Dumb Instrument Dance rejects ageism and embraces self-acceptance in Cobalt & Crone
Solos from Ziyian Kwan and Shion Skye Carter express their bodies’ comforts and capabilities
Ziyian Kwan in Crone. Photo by David Cooper
Shion Skye Carter in Cobalt. Photo by Lula-Belle Jedynak
Dumb Instrument Dance presents Cobalt & Crone at Morrow from September 20 to October 1 at 7 pm
ZIYIAN KWAN’S CRONE and Shion Skye Carter’s Cobalt are distinct solos stylistically—but emotionally, they both revel in the human experiences of self-discovery, and of feeling at peace in one’s body.
In the upcoming Dumb Instrument Dance double bill, artistic director Kwan works to reject ageist concepts of what her body can and cannot do at 54. First sparked conceptually three years ago when she became menopausal, Crone is Kwan’s rebellion against the fear and vulnerability that come hand-in-hand with aging.
Cobalt, commissioned by Dumb Instrument Dance, brings a similar sense of introspection to the table. Carter moves between ages and identities in an effort to find a home within themself. All in all, says Kwan, the solos prompt questioning, receptivity, and reflection.
“As a cisgender woman, I defy this whole idea of, ‘Oh, after a certain age you’re invisible. You’re beyond your best-before date,’” Kwan says over a Zoom call with Carter. “And certainly as a dancer, there’s already so many things around bodies, and what bodies are supposed to be like; and then as a woman, what your body is supposed to be like, and all the changes that happen. But then I find myself also having to examine my own ageism.”
Shion Skye Carter in Cobalt. Photo by Lula-Belle Jedynak
The pair’s history of collaboration dates back to 2019, when Carter had just graduated from Simon Fraser University. The dancer spent a year shadowing various works by Kwan and Dumb Instrument Dance through an early career-development program.
Kwan also offered mentorship for Carter’s solo Residuals (住み・墨), a Japanese calligraphy-inspired multidisciplinary piece which premiered at the Scotiabank Dance Centre last November. Carter has since collaborated with Dumb Instrument Dance on numerous projects, including Made In Voyage and Spells for Chinatown.
Cobalt, says Carter, began with their love for a striking blue blazer they purchased four years ago (the one they sport in the solo). Over the years, Carter found confidence in the colour, and slowly began collecting more and more cobalt blue pieces—pants, a hat, socks—until they had built a full head-to-toe outfit.
“For me the colour of cobalt blue, and that vibrancy, that lusciousness—and almost this sense of regality, because that bright blue reminds me of royalty a little bit—represents where I strive to get to in how I feel in my body,” Carter shares.
“I’ve been exploring the edges of my gender over the last year and a half, almost two years. And this work has come at such a pivotal time for me to explore myself as a gender-fluid person more outwardly—and to feel what it’s like to walk through not only just everyday life, but also my life as a dance artist with that a bit more at the forefront. And that’s really scary for me. So the fact that I’ve been able to explore that part of myself through this work has been very therapeutic.”
The soundtrack for Cobalt, a pulsing bass guitar-forward combination of electronic synth, piano, and drums, is by Jo Hirabayashi. Stefan Nazarevich, Carter’s creative partner, designed the sumptuous, otherworldly music heard in Crone.
Kwan was initially going to explore the themes in Crone with a group piece she choreographed last year, Rebel Grace. That work ended up embodying a larger sense of rebellion instead, spanning gold short-shorts and artists taking a stand against oppression. Her inquiry around aging in Crone is more personal.
“In this piece, I’m actually looking at how there’s not a lot that I’m striving to attain,” says Kwan. “I’m really just trying to come to terms, in a lot of ways, with the fact that I’m not always okay. I have vulnerability. Because I’ve gotten this far in my life by just being so go-get-’em, and part of age is just going, ‘Okay, actually, I am closer to death now than I am to birth.’”
Cobalt & Crone is rehearsed and performed at Morrow, Dumb Instrument Dance’s cultural space. Kwan says the intimate, unusual setting brings a certain charm and immediacy to the performance. Carter adds that the show’s personal nature is grounds for powerful connection between the artists and the audience.
“Ziyian is a really great representative of someone who’s fearless,” says Carter, “and really just so motivated to not only create work for themselves, but also to cultivate community. And that’s something that I strive to do in my own independent work as well.”
Kwan jumps in: “It’s really Shion’s generation, and people like Shion, who just have their entire lives on the pulse of possibility and revolutionary work. The learning is always so interwoven when we’re in relationship with each other in a meaningful way.”
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