A contemporary dance and shadow puppetry work that explores cosmology, family histories, relationships, Chinese medicine, wellness, food, and fate; illuminating embodied and untold stories, centering on the lived experiences of Chinese Canadian women
Dreamwalker Dance Company presents Toronto’s premiere of Firehorse and Shadow, a co-production with Citadel + Compagnie.
This show exists as a set of stories combining elements of contemporary dance, shadow puppetry, animation, video and theatre. The stories belong to choreographer Andrea Nann whose great-grandmother Mew was ‘sold ’by her family in China and sent to Vancouver as a servant girl in early 1900. Mew gave birth to Nann’s grandmother Lin in Vancouver’s Shanghai Alley in … view more »
Dreamwalker Dance Company presents Toronto’s premiere of Firehorse and Shadow, a co-production with Citadel + Compagnie.
This show exists as a set of stories combining elements of contemporary dance, shadow puppetry, animation, video and theatre. The stories belong to choreographer Andrea Nann whose great-grandmother Mew was ‘sold ’by her family in China and sent to Vancouver as a servant girl in early 1900. Mew gave birth to Nann’s grandmother Lin in Vancouver’s Shanghai Alley in 1912. Although Lin never left Vancouver she was forced to identify as a Chinese citizen when she married a Chinese man. Nann’s mother Bev was born during Canada’s Chinese Exclusion Act. She was taught to value assimilation during times of extreme anti-Chinese attitudes.
Firehorse and Shadow explores cosmology, family histories, relationships, Chinese medicine, wellness, food, and fate. The work illuminates embodied and untold stories, centring on the lived experiences of Chinese Canadian women, while also delving into broader narratives of identity and heritage. Firehorse and Shadow is co-created by choreographer/performer/writer Andrea Nann, shadow artist/performer Annie Katsura Rollins, director/dance-storyteller Sarah Chase, and dramaturge/visual artist Cindy Mochizuki with music by Ben Grossman, animation by Elysha Poirier, and lighting by Echo Zhou (after Jennifer Lennon).
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