his list of up and coming contemporary dancers in the region whose steps are worth following
Words by Arco Renz ● Image by Lee Starnes
This mini directory of contemporary dancers from Southeast Asia is both very subjective and absolutely incomplete. These five artists are inspiring, exciting individuals whom I met while working in the region, and each of them, in his or her own way, is pursuing a thrilling artistic trajectory.
Each of these artists’ work is fascinating on numerous levels. Their diverse practices reveal a dynamic and multifaceted contemporary dance scene in Southeast Asia.
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Eisa Jocson (Manila, Philippines)
Eisa is a trained visual artist with a dance background in ballet and pole dancing. Her work addresses questions of gender, politics of power and social mobility in the Philippines.
She is an extraordinary performer and her pieces Death of a Pole Dancer and Macho Dancer question our perception of gender and its representations in performance. Eisa’s work is essentially a hybrid, at the crossroad of contemporary dance, performance and visual art. It is confronting, controversial and powerful.
It is very exciting to see Eisa’s performances in the Philippines and her extensive tours of theatres and festivals worldwide. She is developing a unique trajectory in the contemporary dance scene in Manila.
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Daniel Kok (Singapore)
In 2014, I worked with Daniel and Eisa on the pole dance performance Alpha. Daniel is an amazing pole dance champion and a trained visual artist.
With a sharp intelligence, he creates strong physical performances, exploring questions of spectatorship, power relations and gender. Notable works of Daniel are The Gay Romeo, based on a survey of encounters made on a dating website, and Cheerleader of Europe.
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Dtam Thanaphol Virulahkul / Democrazy Theatre Studio (Bangkok/Thailand)
I saw Dtam’s performance Hipster the King in Bangkok last year. It is a subtle, yet critical reflection of the pivotal times that Thailand is currently experiencing. Hipster the King creates an impressive choreographic frame that theatrically stages performers, costumes, music, text and iconography. His work is courageous, challenging and fresh, all at the same time. Dtam’s work shows abundant potential.
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Fitri Setyaningsih (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Fitri combines contemporary dance with visual art and elements stemming from classical Javanese dance, creating an unusual and fascinating hybrid form. Her work is very distinctive in the contemporary dance scene in Indonesia.
Fitri’s strong personality takes her on a path of her own. I remember, in one of her performances, a dance with ten white rabbits on stage of the Gedung Kesenian Theatre in Jakarta.
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Olé Khamchala (Laos/France)
Olé is an astonishing dancer and choreographer from France and Laos. He is a major dynamic force for contemporary dance in Laos. With unyielding generosity, he passes his experience on to younger generations. He is an artist and initiator of contemporary dance in places where opportunities for young talent remain scarce.
For the past 10 years, Olé has been going back and forth between France, where he was born, and Laos, the country of his family. He is active in street dance and contemporary dance alike. In 2010 he founded Fang Mea Khong, the first international contemporary dance festival in Laos.
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Arco Renz continues a 15-year trajectory of creation between Asia and Europe. He just returned from touring Hanoi Stardust in Belgium and Germany and is currently working on EAST, a new solo performance about ‘orientalism’, Western fantasies of the East. EAST will premiere at the Asian Arts Theatre in Gwangju, Korea in October this year.
