Fire Monkey
Stolen Fire and Fractured Myths
An exhilarating collaboration bringing together dancers and musicians from Singapore and Melbourne in a spectacular and poignant reflection on the events that affected the world in 2016. Fire Monkey is an exciting, poignant and roving spectacle with live music, transforming itself into the spaces at the Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre.
Singapore’s The Arts Fission Company will be collaborating with Victoria Chiu and dancers Isabelle Beauverd, Tra Mi Dinh, Ben Hurley and Sarah Mealor.
‘Since the election of Trump in 2016, many of us are still struggling with the consequences and maintaining our own fight to bring balance back to refugee diasporas and economic slow-down,’ says choreographer Victoria Chiu.
Fire Monkey refers to the Chinese lunar calendar that marks 2016 as the Year of the Monkey under the element of fire. The universal myth of fire not only ignites common stories among different cultures, it also enables creative dance making through mapping of ancient memories with contemporary reflections. The performance involves different communities in Singapore and Melbourne, asking participants to use 3000-year-old Chinese oracle bone script to create fabric strips as modern text messages across oceans. The colorful strips made by community members are incorporated in this beautiful installation across Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre.
This collaboration, made across two countries separated by oceans, reflects on the anxiety of our time and invokes collective memories across cultures in the hope of mending broken myths and finding human connection. Fire Monkey conjures up surreal characters from the realm of mythology in urban getups. This is Asian street theatre of a different kind.
Artistic Directors/Choreographers: Angela Liong, Victoria Chiu; Music Director/Composer: Joyce Beetuan Koh; Lighting Design: Bronwyn Pringle; Melbourne dancers: Isabelle Beauverd, Tra Mi Dinh, Ben Hurley, Sarah Mealor; Singapore dancers: Edwin Wee, Cao Ngoc Tuan, Geraldine Phang, Monika, Titisa Jeamsakul, Delia Tan; Melbourne musicians: Roland Cox, Simon Lewis; Singapore musicians: Chen Kangren, Cheong Kah Yiong.