{"id":101557,"date":"2024-02-02T13:30:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T18:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=101557"},"modified":"2024-02-02T13:35:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T18:35:02","slug":"preview-independent-dancemakers-naishi-wang-jean-abreu-talk-about-deciphers-coming-to-toronto-february-8-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/02\/02\/preview-independent-dancemakers-naishi-wang-jean-abreu-talk-about-deciphers-coming-to-toronto-february-8-10\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Independent Dancemakers Naishi Wang & Jean Abreu Talk About Deciphers, Coming To Toronto February 8 \u2013 10"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Naishi
L-R: Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu (Photo: Maya Yoncali)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DanceWorks and Harbourfront Centre present Deciphers by Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu, with performances at Toronto\u2019s Harbourfront Centre February 8 to 10. It\u2019ll be the Ontario premiere for the work, presented as part of the Torque contemporary dance series.<\/p>\n

The creative team backing up the dancers includes lighting design by Lucie Bazzo, visual design by Ivy Wang, sound design by Olesia Onykllenko, and dramaturgical advice from Guy Cools and outside eye Ginelle Chagnon.<\/p>\n

The result is a kind of hybrid of dance and theatre that blends movement and rhythmic sequences with multilingual spoken word. In a statement Nathalie Bonjour, Director, Performing Arts at Harbourfront Centre, calls it an \u201cextraordinary use of the body as a tool of linguistic expression\u201d.<\/p>\n

We spoke to dancer\/choreographers Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu about how this unique work came to fruition.<\/p>\n

Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu<\/h2>\n

Naishi Wang was born in Changchun, China, and grew up learning martial arts as well as Chinese classical and folk dance at Jilin College of Art. He emigrated to Toronto in 2004, and studied dance at the Dance Arts Institute (formerly School of Toronto Dance Theatre).<\/p>\n

Jean Abreu is a native of Brazil, and his early life was steeped in the rhythms and dance of that country, a language that informs his work today. Jean moved to London, UK in 1996 in order to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance. He is Artistic Director of Jean Abreu Dance, the company he founded in 2009.<\/p>\n

Deciphers also adds spoken word to the movement and music, inspired by Canadian poet Mark Strand and Brazilian poet Fernando Sabino. The elements come together to examine the ways that immigrants negotiate the complex issues of communicating across not only a language, but a cultural gap.<\/p>\n

While the materials indicate that the work has been in progress since 2020, it turns out the connection between the two artists goes back even farther.<\/p>\n

\"Naisha
Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Interview<\/h3>\n

\u201cDeciphers began with Naishi and I \u2014 I like to joke \u2014 with flirting each other online,\u201d laughs Jean.<\/p>\n

The two had discovered each other\u2019s works via the relatively small world of global contemporary dance, and admired it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started to naturally get drawn to each other’s work.\u201d Officially, he says it was dramaturge Guy Cools who made the official introduction in about 2019. \u201cIt was clear that we wanted to collborate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naishi had been offered a residency in 2020 where they planned on working together, but the meeting was axed because of the onset of the pandemic. The two continued to communicate and collaborate online through the lockdown period on the work. Jean was finally able to come to Canada, specifically Ottawa in the cold winter, in 2021 to meet in person. Through a five-week period, they were able to hammer out the ins and outs of the production.<\/p>\n

That initial project underwent further development and performance at a residency in Nottingham, and another at Dance City at Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK. Throughout, the project was supported by organizations in Canada and the UK. Deciphers had its Canadian premiere at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

From the recent Vancouver performance of Deciphers:<\/p>\n