Multimedia dance production starring a 14 year old Deaf performer comes to VAULT Festival in March 2020

Chyna

VAULT Festival, March 3rd – 5th 2020

Chyna is a 14 year old dancer – who is Deaf. In this multimedia dance production, video documentary is mixed with a live solo performance as she takes us on a journey through her daily life, immersing us in her world. Thus remarkable piece of theatre challenges notions of how stories are told, brought to VAULT Festival by multimedia theatre company Weave Stories.

“The Moon is the Sun of the Night creates a sensory collage, impressionistic while being intellectually, emotionally and aesthetically engaging (…) exquisite, captivating” Camden Voyeur

Deafness is not a disability here, but the opportunity to experience the world differently. Resonating in all of us, this show is accessible to both hearing and non-hearing audiences, without the use of translation. Created in collaboration with Oak Lodge, a specialist school for the D/deaf in Balham and Deaf Dance Artist Chisato Minamimura, this performance aims at bridging the D/deaf and hearing communities.

Weave Stories’ productions are based on lived experience; drawing from research interviews to stage a plurality of voices. They follow a multimedia theatrical approach, using video footage and live action; ‘voices’ are placed in a form of counterpoint as they would be on a music score. Balanced on parallel narratives, their shows bring together different views on the same subject offering a debate on social and human issues.

Director Laurence Dollander is originally from Nancy, France and is a writer, director and a musician/composer. She studied the oboe at the Conservatoire and gained a degree in English Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Nancy, and has an MA in Performance Design and Practice from Central Saint Martins. She is very much involved with her local community, she teaches music at Oak Lodge School.