Pán
A production by T.H.E Dance Company, choreographed by Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Kuik Swee Boon and Resident Choreographer Kim Jae Duk.
Alluding to both choreographers’ cultural roots, ‘盤’ is a word commonly used by Mandarin-speaking cultures around the world, that also exists in the native vocabularies of the Koreans, Japanese and Vietnamese. Represented in its traditional form, the Mandarin title《盤》draws upon the allegorical Chinese creation myth ‘Pangu’, a fabled being whose colossal body fragments to transform into all elements of nature. The tale of ‘Pangu’ serves as a starting point to investigate the notion of transculturation – as both a concept and present-day reality. Gathering the voices of different collaborators,《盤》Pán sets out to uncover if a shared positionality can be fashioned for our current times.
The work echoes the playful imagery found in the Chinese character’s homophonic variants – ‘pán’ being the pin-yin romanisation of ‘盤’ and doubling up as its English title: a serving bowl, a large boulder, the crouched intensity of a giant feline, a coiling dragon.
These evocative meanings intertwine with Kuik’s explorative research, beginning in 2018, of the twin ideas of transculturation and positionality. Through《盤》Pán, Kuik urges the viewer to contemplate the deeper implications of the concept coined by Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz in 1940:
Loosely defined, transculturation is the process of a continual merging and converging of cultures, where either side may stand to lose or gain its resident properties, or where both sides become enriched by a broad absorption of new and innovative elements. Consequent outcomes include neo-culturation (cultural renewal or regeneration) or de-culturation (cultural shrinkage).
The most striking feature of transculturation is the absence of any preconception regarding the evolutionary course that cultural transmogrification should take. The notion of positionality occupies this grey zone.
Moving from the abstract to the familiar, it is here where《盤》Pán hopes to advance new possibilities for the inclusion of diverse audiences and artists with disabilities.
Created in collaboration with award-winning music artist Wang Yu-jun, lighting and spatial designer Adrian Tan, costume designer Loo An Ni and Access Path Productions, and commissioned by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre for the Cultural Extravaganza Festival 2021, the performance will be hosted and co-performed by Wheelsmith (Danial Bawthan) and Tung Ka Wai.
For patrons who may require additional support to access the performance, live captioning and audio description are now available for both real-time livestream shows.
Accessibility to the audio description service will be through an app, downloaded on your own devices. You may contact T.H.E Dance Company’s accessibility partner Access Path Productions at hello@accesspathproductions.com for any enquiries or for more information about accessibility support.
NOTICE
In light of the latest announcements on the heightened measures, our physical shows on 22 and 23 May 2021 are cancelled. All affected patrons will be informed by SISTIC on the next course of action. We hope that everyone will stay safe and enjoy our programmes from the comforts of your home instead.
An excerpt of the show will still be available via SISTIC On Demand from 30 May to 24 June.
Onsite (CANCELLED)
Cat 1: $25 per ticket via SISTIC
Cat 2: $20 per ticket via SISTIC
Real-time Livestream (AVAILABLE)
SISTIC Livestreaming: $12 per ticket
Online – An Excerpt of the Full Production (30 May – 24 Jun 2021) (AVAILABLE)
SISTIC On Demand: Pay-As-You-Wish