VDCM Dance Collective
Tethered
VDCM Dance Collective was formed in 2020 with artists Virginia Duivenvoorden and Kay Huang Barnes. They first connected as colleagues and dance artists at the Karen Jamieson Dance Company in 1990 – 1995. For the past 3 decades, Virginia and Kay have both built their separate practices teaching, choreographing, and directing students and young artists as faculty members at different schools. In 2020, they both came together to form a collective to explore choreography and performance for themselves. VDCM has been supported by The Dance Centre, New Works Dance, North Vancouver Recreation and Culture, and Presentation House. Their works have been performed at the Dance Centre, New Works Dance, Presentation House, and North Vancouver Recreation and Culture. They are currently involved at Artist Residencies at The Dance Centre and New Works Dance in preparation for presentation as part of Dance in Vancouver November 2023.
Tethered
Tethered is comprised of three separate pieces, exploring themes of what binds us: to ourselves, to our environment, and to each other.
Yellow is a piece about namesake and cultural identity. Taking her surname “Huang” which literally means Yellow in the Chinese language, Kay explores aspects of her culture and memories with Cantonese text, with music that her father plays.
Kite was choreographed by Virginia in collaboration with the performer. The performance centers around a character who desires to experience flight through kiting. The journey leads to a transformation from the kite as the object of flight to the human body as the dancer achieves a sense of flight through movement.
Present in Absence is a collaborative performance with the audience. Using structured improvisation, open form, video, and timed beginning and ending, the audience can participate and manipulate the outcome of the dance as it is being performed.
Performance History
Our performance history was from long ago as we are mature artists who are just starting to choreograph and perform again. Kay was one of the featured artist at Asian Heritage Month 2021 for New Works Society with a film and installation. Virginia was featured at the Presentation House Hub in April 2021. Excerpts from our works were part of the showcase at North Vancouver Live and Local. We are presently Artists-In-Residence at the Dance Centre and New Works and will be presented as part of Dance In Vancouver, November 2023.
Project Details
Project created by: Kay Huang Barnes and Virginia Duivenvoorden
Key Collaborators: Yellow: Choreographed and Performed by Kay Huang
Sound Design: John Stockburger
Music: Frank Huang, Nimzo & Hakone, Yu Su
Set Design: Kay Huang Barnes
Kite: Choreographed by Virginia Duivenvoorden
Performed by Brynne Harper
Sound Design: John Stockburger
Music: The Blaze, Luke Howard, Filip Lackovic
Kite Installation in collaboration with Candice Harlkey
Present In Absence:
Concept and Performance: Kay Huang Barnes, Virginia Duivenvoorden
Sound Design: John Stockburger
Audience: General Audience, Cultural stories and roots, Visual Arts, Digital, Online
Length in minutes: A full program consists of three separate works: total 50 – 55 minutes Kite – 13 minutes Present in Absence – 10 minutes Yellow – 30 minutes
Space required: This work is adaptable to theatre and/or outdoors and/or alternate venues
Preparation required:
General technical requirements: Video projector, dance floor, general lighting design, movable props, hung set, amplification with spoken texts.
Availability:
Number of performers on tour including choreographer: 5
Number of support staff on tour: 2
Community Engagement Activities
Tethered has a series of workshops ready to invite community participation and audience engagement. Kite includes workshops to create art for outdoor and indoor installations and art displays connected to the dance. The art projects are kites, windsocks and suncatchers created by the community. The art offers a more multi- sensory experience to the dances and also serves as additional access points to the choreography. This workshop was done prior to outdoor performances that we have held. We have also engaged children and communities by offering workshops on improvisational processes that are used in Present In Absence. Yellow would engage with the more mature audiences as it deals with memories and stories of someone in their senior years. We collect words (different languages of participants) written on small wooden pieces and tie it to a branch to make windchimes to represent moments of their lives. This replicates part of the actual set in Yellow.
In short, Tethered aims to engage with every segment of the community, from the young child to the elderly in the community with art projects, dance workshops, and art installation.
Contact: Kay Huang Barnes, kay@crossmaneuver.com
Website: crossmaneuver.com
Facebook: crossmaneuver
Instagram: crossmaneuver