Announcement: Moi Tran and Bakani Pick-Up Appointed as Curators

Chisenhale Dance are pleased to announce the appointment of two curatorial roles for artist Members: Moi Tran and Bakani Pick-Up.

Encounter Bow

Following on from the success of last year and delays due to COVID, planning is underway for the next iteration of Encounter Bow, due to take place on May 1st 2021. As part of this process, there was a CDS Members call out in February to be Guest Curator of Encounter Bow. After lots of thought and conversations, we were thrilled to select Moi Tran‘s proposal. Moi’s thinking is centred around the act of disturbing the structure and purpose of an archive, and the implications on self agency in terms of reconstituted hierarchies, with a focus on East and South East Asian diaspora communities. These thoughts will arch over the whole of Encounter Bow festival’s programming and commissioning. Encounter Bow is funded by Action for Bow and the Foundation for Future London.

Moi Tran is an award winning Vietnamese/Chinese Multi Disciplinary Artist, Performance maker and Set and Costume designer for Theatre, Film, Dance and Opera. Her work advocates the power of Diaspora space as a site for alternative knowledge , she is founder of East Asian Ticket Club, an engagement platform for the EA/SEA community.

“How do we tune in to sensation?”

In September we announced that CDS would collaborate with The Place on a weekend-long festival titled “How do we tune in to sensation?”, as part of their Spring 2021 programme. It asks, when distance is a necessity, how can dance and choreography find new ways of embracing our senses? As part of this process there was a callout to members, to select someone to join these conversations in a co-curator role. We were really impressed with Bakani Pick-Up’s passionate response and his commitment to inclusion and sensitivity within the selection process. Bakani, Amy Bell, Jessica Greer (The Place) and Es Morgan have been meeting over the last two months to shape the festival’s programme. The festival will take place from 18 – 21 February, and we are excited to announce the artist line-up in the new year.

Bakani Pick-Up is a Choreographer who creates improvisational works centred around practice and methodology on ‘Ways of Being’ within performative structures. Previous work has been supported by Dance4, Arts Council England, Yorkshire Dance, Kala Sangham Arts Centre & Wainsgate Chapel.

Images: Moi Tran by Amit & Naroop; Bakani Pick-Up by Johnny Griffiths Photography.