Photo by Cobie Orger
Carmen Yih and Jiawen Feng
TEXTURE OF ABSENCE: TAI CHI-INFORMED DANCE WORKSHOP
SAT 21 SEP 4.30-5.30PM
$10 AUD + BF
GEELONG WATERFRONT STEAMPACKET GARDENS
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Platform Arts is wheelchair-accessible via our Gheringhap St entrance. Unlocked, accessible bathrooms are available on both ground and first floors.
Some seating will be available. Chairs are stools of various heights, with no back support. Detailed accessibility information can be found here.
For accessibility enquiries, please directly contact us at hello@platformarts.org.au
In this workshop, Jiawen and Carmen will guide you through a gentle reflective movement meditation in the Geelong/Djilang waterfront setting overlooking Corio Bay.
Integrating movement influenced by tai chi and their new dance work Texture of Absence, the workshop will be a gentle and calming experience suitable for all ages. Attendees will be emailed instructions on where to meet. Comfortable, unrestrictive clothing is recommended.
Carmen Yih was a successful applicant for the Platform Arts Performance EOI and will premiere Texture of Absence in the Performance Space with collaborator Jiawen Feng in 2025.
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Carmen Yih (she/her) is an emerging Chinese-Australian dance-artist graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts' (VCA) Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance). Carmen’s practice centres on platforming the unique perspectives and stories of young people of colour, exploring intergenerational tension, self-definition and diaspora experiences through mediums of film, street dance, contemporary dance and new media art. In 2023, Carmen was awarded the Creative Brimbank Be Bold Residency for the development and presentation of a new street-dance theatre work 'M_N'. She has presented works including 'Home' at Union House Theatre, and ‘REGENESIS’ at Amplify: Bridge, Bluestone Church Arts Space, and Club Luv, Alt House. Following her interest in Screendance, Carmen developed ‘一层一层/Layer by Layer’ (2022) and 'Empty Your Plate' (2023) for the 2022 Signal Arts Screen and Sound Commissions and 2023 Blackbird Protostars program. She seconded with L2R Dance and Sydney Dance Company, as well as co-designed Next Wave’s World+ program. As a dancer she has performed in Miet Warlop's One Song Rising (2024), James Batchelor's Gesturing, Weaving, Unfolding (2023), Alleyne Dance’s HOME (2023), and Butterfly Soupe at La Mama's War-rak Banksia Festival (2022). Carmen is a member of Burncity Waack, finding success in the national street dance scene specialising in the 1970s dance style ‘Waacking’. During her time at the VCA, Carmen was awarded the Lionel Gell Foundation Scholarship, VCA Graduate Choreography Development Award and Paul and Donna Dainty Award for her excellence in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance).
=w=(Jiawen/Wendy) (any/all), Naarm-based mover/artist. Jiawen’s movement is a conjure of improv, release-based techniques, Chinese Classical Dance and some grooves. Graduated from BFA (Dance) at VCA, they have in their coursework worked with acclaimed choreographers and artists including Kialea-Nadine Williams, Brianna Kell, Daniel Riley, Gregory Lorenzutti, Carol Brown, Jordine Cornish, Megan Beckwith, Lucy Guerin and Ngioka Bunda-Heath. In their most recent work, "Odd to be beings,” presented in the 2024 Midsumma program at Temperance Hall, Jiawen collaborated with Coco Li, who was their first contemporary dance teacher. This duet, building upon the immersive and introspective qualities of their autobiographical solo "Ode to Being" presented at the Melbourne Fringe 2023, delves into the exploration of relational fluidity and identity. Through the piece, they navigate the significance of shared experiences, weaving a narrative that oscillates between the realms of self-discovery and the essence of connection.
Their experience extends to the intersection of dance and technology, with involvement in Swinburne University's motion capture and volumetric capture projects (2021-2024) and working with Megan Beckwith on "Parallax" at the Castlemaine Fringe 2023, a work integrating vigorous movement score and 3D illusions. Jiawen weaves their identity into their artistic practice, and strives to challenge the norm of the way art conveys to an audience.
