Choy Ka Fai
YISHUN IS BURNING
Shamanism meets Voguing meets Yishun. For Yishun Is Burning, choreographer Choy Ka Fai adapts Singaporean ritual dances for a transcendent, queer solo on a multimedia stage. The dancer Sun Phitthaya Phaefuang (aka Aurora Sun) enters states between ecstasy, trance, and drag, transcending attributions of gender, cultural identity, and religion. Thirty years after the iconic New York documentary Paris Is Burning, this evening combines themes of a globalised world with old and new movement traditions and celebrates the search for (one’s own) spirituality in dance.
On a quest for religious ecstasy, the audience dives into the notorious city of Yishun. Yishun is Singapore’s dystopian suburbia, where hybrid spiritual acts are perpetrated: a suburbia of darkness, a kind of antithesis to the gleaming clean image Singapore cultivates. Singapore has traditionally been known as an authoritarian city state where society is ruled by control and where freedom of speech is non-essential. Yishun Is Burning is a multicultural voguing dance party that traverses the boundaries of gender, race, and religion, inspired by the Singaporean phenomenon of ritual reverence of deities in their struggle against evil. The performance will star Norwegian-Thai dancer Sun Phitthaya Phaefuang aka Aurora Sun, a rising star of the Southeast Asian voguing scene, whose dance will be accompanied by a music performance coming from the Malay band NADA (Rizman Putra and Safuan Johari) from Singapore and Chinese drummer Cheryl Ong.
Choy Ka Fai is a Berlin-based Singaporean artist. His multidisciplinary art practice is located at the intersection of dance, media art, and performance. At the heart of his research is a continuous exploration of the metaphysics of the human body. Through research expeditions, pseudo-scientific experiments, and documentary performances, Ka Fai appropriates technologies and narratives to imagine new futures of the human body. Ka Fai’s projects have been presented in major institutions and festivals worldwide, including Sadler’s Wells (London, UK), ImPulsTanz (Vienna, Austria), Tanzplattform, and Tanz im August (Berlin, Germany). He was a resident artist at tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf (2017–2019) and Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2014–2015). Ka Fai graduated from the Royal College of Art, London, with an M.A. in design interaction.
VISITOR INFORMATION: The piece uses a fog machine, laser light, strobe, and flashing lights. It includes images of a ritual with self-harming acts, which may have a disturbing effect on some viewers. There is a moment of complete darkness. Loud music as well as repetitive sounds are played. The audience area is seated. Early boarding is possible.
*Following the performance on Saturday, October 1st, there will be an artist talk with Choy Ka Fai and Konstgruppen Ful. Moderated by Fariba Mosleh
Pressestimmen
‘A supernatural explorer of dance.’ The New York Times
‘There are numerous different strands in Yishun Is Burning that Choy Kai Fai miraculously manages to combine into fascinating insights into tradition and innovation, ecstatic body experiences, and gender fluidity.’ De Volkskrant
Credits
Concept, documentary, and direction Choy Ka Fai Dramaturgy Tang Fu-Kuen Spiritual presence Kali and Kuan Yin Choreography and dance performance Sun Phitthaya Phaefuang Sound design and musical performance NADA (Rizman Putra & Safuan Johari) and Cheryl Ong 3D visual design and technology Brandon Tay Light design, installation, and technical direction Ray Tseng Visual operator Damjan Šporčić Touring technical director Yap Seok Hui | ARTFACTORY Technical direction Singapore Studio ARTFACTORY Tour manager Tammo Walter Production manager Mara Nedelcu Guest dancers DaDa JV, Lilac, Natika Moonlight, Plenvm Ninja
Yishun Is Burning has been developed with the support of tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf and the Singapore Art Museum. The performances at brut Vienna are supported by the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ International Guest Performance Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The research process was supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore and Kunststiftung NRW.
Dates & Tickets
VISITOR INFORMATION: The piece uses a fog machine, laser light, strobe, and flashing lights. It includes images of a ritual with self-harming acts, which may have a disturbing effect on some viewers. There is a moment of complete darkness. Loud music as well as repetitive sounds are played. The audience area is seated. Early boarding is possible.
*Following the performance on Saturday, October 1st, there will be an artist talk with Choy Ka Fai and Konstgruppen Ful. Moderated by Fariba Mosleh
September 2022
€ 18 / € 14 / € 9 / * Followed by DJ Rasuul
October 2022
€ 18 / € 14 / € 9 / *Following the performance on Saturday, October 1, there will be an artist talk with Choy Ka Fai and Konstgruppen Ful. Moderated by Fariba Mosleh
brut nordwest
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
Downloads
Evening Programme Choy Ka Fai (PDF)