Straddle #2025 - BLEU NEON by Kim-Sanh Châu

In a distant, fictional Vietnam, the echoes of pop music on cassette tape reverberate against the sounds of modern Vietnamese rap. Châu Kim-Sanh inhabits this space, metamorphosing through bodily states generated by the presence of coloured neon lights. Of this evening blue erupts a purpleness: “bầu trời màu tím xẩm” – an uncertain translation. Eyes closed, the neon haze returns her to the sensation of her ancestral land. Saigon, like many cities in South-East Asia, is flushed with these vivid lights. Here, embodied memory and the imaginary take a ride on a Honda Dream II motorcycle, across a humid sky whose wetness whips the face.

This solo is performed in its entirety from the squat position – a typically Asian posture. Audio recordings bespeckle the choreography, navigating between fantasized nostalgia, loss of language and sexual objectification – all three widely experienced by Asian diasporic populations. In Southeast Asia, rap culture is increasingly popular – giving a voice to a population marked by silence. Rap here is a prayer.

About the artist:
Kim-Sanh Châu is a choreographer-dancer, filmmaker, and cultural worker. Her stage creations have been presented at the MAI, Tangente, l’Arsenal, l’Écart (Canada), Krossing-Over (Vietnam), Performance Curator Initiatives (Philippines), and SIDance (Korea), among others.

In 2023, she collaborated as a dancer with Ariane Dessaulles, Erin Hill, and compagnies Katie Ward, Carpe Diem /Emmanuel Jouthe. From 2018 to 2024, Châu was an associate artist at Equivoc’. In 2024, she founded her own company *MIDLAND* which produces her artistic work. Châu is also the artistic director at Studio 303, a creation centre supporting independent dance/performance artists.

Details of the performance:
Date: 10th April 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 8.30pm - 9.30pm
Venue: Five Arts Centre @ 9th Floor, GMBB, KL

This performance is part of the programme of Straddle #2025. For the full programme pass, please check out details here. 

Straddle #2025 is a new platform by Five Arts Centre aimed at nurturing connections between artists in Kuala Lumpur and other cities. 

A special shoutout to our community partner, GMBB.