Vancouver International Dance Festival presents solo works by Conan Amok and Tony Chong, March 6 to 9

Amok showcases butoh work The Folds, while Chong dances Le Collectif RNTF’s multidisciplinary piece Invisible 无形

SPONSORED POST BY Vancouver International Dance Festival

Invisible无形.

The 24th annual Vancouver International Dance Festival runs from February 25 to March 9, featuring nine different artists from the global dance scene.

Dancer-choreographer Tony Chong performs Le Collectif RNTF’s solo work Invisible 无形 at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre from March 6 to 9 at 6:30 pm.

Invisible无形 is a poem of movement within a powerful and visually stunning multidisciplinary landscape. This 50-minute meditative journey incorporates the magic of lasers and mylar, plunging audiences into multiple dimensions of fragmentation. Co-directed by Carol Prieur, the self-reflective voyage takes the viewer into the surrealistic mindset of an individual’s fight to be seen or represented as a complete being.

Abstractly inspired by Bruce Lee’s “Hall of Mirrors” in his film Enter the Dragon, Invisible无形 is Chong’s personal response and reflection to how he continues to navigate within a systemic cultural in-existence. The work features compositions and sound design by Jérôme Guilleaume, and lighting design by Chantal Labonte.

Chong is a multifaceted artist, born and raised in Vancouver, who has been living in Montreal since 1993. His experience as assistant artistic director for Cirque du Soleil’s Totem from 2018-19 paved the way for launching the multidisciplinary performance company Le Collectif RNTF (Remember Not To Forget) with Prieur.

The Folds. Photo by Tamás Márkos

Elsewhere at the festival on the same dates, Tokyo, Japan-based dancer-director-choreographer Conan Amok presents his solo butoh work The Folds at the Annex at 8 pm.

With the theme of transformation, The Folds allows time, space, and body to form layers of consciousness and perspective that fold over each other. They twist, distort, and sometimes even collapse. With slight convulsions, Amok’s corpse stands and stares at itself.

Featuring music by composer Hurleyzone Amida, sacredness and vulgarity run rampant at each turn. Amok’s choreography is a reference to the essence of physical expression—the transformation of the human. Developed while Amok was understudying his master Akaji Maro during his 11 years as a member of Dairakudakan, The Folds is both strong and delicate. The flow of power toward exhaustion repeatedly ruptures in small pieces within a vacuum state.

To see the full lineup of festival events and purchase tickets, visit VIDF.

Post sponsored by Vancouver International Dance Festival.