Naishi Wang's work

Eyes, wide open

Creation in progress

Photo by Ivy Wang

How do we navigate a world where every action feels observed?

Photo by Ivy Wang

Concept. Naishi Wang & Ivy Wang
Choreography. Naishi Wang in collaboration with dancers
Performers. Clarke Blair, Jessica Mak, Lukas Malkowski & Naishi Wang
Music. Antoine Berthiaume
Dramaturgic Advice & Visual Design. Ivy Wang
Dramaturgic Advice. Guy Cools
Producer. Kevin Matthew Wong
Administrative Support & Understudy. Juliette Coleman
Management. Dance Umbrella of Ontario

Eyes, wide open has development support from TO Live, Xing Dance Studio and CITADEL + COMPAGNIE. We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Concil & Laboratory of artistic intelligence

Special thanks to the dance artists who have contributed to the work: Katherine Semchuk, Miyeko Ferguson, Sonja Boretski, Ann Trepanier and Judy Luo

Deciphers

International collaboration

Photo by Maya Yoncali

Deciphers is a compelling physical performance bringing together elements of Chinese Folk Dance, Brazilian dance styles, spoken word, breath, and ink on paper to explore translation. The various mediums create and question complexities of communication through the lens of understanding and misunderstanding.

Co-performers and choreographers, Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu, use the stage as their blank canvas highlighting the body as a primal source for communication and carrier of meaning. Deciphers addresses translation as a linguistic phenomenon centering the immigrant experience.

Photo by Maya Yoncali

Choreography and Performed. Naishi Wang & Jean Abreu
Lighting Design. Lucie Bazzo
Visual Design. Ivy Wang
Composer. Olesia Onykiienko
Dramaturgic Advice. Guy Cools
Rehearsal Director. Xing Bang Fu
Outside Eye. Ginelle Chagnon
Voice Coach. Fides Krucker
Access Consultant. Zed Lightheart
Techical Director. (Canada) Emerson Kafarowski
Techical Director. (UK) Cath Cullinane
Stage Manager/Technical Assistant. A.J. Morra
PR and Marketing. Diagonal Dance
Management. (Canada) Robert Sauvey - Dance Umbrella of Ontario
Management. (UK) Michael Peter Johnson - Jean Abreu Dance

Partners in Canada: The CanDance Network (Toronto) + National Arts Centre (Ottawa) + Harbourfront Centre (Toronto) + MAI Montréal, Arts interculturels (Montréal) + PuSh Festival (Vancouver) + DanceWorks (Toronto) + New Works (Vancouver) + Citadel (Toronto)

Partners in UK: Fabric Dance (Birmingham & Nottingham) + Dance City (Newcastle) + Brighton Dome (Brighton) + South East Dance (Brighton) + Towner Gallery (Eastbourne)

Deciphers is supported and funded by: the National Arts Centre (NAC) Visiting Dance Artist programme + The Candance Network small-scale creation fund + Canada Council for the Arts + Performing Arts Technical Residency programme at Harbourfront Center, Toronto + PuSh walk special podcast + Toronto Arts Council + Ontario Arts Council + Arts Council England + Canadian High Commission UK

Face to Face

A duet work

Photo by Ivy Wang

In even the simplest face-to-face communication, a multitude of factors work in concert to deliver an intention - facial expressions, body movements/gestures, eye contact, tone of voice, silence, distance or sometimes even touch. Every moment is fleeting with layers of emotions hidden behind ephemeral thoughts and a constant flux of body language.

“Face to Face” is a conceptual dance/body theatre duet - also a form of communication. This project explores the complexity of human emotions during and behind communication. How do we identify an emotion? How deep do emotions go?

Photo by Ivy Wang

Concept, choreographer and performed. Naishi Wang
Created with & perform by. Naishi Wang & Lukas Malkowski
Concept, dramaturgy & video design. Ivy Wang
Assistant of video Design. Henry Mak
Music and sound design. Wen Yang Ho
Lighting design. Chris Malkowski
Outside eye. Ginelle Chagnon
Costume design. Adam X
Stage management. A.J. Morra
Associate lighting designer/Tech director. Emerson Kafarowski
Management. Dance Umbrella of Ontario

“A poem about communication and the countless pathways taken by our bodies to express ourselves, Face to Face draws inspiration from body language to create a gentle yet profoundly intense duet”

FTA - Festival TransAmériques

Face to face is a co-production by Festival TransAmériques, and CITADEL + COMPAGNIE. We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Concil,

Taking Breath

A solo dance performance

Photo by Francesca Chudnoff

Plastic waste. Climate change. Shortage of fossil fuels. Human consumption. Loss of biodiversity. Marine Life. These are often at the forefront in discussions regarding our impact on the environment. Even when we talk about air, we are concerned about carbon emissions and the consequences such as global warming, melting ice caps and the ozone. Seldom is clean breathable air discussed as it is. Will we run out of breathable air?

Breathing - an innate action of taking in air and expelling it from the lungs.“Taking Breath” brings the subconscious to the conscious, the passive to the active; questioning how we have taken breathing and the air we breathe, for granted. The piece is a choreographic inquiry exploring the multiple facets of breathing in our lives - What is it like without breathing? What is it like with too much breathing? How does breathing affect movement? How does breathing affect our thoughts? When does breathing start to mean something? When does breathing become communication? When does breathing start to matter? When will air start to matter to us?

Photo by Francesca Chudnoff

Concept and choreographer. Naishi Wang
Performer. Naishi Wang
Outside eye. Paul-André Fortier & Ginelle Chagnon
Dramaturgy. Francoise Hüsges & Ivy Wang
Light design. Ivy Wang
Management by. Dance Umbrella of Ontario

"Naishi Wang marries subconscious and conscious, passive and active, and challenges the way we take the air we breathe for granted."

Theatre.quebec

Performing Taking Breath, Naishi Wang received a 2018 Dora award nomination - Dance Division, for Outstanding Performance. Taking Breath acknowledges the support of Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Concil