All my works begin with the artist and my self within the space. I believe a work already exists within a space between the collaborators. My job is to pull everything out into the open, then remove the elements that don't belong. Whatever is left, regardless of whether I feel it is good or not, must be the honest reveal of where each collaborating artist is in their lives.
“To tell the truth, after the project, I haven’t decided what to do next in Vietnam. But I just know that it’s time for me to go home,” the artist shared.
I think for me, the idea of being a choreographer always started with a question – a why has she/he done that? I never had the notion in my head that as a dancer I would end up as a choreographer, it just happened through working with many different choreographers. I always questioned why and how choreographers worked and then one day, the questions of why and how overshadowed the activity and I decided to take some time to explore the answers.
The choreographer Dam Van Huynh is an Associate Artist for Dance United and recently returned from a two-year residency at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Here the dancer-turned-teacher-turned-choreographer talks about how to set up your own company and why being a director is a little like being a therapist...
Dam Van Huynh's choreographic language speaks of a clear physical elegance. Yet underlying this focused physicality is an energy that is powerful, sometimes bordering on frenetic. [Black Square], the work that he will be featuring at this year's M1 Fringe Festival, displays these urgent characteristics.
When I was 14 my best friend had enrolled in a dancing course. And whenever he was taking classes, which were generally most of the day on Saturdays, I was short a best friend. He convinced me to join his classes and with very little interest in dance itself, I decided to join mainly because I did not wish to be bored by myself on Saturdays. Fortunately, my very first dance teacher was so encouraging and inspiring, I took to dance immediately. I have been dancing ever since.