Deciphers

Choreographers Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu come together in a new international collaboration exploring UK/Canada and Brazil/China cultural references related to poetry and vocal traditions of folk music. This cultural exchange creates a powerful physical journey and performance that demonstrates how the body can be used as an extraordinary tool of linguistic expression.

“I seek to utilize the body as a tool to ask profound direct questions about the continual transforming nature of human identity.” Jean Abreu

This duet investigates cultural links, post colonial histories, the embodiment of the migrant experience, and the transforming nature of human identity. Presenting partners are MAI Montréal, arts interculturels (Montréal, lead presenter), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), and PuSh Festival (Vancouver).

Dance Dramaturg Guy Cools will contribute to the creative development of the work.

“Movement possesses a bodily linguistic identity, which also deciphered in terms of cultural influences: gestures of our ways of talking, our ways of walking, our ways of dancing, our ways of singing, and our ways of relating to the world around us.” Naishi Wang

Deciphers is our new work in development across 2020-2023.

Deciphers is co-produced with the support of the Visiting Dance Artist program (VDA) a joint initiative of the National Arts Centre and the Canada Council for the Arts and was awarded the CanDance Network small scale creation fund.