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borneoco

During July 2009 (1-12), Borneoco will once again pursue exciting forms of collaboration with JULIDANS! The 19th edition of this edgy international dance festival gives you the chance to see two versions of the Living Dance Studio’s most recent work “Memory.” As objects, narratives, and bodies perform their acts of remembrance, the piece explores the power of memory to bridge the gap between past and present. On July 10, a 60 minute version is to be presented, while the full 8 hour piece will be performed on July 11.

Prior to the July 10 performance of “Memory,” Wu Wenguang, co-founder of the Living Dance Studio, will participate in the Dinner Stories series. Come and enjoy an evening of insightful discussion and provocative performance as Mr. Wu shares his thoughts on the independent art scene in China and reflects on his own work as a documentary filmmaker.

We are also pleased to announce that Robyn Orlin joins us from South Africa for Dinner Stories on July 6. Both events begin at 18.30 in the Foyer of the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam.

2009’s JULIDANS will also see a continuation of the Artists’ Lab program. From July 6-9, young dance makers from different cultures and backgrounds convene to collaborate and explore the complexity of inter-cultural exchange and dialogue. This year’s artists’ lab will be facilitated by Bertha Bermudez (Emio Greco| PC) and will be housed in Amsterdam’s new Bijlmer Parktheater.

cultureXpress

2009 also promises to be a busy and productive year for cultureXpress.

In May we visited Chongqing, the biggest city in the world (32 million inhabitants!), where Ni Kun and his collaborators promote independent art in their Organhaus Art Space. We are very pleased with this newly established cooperation and plan to bring Cinedans and a Dutch performance to Organhaus in the second half of this year.

We are presenting 2movedancecompany’s return to Guangzhou. This year, they will teach at the Guangdong Dance Camp from July 12-23 and perform at the 6th Guangdong Modern Dance Festival.

We are also organizing a Master class Contemporary Dutch Dance in cooperation with Beijing Normal University and with support of the Netherlands China Arts Foundation and the Netherlands Embassy. The program, which will last from August 17-29, features an impressive array of teachers and choreographers: Katie Duck, Tom Koch, Leine & Roebana, Emio Greco| PC, and Cinedans.

Of course cultureXpress is again co-producing the Crossing (Beijing), Fringe (Shanghai), and Crossing.Kunming (Kunming) festivals. The action begins around September 25 and lasts until October 20. We are proud to present several Dutch performers who will participate in this year’s program: Boukje Schweigman and Ann van den Broek in Beijing and Shanghai, 2movedancecompany in Kunming; anoukvandijkdc in Shanghai, and Chongqing; and Cinedans at all sites!

Crossing, Fringe, and Crossing.Kunming will also feature works by 4 independent Chinese artists who participated in the Young Choreographers Project 2009.Of the 8 choreographers who took part in the YCP this year, 4 were chosen to further develop their pieces with the help of Katie Duck and Tian Gebing. Gong Zhonghui (“Village’s Doctor”), Lei Yan (“A Reality That Dreams Cannot Capture”), Jiang Fan (“Battle”), and Zhang Mengqi (“Self-portrait and Dialogue with My Mother”) will present revised versions of works that debuted during the 2009 May Festival. 2009’s May Festival provided all of this year’s YCP participants with the space and opportunity to present their new pieces and receive feedback from their audiences, their mentors, and current and former members of the YCP. This year’s mentors, Tian Gebing (Paper Tiger) and Zhang Xian (Zuhe Niao), offered advice and counsel as these young independent artists developed inventive ways of expressing their ideas and themselves.

The YCP is part of the capacity building program in contemporary dance theatre & documentary film making in Caochangdi Workstation, one of cultureXpress'core activities. This program is funded by the DOEN Foundation

DOEN logo

DOEN Foundation supports cultureXpress with revenues from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, because with their project Living Dance Studio they give a boost to the development of contemporary dance and theatre in China!

In December 2009 André Gingras will wrap up the presentations of Dutch Dance in 7 Chinese cities with performances in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

The Dutch Dance program 2009 is supported by the Netherlands China Arts Foundation, the Netherlands Fund for Performing Arts+ and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

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