Andrew Tay & Stephen Thompson
Make Banana Cry | November 9 - 11
Make Banana Cry is a critical and destabilizing dance performance that questions Asian stereotypes while examining the transmission of cultural identity.
In a subversive runway presentation featuring a parade of body politics, Make Banana Cry is designed to trouble the Western gaze. Attempting to shake off the weight of representation and fetishization, 6 artists critique, parody and protest against clichés of “Asian-ness”. Confronting the tension between their cultural identities and stereotypes, the work is an irreverent happening which contemplates the problematics of “universal” western popular culture while drawing on the intersectional backgrounds of each of the performers. Mixing the codes of couture and contemporary art, straddling spectacles of consumption and entertainment the piece is an impressive demonstration of physicality, an unrelenting examination of Western prejudice, and an ingenious show of humour and wit.
Thursday night's opening performance on 11/9 will be followed by a live panel discussion, and Saturday night's final performance on 11/11 will be followed by a celebratory post-show party (both post-show events are curated by local artist and producer, The Shanghai Pearl).
With the support of the Festival TransAmériques as part of the FTA Respirations + MAI + UQAM + The Stable. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, and Creative Residency Centre de Création O Vertigo-CCOV.
Thanks to Véronique Hudon, Galerie de l’UQAM, Aaron Wright (Fierce Festival), Dance 4 UK, Miriam Ginestier, and Michael Toppings
Producers | Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson
Performers | Francesca Chudnoff, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Cynthia Koppe, Sehyoung Lee, Winnie Ho, and Stephen Thompson
Visual Installation | Dominique Pétrin
Production | Romane de Montgrand
Tour Technician / Lighting Design | Öykü Önder
Photos | Claudia Chan Tak, Richmond Lam, and Manuel Vasson
Original Collaborators | Ellen Furey, Claudia Fancello, Jean Jauvin (Original Lighting Design), Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Dana Michel, Coman Poon, and Simon Portigal
Andrew Tay is a hybrid performer, choreographer, curator and DJ. He is the cofounder of Wants&Needs Danse with Sasha Kleinplatz. Together, they produce the popular dance events Short&Sweet and Piss in the Pool which take place in non-traditional venues in Montreal. Tay received the Buddies in Bad Times Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation at the SummerWorks Performance Festival for his work Fame Prayer / EATING (2016). He was named the first artistic curator at Le Centre de Création O Vertigo (CCOV) in Montreal and recently became the Artistic Director of Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) one of Canada’s oldest contemporary dance companies. Tay actively thinks about community, irreverence and resistance in both his performance and curatorial practices.
Stephen Thompson, from Calgary, Alberta is an inter-disciplinary artist working between Canada, USA and Europe. Stephen’s introduction to movement and performing was through competitive figure skating. He received a Bachelor of Kinesiology (art and science of movement) and Dance from the University of Calgary. In 2015 at the World “Figure” Championships in Lake Placid, Stephen received the bronze medal. In 2016 he received a Victor Martin-Lynch award from the Canada Council for the Arts. Past choreographic work and collaborations: 2012 Bessie award winning Antigone Sr. (Large), The Ghost of Montpellier and the Samurai (2014) with Trajal Harell, Culture Administration & Trembling (2014), Les Etudes (2017), Chaud (2020); Jennifer Lacey, Antonija Livingstone, Dominique Pétrin, whatwearesaying (2014); Public Recordings (2 Dora Mavor awards Toronto), numerous projects with Benoit Lachambre, Relative Collider (2015); Liz Santoro and Pierre Godard, Service #5: Try to keep kids off naturalism and Kein Paradiso with Adam Linder recipient of the Mohn Prize at the L.A. Bienniale, Stitchomythia with Nadia Lauro and Zeena Parkins, Dramaturge for Such Sweet Thunder (2019) recipient of 8tensions Impulstanz, Compulsory Figures (2019) co-signed with French visual artist Xavier Veilhan.
Francesca Chudnoff also known as Franz (she/they), is a Tkaronto based millennial, with a BFA in performance, and paying rent as a multidisciplinary artist. She is a dance maker, video artist, and photographer who is slowly learning digital illustration. Their work is in conversation with internet aesthetics and shaping a “social aura”. In process they prioritize improvisation and collaborative creation. Franz recently completed a 3 year research residency at Dancemakers Centre for Creation with Driftnote, and has worked as a mentor and dramaturge at Festival of Recorded Movement and X University.
Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, based in Montreal, has danced and collaborated with many great local choreographers: Frédérick Gravel, Maria Kefirova, José Navas/ Compagnie Flak, among others. Often touring internationally, she participated in the creations of the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm, where she performed in works by Benoit Lachambre, Deborah Hay, and the Forsythe Company. Her personal work has been presented in several European festivals, in Germany, Sweden, Bulgaria.
Cynthia Koppe, born in Singapore, is a New York City based performer and teacher. She was a company member with Shen Wei Dance Arts from 2009-2017 and worked in collaboration with Liz Santoro and Pierre Godard of Le Principe d’Incertitude from 2010-2020. Most recently, she has performed with John Jasperse (Visitation, 2022) and Trisha Brown Dance Company (Joyce Season 2023). In addition, she has had the pleasure of working with Yve Laris Cohen, Mimi Garrard, Heidi Howard and Liz Philips, Nicole Mannarino, Ryan McNamara, Sam Roeck, Adam Weinert, Christopher Williams, Ellis Wood, and Bill Young amongst others, and was a “reperformer” for Marina Abramovic’s 2010 MoMA Retrospective. Cynthia teaches Yoga, Pilates and Somatic Movement and practices Craniosacral Therapy. She holds a teaching certification in Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot and has trained in holistic pelvic health with Tami Lynn Kent and Ami Opal. She studies and has taught adult sex education with Isa Coffey of WiseBodies, and holds her own circles for women. Cynthia graduated with a BA in Dance and Sociology from Cornell University, where she was honored as a Merrill Presidential Scholar.
Sehyoung Lee, born in 1993 in Seoul, lives and works in Paris. He currently studies at École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris. His work focuses on the schematization between the world and himself and also he questions the complementarity that surrounds him. He has appeared as a performer in various works including “Happening tempête” by Boris Charmatz at Grand palais in Paris (2021) and presented his creation at “Perma-” (sculpture) for group exhibition Plant B curated by Noelia Portela at jardin du directeur Beaux-arts de Paris (2021) and “(Ici)divague” (performance, sculpture and sounds) for graduation show at Beaux-arts de Paris and for group exhibition “No no fest” curated by Thomas Conchou at Maison populaire in Paris (2021).
Winnie Ho (Superhova) is an interdisciplinary dance performance artist and curator who was born in Hong Kong, and currently resides in Montreal. Her work embraces multiple disciplines including immersive installations, sculpture and dance. Weaving in various materials onto her body and inventing queer folklore/mythologies have been the fore-front of her dance making practice. Presently, she is working with notions of grief, pleasure and play as both a personal ceremonial practice and a public performance. Winnie was awarded the Laureate of the Power Prix 2022 scholarship award at La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse in Montreal. She was also the recipient of the 2017 Danceweb Scholarship Program at Impulstanz Festival in Vienna. Her passion of working in experimental and DIY structure and spaces has lead her to create immersive installations and performances at Ponderosa Festival in Stolzenhagan, Germany, MIX Festival in New York City, Out There Festival in Portugal, VIVA Festival, Articule Gallery and La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse in Montreal.
Dominique Pétrin is a visual artist living and working in Montreal, Canada. She has been working primarily with silkscreen printing for over 20 years. A former member of the petrochemical rock band Les Georges Leningrad from 2000-2007, she also collaborated with renowned artists such as Sophie Calle, Pil and Galia Kollectiv and choreographers Antonija Livingstone, Stephen Thompson and Jennifer Lacey in Culture, Administration & Trembling performance. Some of her most featured works are including an installation in Banksy’s The Walled Off Hotel (2017) in Palestine, and Supernova (2013), an all-over installation on the Beaudry metro station in Montreal. Her work has also been exhibited in many artist-run centers across Canada, at the Musée d’art Contemporain de Montréal, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec and has been nominated for the prestigious Sobey Art Award 2014.
Öykü Önder moved from Istanbul to Montréal in 2014 after a series of happy and unpredictable events, and completed Concordia University's Design For The Theatre program in 2018. Since arriving in Canada she has collaborated with different artists from various backgrounds in theatre, music and dance such as Margie Gillis, Sandeep Baghwati, and Rhodnie Desir in different capacities. Öykü tries to combine her own experiences with that of her collaborators', rooted in the belief that art is a crucial step towards a better understanding among people.