dama
dama could be a score, a performance, a practice. It has an ethos/manifesto. It connects movement, sound, and breath together. It connects the person to their autonomy as well as a sense of togetherness.
〰️
dama could be a score, a performance, a practice. It has an ethos/manifesto. It connects movement, sound, and breath together. It connects the person to their autonomy as well as a sense of togetherness. 〰️
“Let myself try... allowing instead of forcing”
“Walang buto sa buto.”
“How to honour the body’s needs and desires while being watched”
“why do you do dama?”(at koryolab 2023 showcase)
dama’s residencies so far:
KORYOLAB 2023 | CULTURAL CENTRE OF THE PHILIPPINES’ “in the round”
dama was born in the same city I was born in, Manila, Philippines, during the Koryolab residency at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines. In this residency, I want the practice and performance of the score to invite audiences into a specific kinaesthetic container through the dancers’ real-time moving and sounding.
Foray 2023 | odd meridian
In its 2nd residency, Foray, at Odd Meridian’s beautiful cultural hub (Morrow), I explored dama as a solo and a duet. One of the main research question during this residency was to see how to invite the audience to watch from an embodied place— how to invite the audience to “be with me.”
video captured by: Sophia Wolfe
Summer studio residency 2024 | new works x out innerspace
Is there a function to dama being done as a collective practice? During this 3rd residency the answer to this question was a promising “yes”! Moving forward, I hope to find further opportunities for collective practice… I dream of a space that could hold dama… and I hope to keep writing about dama and where it could fall within contemporary folk and the diaspora!
video captured by": Marco Esccer
Special thanks:
Most special thanks to Ricca Bautista and Christine Crame (Koryolab directors); Nina Anonas and Martin Lopez (Benilde and FEU partnering with CCP for studio space); Denisa Reyes and Rob Kitsos (my Koryolab mentors); Ziyian Kwan (Odd Meridian Artistic Director; Foray Residency) ; Lee Su-Feh (Foray mentor); New Works team and Out Innerspace for Summer Residency 2024; Lisa Gelley and Vanessa Goodman for their most valuable input and presence during Summer 2024 residency; and all the artists and collaborators who have contributed greatly to this research and practice, namely: Deborah Afuang, Sarah Samaniego, Jomelle Era; Ashvini Sundaram, Ariane Custodio, and Alexandra Caprara; Kaili Chi, Juolin Lee, Alyssa Favero, Kelsi James, Danielle Mackenzie Long, Ariane Custodio, Sarah Wong, and Sierra Megas).