In conversation with Yvonne Ng, Artistic Director of the 2023 dance: made in canada Festival
Yvonne Ng, Artistic Director and creative instigator of tiger princess dance projects, encourages audiences of her biennial dance: made in canada / fait au canada (d:mic/fac) Festival to view the 2023 programme as an “invitation to see and know yourself, and the world, differently”.
Running August 16 – 20 at the Betty Oliphant Theatre, the five-day festival of contemporary Canadian dance offers extensive opportunity for such exploration and self-reflection. With the aim to expand contemporary perspectives and compositions – and showcase homegrown talent – d:mic/fac Festival 2023 presents a diverse program of performances and workshops across three pillars:
- Three mainstage selections, co-curated with guest artists Robert Binet and Santee Smith: the Morrison Series, the Binet Series and the Smith Series
- The lottery-drawn program What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG), and
- Arts Encounters, a multi-arts festival component that includes film, photography, literary arts, site-specific works, and a podcast series by dance professionals working in other disciplines.
Ng, an award-winning dancer, choreographer, presenter, and arts educator of Peranakan Chinese heritage, was born in Singapore. (Read the interview with Ng about Wei here.) Her dance journey began under the guidance of Madam Goh Soo Khim at the Singapore Ballet Academy. After relocating to Canada in the late 1980s, she earned her Honours BFA from York University. After co-founding the dance company Dance Allegro while completing her degree, she became a sought-after artist in Toronto’s contemporary dance scene. As the Artistic Director and creative force behind tiger princess dance projects since 1996, she has received numerous honours, including the 2022 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence, the 2017 Muriel Sherrin Award, the 2016 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, and the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts – New Talent Award in 2007. Just ahead of the d:mic/fac Festival, Ng shares her insights and thoughts on the festival’s origins, its significance, and how her personal journey has informed her art.
When asked about the inspiration and personal significance of dance: made in canada / fait au canada (d:mic/fac), a reflective Ng revisits her career trajectory. “Early on in my career, I focused on performance, honing my skills around what all of that meant: being a collaborative artist, originating material for a choreographer, and so on. And that’s when I realized I also had the interest in producing.” When she acted on that desire and “initiated d:mic/fac, I was a decade into my performing career, and a number of different elements were orbiting. There was a gap of performance opportunities for mid-level artists. I wanted to pay forward the opportunities that I had received in my career. I had, by that point, self-produced a couple of my own productions, so I knew I had developed a bit of a skill set.”
Ng stresses that her path has been more intuitive than deliberate: “I certainly never had a master plan with a carefully laid out timeline. My dance practice includes Open Source Forms, which have concepts of letting go – and, in doing so, giving space for discovery. And I try (though not always successfully) to do that in other parts of my life.”
Looking ahead to d:mic/fac 2023, Ng is excited about the specific program, as well as the always-amazing experience of witnessing dance live: “Having the opportunity to see dance unfold before your eyes in a live setting is its own special thing: experiencing the exchange of energy from performers to audience, and back.” The pandemic, she reveals, has played a large role in shaping the program: “When COVID hit in the spring of 2020, we had already curated for our 2021 season, but of course, as we all know, there were cancellations. We made a decision to honor our 2021 commitments, as curation is not only a selection of works but its guardianship. And we felt that this was fully in line with one of the central foundations of our festival – to extend the life of Canadian dance works.”
As our conversation shifts towards the post-pandemic dance landscape, Ng hesitates to predict new trends or themes with certainty. “Answering this question would make me a Sooth Sayer,” she smiles. “I think it’s still too early to tell. I believe it will take a significant period (10-years or so) for us to really understand how dance has changed.”
Invited to speak on a more personal level, Ng is initially coy: “Ah! The things that folks don’t know about me, some of which ground me. So . . . I guess I am not sharing that. :)” After a pause, she offers that “I am fundamentally an introvert”, then gets serious: “Another thing I will share (and it is something that informs my work and has shaped me, for better or for worse) and happened a long time ago, is that I was in a really bad marriage to a Canadian when I first came to Canada. Strangled, sexually assaulted, police visits, couch surfing – and the shame that led to an alienation from the people I was dancing with.” For a time, she hid the outward evidence of her abuse, ascribing the bruises on her body to rehearsals. But eventually, perceptive friends caught on: “I’m thankful for the friends who had the courage to question my deceptions.”
Ng’s personal journey – and her dedication to fostering a platform for Canadian dance through dance: made in canada / fait au canada (d: min/fac) Festival – reflect her passion, resilience, and commitment to the arts community. And her parting words should be a spur, a balm, and an invitation to artists and audiences everywhere:
Movement is a human right.
We are all born with natural grace.
Art should be celebrated.
dance: made in canada / fait au canada (d: min/fac) Festival runs August 16 – 20, 2023. Reserve tickets online here.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesayarts Magazine, 2023
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