I worked with Pojie Arts, a not-for-profit organisation that makes performance and delivers professional arts training to young people and adults with and without disabilities in China.
I assist in running weekly workshops helping students with disabilities create work for performance. Pojie Arts has been running projects like this for three years in Beijing. For more information about Pojie,read more on: Epic Arts site or The Beijinger.
Pojie Arts
There are many ways to get involved and support the work Pojie Arts do. Firstly, come to our events:
No Lights No Lycra Beijing
No Lights No Lycra is a casual free-form dance session in the dark to great tunes.
无灯光无莱卡，没有老师，不用学习舞步，不用技巧
Unfortunately, NLNL Beijing has stopped running.
No Lights No Lycra:
– is a place for people to come and dance freely in a friendly, non-threatening, drug and alcohol free atmosphere
– is an event that occurs in a dimly lit room: with the lights low people can truly dance without worrying about what they look like
– is a time to dance independently in the company of others
– is about the experience of dancing with no one watching and the joy that this brings
– is a place to exercise at your own pace while having fun
– is about making dance accessible for everyone
– is an inclusive event open to all ages, genders, backgrounds and demographics
– is a place to shake out the stresses of the week, let go of your inhibitions and completely be yourself
NLNL Beijing is a regular event which began on Monday 7th March 2015, and takes place every second Monday. Upcoming events are Monday 28th November and Monday 12th December.
Proceeds go to support Pojie Arts. Pojie Arts is an inclusive arts initiative that provides inclusive arts education to people with disabilities and run performance projects with people with and without disabilities. Your money supports regular professionally-led dance workshops open to people with intellectual disabilities in Beijing.
Official NLNL websites:
http://nolightsnolycra.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nolights.nolycra
Previous events:
‘Connections’ is a dance show about technology, how we connect with one other and how we experience the world around us. This playful and exploratory show is created by Pojie Arts in collaboration with Berlin-based Czech artist Martin Kohout.
On May 22 2016 we performed at Beijing Times Art Museum, with a film screening and open workshop segment in which we asked audience members to join us in dance exercises. This performance was a formative experience for the group and helped us develop the work before the final performance. Donations helped fund the project’s continuation.
Our June 25th performance at Beijing MoMa’s W_Space was the culmination of a 12-week creation process by Pojie Arts’s Performance Group. We screened Martin Kohout’s ‘Sjezd’ and a short film made by Pojie participants on journeys they take regularly. The performance was accompanied by three live musicians: Huihan on drums, Eduardo on cajon and Fred on guzheng.
Ever wanted to dance like nobody’s watching?
Transmigrant Flow teamed up with Pojie Arts to hold a night of dance and merry-making. The night showcased video and photos taken by Michelle Proskell, a participatory dance performance by Pojie’s volunteers and dancers, and a free-flowing, no lights dance party we called Dance in the Dark.
All proceeds helped enable Pojie Arts to continue providing transformative and therapeutic dance workshops for children and young people with disabilities for free.
8pm Thurs December 10th 2015 at Modernista, 44 Baochao Hutong, Beijing
Tickets: 50rmb (on the door)
Zhēn de Gender 