Dream Dangerous
In Dream Dangerous, a 45 minute live streamed performance in two parts, I sourced material from Butoh, Chinese dance and song, working through a multiplicity of imagery and sensations to channel the shamanic energy while responding to work by Anthea Hamilton and Haroon Mirza.
In Dream Dangerous, a 45 minute live streamed performance in two parts, I sourced material from Butoh, Chinese dance and song, working through a multiplicity of imagery and sensations to channel the shamanic energy while responding to work by Anthea Hamilton and Haroon Mirza.
https://www.frieze.com/event/live-zadie-xa-and-benito-mayor-vallejo-dream-dangerous
https://www.facebook.com/friezeartfair/posts/3776832789008229
Performance of Grandmother Mago by Zadie Xa in Art Night, Walthamstow, London 22-23 June 2019
This work provides a perfect canvas for the shamanic transformation, explosive energy and unbounded feminine power. I co-devised, co-choreographed and interpreted the work for this performance. I wanted to remain faithful to the source material of the Korean creation story, while taking cues from the sound of the drum and the earthy themes of the story to present a narrative of transformation and the journey taken through the stages of life.
This work provides a perfect canvas for the shamanic transformation, explosive energy and unbounded feminine power. I co-devised, co-choreographed and interpreted the work for this performance. I wanted to remain faithful to the source material of the Korean creation story, while taking cues from the sound of the drum and the earthy themes of the story to present a narrative of transformation and the journey taken through the stages of life.
The Squash (2018), Tate Britain, London
Performing from 10am to 6pm on a daily basis has certainly instilled in me stamina to generate moment after moment of creativity.
photos: Beatrice Corti
Performing from 10am to 6pm on a daily basis has certainly instilled in me stamina to generate moment after moment of creativity.
photos: Beatrice Corti
Trajal Harrell: Hoochie Koochie, A Performance Exhibition (2017), Barbican Gallery, London
The Show Must Go On (2015), Sadlers Wells, London
Photo: Danilo Moroni |
Combining performance in theatre and gallery has been my current exciting development. The range of artistic approaches, content and context in which the live body situated in these environments have diversified my perception of the performing states from theatrical to naturalistic sensibilities. The framing strategies I have employed in the theatre context have been enriched by the close proximity with the viewers and by the significance of the other bodies, objects and/or elements sharing the space. It necessitates a constant dialogue with the self and the surroundings, which brings exciting challenges that satisfy me as a mature performer.
The past 7 years of working with artists and choreographers in the gallery and theatre contexts have enabled me to witness how the boundary of performance art and dance has been pushed, while allowing me to inhabit the zone that incorporate personal history, thought processes and new dance forms. Working in the cross genre, culture, age, queer and gender narratives has expanded the reference points upon which I draw to distinguish the nuances of the conceptual frameworks. A considered exploration in the multi-dimensions of theatricality, physicality, and philosophy shapes the way I approach a performance project. I am excited by the opportunity to transform ideas, exchanges, collaborations, dialogues, inventions, imitations and imaginations into action, form and voice. |
rivercities-urbanflows (2014), London photo: Carolyn Deby
These Associations (2012) Tate Modern, London
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Reading from a Ribbon (2012), Void Gallery, Derry
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photo: Paula Bernadelli
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