A queer feminist anthropologist exploring the realities of culture, gender, and sexuality in contemporary Asia
This Valentines Day, I had planned an evening at home with the people that I love, but my evening soon went tits-up when we realised we couldn’t find the cat. Her owner, who had just received her engagement ring in the post and was heading out to show it to her fiancé who hadn't seen [...]
Together on the dance floor, the three dancers sway lithely, snaking around one another, curving and arching their spines, alternately wavering and burning intensely. Kestelman watches Kela – her own, younger self or a misremembered memory of herself? – dance with the two men as feelings are sparked and a relationship is kindled. Their fun, [...]
The late great Pina Bausch is a legend of contemporary dance. Her work is renowned for having changed the scope of what we consider ‘dance’, and is so individual it is almost a genre in its own right. So how does one review a Pina Bausch piece and do it justice? In fact, how does [...]
Arguably one of the most influential female artists in contemporary Flamenco, Eva Yerbabuena is known for having a unique approach to Flamenco, which includes dramatising storylines, creating group choreography and mixing dance styles in her works. She tours worldwide, both as a solo artist and with her company Eva Yerbabuena Ballet Flamenco, and is celebrated [...]
I first saw Missing on my last day at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, just a few days after the final performance of our own show, A Writer's Lot. It was the most expensive show I paid for throughout my time at the Fringe (I'd seen a lot of shows for free) but it was the [...]
London International Mime Festival: Fet a Mà's Cru Catalan circus duo Fet a Mà present Cru, a delightfully playful yet strikingly potent piece about everything and nothing at the same time, as part of the London International Mime Festival 2014. Pre-set on stage in the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, Marta Torrents struts high-heeled back and [...]
This was my first ever review at The Place, one of London's major dance venues. I had, of course, been there before, but this was also my first experience of their annual Resolution! festival, which showcases three new works every night for a month, between mid-January and mid-February every year. It's a great place for [...]
It’s taken a long time for me to write this down, but I hope I can do it justice: this was the worst job interview of my life. It’s laughable now, but at the time, I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. The experience shook my confidence and undermined my faith in humanity (just [...]
Last Saturday I saw the famous Gansu Ensemble performing their Silk Road in London for the first time since it was revived for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I had mixed feelings about the piece. I was struck by the focus on sheer spectacle - Silk Road was full of glitter and large ensemble numbers that [...]
On Wednesday this week I went to the launch of the London International Mime Festival. I was reviewing the later (and darker) of the two shows by Compagnie Non Nova that kicked off the famous festival. The festival itself was set up in 1977, and is the longest running event of its kind worldwide. Phia [...]
Zhēn de Gender 