Opening in a subtle wash from a single white spotlight, Siqi CHEN sits motionless, back turned, enveloped in a luminous veil. Accompanied by the haunting resonance of camel bells, she appears as an ethereal, timeless figure. So begins Witness, a compact 25-minute solo presented at the Camden Fringe that attempts to translate the static heritage of the Silk Road into a living kinetic landscape. As the lighting shifts to a deep blue, CHEN adopts a reclining Buddha posture, gent

Image: R/evolution(s) | Photographer: Ethan Volberg (Courtesy of Dance Base Yokohama) Choreographed by Conan Amok, a sculptor and Butoh practitioner with direct lineage to the renowned Dairakudakan, the influential second-generation Japanese company known for its grand, theatrical spectacle — R/evolution(s) immediately asserts a space of fertile imagination. As a fusion of Butoh and sculpture, the work sets out to examine how living bodies transform into static, moldable form

Image: Stop Playing Jacob’s Ladder With My Spine | Photographer: Hot Cat Collective In Stop Playing Jacob’s Ladder With My Spine, HotCat Collective crafts an eerie, absurd sensory landscape that elevates the grotty domesticity of daily life into an art form. The performance interweaves mundane artifacts, expired microwave meals, a moldy fork, a café menu, with the uncomfortable, sticky realities of existing in a physical body. The piece thrives on sharp narrative contradictio

Image: Gemini | Photographer: Hong Kong Soul Presented as a double bill at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, choreographers Justyne Li and Blue Ka Wing deliver a striking study in contrast. Together, they explore the spectrum of human duality, shifting seamlessly from the psychological, shadow-laden psyche to the whimsical domestic surreal. The evening opens with Li’s Gemini, an intricate exploration of the astrological sign ruled by Mercury. Dressed in cool indigo, male da

Set against an opaque plastic backdrop diagonally intersecting a raw, intimate space, Joanna Rosenfeld’s Resonant Void opens in quiet stillness and minimal movement. Enclosed within a mosquito tent, her near-naked body rests on her left side as projected imagery of floating seaweed and algae, accompanied by water drippings, immerses the space. Gradually, curved limbs lift as the projection shifts into oceanic blue waves, engulfing her in a shimmering, underwater atmosphere he

In Sand, Kook Ensemble delivers an inventive physical theatre piece that utilizes contemporary circus techniques to map the poignant terrain of cognitive decline. Rooted in the coastal landscapes of North Devon, the work navigates the grief and enduring intimacy of a couple facing the onset of dementia. The story’s emotional trajectory is mirrored across generations. One couple is embodied simultaneously by four performers: Álvaro Grande and Ebony Gumbs depict the lighthearte

In The Wall, physical precision meets conceptual rigor as five dancers with uniformly silver-dyed hair navigate the volatile relationships of human connection. Through an evolving spatial design, the piece transforms a minimalist setup into a deeply evocative contemplation on communication, alienation, and self-discovery. At the core of the staging are two mobile rectangular frames, constantly reconfigured to alter the performance geometry. As these frames glide across the fl

Photographer: Elspeth Chan Chi Fan Ascending the spiral staircase into Tai Kwun’s JC Contemporary, audiences are immediately cast into a theatrical threshold. Greeted by the pair of stage lights across the entrance corridor and a solitary dancer, we are ushered into a gallery awash in austere blue and white lighting. Here, Isaac Chong Wai’s An Intimate Surrender unfolds. Framed by a spreading-out, industrial metal installation, five male dancers arrange themselves in a semi-c

Photographer: ProduktivaProduktioner How do we live out our personal myths when the modern world demands only our hyper-efficient, capitalistic utility? What is the ritual of a life lived at the threshold of collapse and rebirth? Myth and Ritual as Threshold These questions anchored a profound 9-day somatic journey at the Moskosel Creative Lab in northern Sweden, taking place in April 2026. Led by facilitator Dominique Savitri Bonarjee, ten somatic adventurers gathered in the

Image: Pichet Klunchun and Kornkarn 'Gade' Rungsawang in No.60 | Photographer: Hideto Maezawa Pichet Klunchun's No. 60 is a dance lesson that doubles as a manifesto. Its central provocation: 'contemporary dance' is defined not by rejecting or deconstructing a particular classical tradition, but by the act of structural interrogation itself. Klunchun conducts a forensic analysis of the Theppanom canon, the foundational vocabulary of Thai classical dance. He has spent two decad

Ahead of Pichet Klunchun Dance Company (PKDC)’s performance of the duet No.60 at The Place, we interview Thai contemporary choreographer Pichet Klunchun on his perspective on Thai culture, Khon classical dance, and the process behind creating No.60. Danced as a duet between Klunchun and company member Kornkarn “Gade” Rungsawang, No.60 focuses on six principles behind Khon, and fifty-nine traditional positions that form the basis of rigorous training in Khon. The final outcome

Image: Deciphers | Photographer: Maya Yoncali Deciphers opens with a paper scroll stretched across the stage, layered with newspaper and magazine cutouts, its surface marked by Jean Abreu and Naishi Wang’s doodles. Two LED tubes rest on this collage, doubling as rulers and weights, underscoring the scroll’s symbolism on culture and language. Abreu and Wang each take an edge of the scroll. Together, they slowly crumple and hug the paper to their chests, embodying the cultura

Introduction by Janejira Matthews Alternative Roots Festival took place last month in Hoxton Hall, London. Encouraging artists from East and South-East Asian heritage to share their work, the festival offered an impressive range of mediums from contemporary dance, workshops and installations. Our guest writer, Namy Yu, joined us to delve into themes of belonging and a search for community – a search that for several artists at the festival was clearly a prominent part of thei

Image: Live podcast with Ming Strike (guest Jade Johnson & Bunga Yuridespita) | Photographer: Joy Chao A rare opportunity to explore and celebrate East and South-East Asian (ESEA) artists, Alternative Roots festival took place last month revealing a range of artists curated by Ming Strike. Organised by Kakilang, film, dance and fine arts collided at Hoxton Hall in an exploration of place, migrations, and the joy and challenges of ESEA identities in London. The first panel of

Image: Amina Khayyam Dance Company in Bibi Rukiya's Reckless Daughter | Photographer: Simon Richardson Kathak, soft and fluid yet defined, might be described as grace with an accented edge. An aesthetic outlier from its Indian classical counterparts, Kathak has a flowing gentility poured into the form through rippling palms matched with whip-fast turns. Yet Amina Khayyam Dance Company’s artists have mastered the form enough to offset its softness with an emotional tension

Image: Pell Ensemble in Hinterlands | Photographer: Mira Loew The dance studio has always represented possibility and play for me. To simply be. Pell Ensemble dives into a Virtual Reality existence via visual manipulation of organic fantasy, layering an alternative plane on top of the studio space. The premise of Hinterlands is based on extremophiles, introducing an unfamiliar environment to an everyday space. A creature in the form of a dancer, Anthony Daly Luna, guides us

Image: Woo Woolf | Photographer: Carey Chen As part of the Voila Theatre Festival 2025, Woo Woolf offers a vibrant exploration of identity, language, and memory. Directed by Xiaonan Wang and produced by Ensemble Not Found, the piece invites audiences into a fluid dreamscape shaped by the intersecting stories of three women, all named Mary. From the outset, the characters clarify that this is not about Virginia Woolf herself, but about the rhythmic currents of her stream-of-

Woo Woolf , a devised performance by the migrant-led group Ensemble Not Found, invites you to step not just into a theatre, but into a dreamscape where time, language, and identity shimmer and dissolve like water. With its imminent staging in a few days, this multilingual work is poised to intrigue, provoke, and move all who encounter it. From “A Room” to a Space of One’s Own The genesis of Woo Woolf is rooted in the ensemble’s shared admiration for Virginia Woolf’s writings

A world sculpted in greyscale, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Vlaemsch (Chez Moi) - 'Vlaemsch' being an archaic spelling of 'Flemish' - dives into his Flemish roots, artistic legacy and surrounding prejudice. A large, cut-out mansion dominates the stage, looming over the dancers that slip into scenes painted by old masters or gliding and twitching through enigmatic solos. Endless characters are squeezed into this dreamhouse of a work: an older woman takes us through family portrai

Katie Gathercole’s recent workshop, Doing It for Attention , unfolds at the edges of physical theatre and immersive performance, where the boundaries between performer and audience gently dissolve. Conceived as a playground for movement exploration, the session invited participants to probe the power dynamics of attention: how do we demand it, surrender it, or redirect it? What happens when attention itself becomes the choreographer? Photographer: Chris Williamson The Potent