Polyphonic Bodies is a series of collaborative curatorial projects by Erin Li exploring the fluidity and multitude of identities. The event is delivered as part of Erin's Curatorial Fellowship at Whitechapel Gallery.

POLYPHONIC BODIES I

Thu, 1 December 2022, 7:30-9:30pm

Whitechapel Gallery, London

Free entry, click here to book

By its very nature, the art of street dance rejects definition. Constantly evolving and fusing influences from various geographies, street dance represents a continuous migration across histories, a journey between genres in search of endless composite configurations and a fine blend of collectivity and individuality.

Inspired by street dance, Whitechapel Gallery hosts an evening of performances centered around the notion of fluidity. Exploring street dance as an embodiment of the identity in flux, this takeover brings together artists from disparate backgrounds who seamlessly blend sonic and dance styles, including Algo Au, Chandenie Gobardhan, Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Duane Nasis, and Jamal Sterrett. In a series of seamless performances, each flowing into the next, these performers will activate the public spaces in and around Whitechapel Gallery, guiding the audience on a metamorphic journey.

Performance begins at 7.30 and will last roughly 50 minutes, followed by live beats by Ifeoluwa, who be weaving threads among global diasporas and highlighting the connections and histories throughout contemporary sounds.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Algo Au (he/him) is a Hong Kong dance artist based in London. Since 2008, he has undertaken dance training in many places, including Hong Kong, the UK, Germany, and Japan. Since 2011, Au has been working as a professional dancer as well as choreographer at schools, community centres and dance studios. In the past decade, he choreographed many pieces for university dancing societies across Hong Kong. He also performed in a theatre pieceat SDZ LAB 2019 and choreographed for Hong Kong E-side Dance Company in 2021. Au is currently continuing his studies at London Contemporary Dance School

Chandenie Gobardhan (she/they) is a Dutch dancer and choreographer based in London. They completed BA in Contemporary Dance in the Netherlands and moved to the UK for MA in Contemporary Dance Performance (VERVE) at Norther School of Contemporary Dance. With a movement vocabulary enriched by Bharatanatyam, hip-hop and contemporary dance training, Gobardhan experiments with various techniques to build bridges where others might not see the possibility. Gobardhan’s work is typically led by connecting stories and knowledge they have gathered on the path in the Hindoestaanse diaspora. Chandenie has been commissioned by Tate, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, The Place and The Royal Docks. They also worked with artists such as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Botis Seva and House of Absolute.

Duane Nasis (he/they) is a queer Filipino-British multidisciplinary movement artist based in London. With a movement background rooted in London’s thriving ballroom/voguing culture, Duane has explored a diverse range of practices from physical theatre, clowning and cabaret, to contemporary dance, gymnastics, and even lucha libre wrestling. Their unique physical vocabulary is manifested in projects with Sadlers Wells, Rina Sawayama, and Marvel Studios. Most recently, Nasis performed a live response to Mahmoud Khaled’s installation at The Mosaic Rooms, and collaborated on an outdoor film installation with Anthea Hamilton for The Hayward Gallery — both projects exploring themes of queerness & masculinity.

Jamal Sterrett (he/him) is a self-taught dancer and performance artist based in Nottingham. Stemming from bruk up, flexing and ballet dance, Jamal fuses the heightened senses of his Asperger’s with these dance styles to respond to, embody and transmute specific locations. Sterrett’s improvised movements seek to reveal the outer and inner paradigm of spaces, and redefine the relationship between our bodies and the environments.

Chris Zhongtian Yuan (he/they) works with video, sound and performance to examine the ways in which everyday spaces of absence are politicised through sound and storytelling. Yuan will present a sonic and performative continuation of their artist film All Trace Is Gone, No Clamour for a Kiss (2021-22), co-commissioned by FLAMIN and V.O Curations. Through sound, music, intimate conversations and gestural movements, the project explores the thin line between individual and collective histories. The performance is in collaboration with trumpeter Kevin G Davy and artist Ella Frost.

Ifeoluwa (AKA Yewande Adeniran, they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, mentor and academic with a focus on fusing together global drum-heavy sonics, the darker side of UK club music, and abstract left-field techno DJ mixes, leaving club-goers simultaneously dancing and crying in the club.

POLYPHONIC BODIES II

A communal tasting celebrating biodiversity and fermentation, movement and fluidity.

Sat, 10 Dec 2022, 2-5pm

(3 slots: 2-3pm, 3-4pm, 4-5pm)

Asymmetry HQ, 102a Albion Drive, London, E8 4LY

Free entry, click here to book

Curated by Delfina Foundation resident L. Sasha Gora and Curatorial Fellow Erin Li in collaboration with chef Songsoo Kim.

Playing with forms of hospitality and co-existence, this communal tasting aims to nurture a curious yet welcoming social situation that breaks down the boundaries and conventions of the collective meal, which is to say a script of courses, a hierarchy of seating, and a repertoire of flavours organised according to national allegiances.

Polyphonic Bodies II instead serves an edible landscape and invites visitors to graze, “forage”, and freely combine bites, the process of which catalyses connections and conversations related to biodiversity, cultural plurality, the climate crisis, and the generosity of the bacteria that choreographs good health and pleasure.

Please book a ticket to one of the hour-long sessions, starting at 14:00, 15:00, or 16:00.

This event is part of the Delfina Foundation’s 2022 Politics of Food public programme, in collaboration with Asymmetry Art Foundation.

Please note vegetarian and vegan options are available but are limited.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Name SongSoo Kim. Made up of two characters Song is like the English word, and Soo means Life to live with song. It’s all in a name, the song I sing with this body I occupy, I try and observe the things that move me. In the process of meeting myself and others, I have met food as a practice and medium and have been learning what taste is, bitterness, sensing, fermenting, movement, and being moved. In this play, I think of pleasures and desires. Through “tasting” together I’m learning what possibly “taste” could be.