Past Event
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Information about access on site at the gallery is available here: Whitechapel Gallery Access. This includes information about Lift access; Borrowing wheelchairs & seating; Assistance Animals; Parking; Toilets and baby care facilities; Blind & Partially Sighted Visitors; Subtitles and transcripts; British Sign Language (BSL) and hearing induction loops; Deaf Messaging Service (DMS).
Transport
– To the best of our knowledge, there are no planned disruptions to local transport on the date of the event.
– Our nearest train station – Aldgate East Underground (1 min walk) is not wheelchair accessible. The closest wheelchair accessible stations are Whitechapel (15 min walk), Shoreditch High Street (15 min walk) or Liverpool Street (15 min walk).
– Free parking for Blue Badge holders is available at the top of Osborn Street in the pay and display booths for an unlimited period. Spaces are available on a first come, first served basis.
Thurs 1 December | 7:30-9:30pm | Free, Booking Required
By its very nature, the art of street dance rejects definition. Constantly evolving and fusing influences from various geographies, street dance represents a continuous migration across histories, a journey between genres in search of endless composite configurations and a fine blend of collectivity and individuality.
Inspired by street dance, Whitechapel Gallery hosts an evening of performances centred around the notion of fluidity. Exploring street dance as an embodiment of the identity in flux, this takeover brings together artists from disparate backgrounds who seamlessly blend sonic and dance styles, including Algo Au, Chandenie Gobardhan, Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Duane Nasis, and Jamal Sterrett. In a series of seamless performances, each flowing into the next, these performers will activate the public spaces in and around Whitechapel Gallery, guiding the audience on a metamorphic journey.
Performances begin at 7.30 and will last roughly 50 minutes, followed by a DJ Set from Ifeoluwa, who will weave threads among global diasporas and highlight connections and histories throughout contemporary sounds.
Please note that capacity in some spaces is limited.
This event is curated by Erin Li, Asymmetry Curatorial Fellow.
Algo Au (he/him) is a Hong Kong dance artist based in London. Since 2008, he has undertaken dance training in many places, including Hong Kong, the UK, Germany, and Japan. Since 2011, Au has been working as a professional dancer as well as choreographer at schools, community centres and dance studios. In the past decade, he choreographed many pieces for university dancing societies across Hong Kong. He also performed in a theatre piece at SDZ LAB 2019 and choreographed for Hong Kong E-side Dance Company in 2021. Au is currently continuing his studies at London Contemporary Dance School.
Chandenie Gobardhan (she/they) is a Dutch dancer and choreographer based in London. They completed BA in Contemporary Dance in the Netherlands and moved to the UK for MA in Contemporary Dance Performance (VERVE) at Norther School of Contemporary Dance. With a movement vocabulary enriched by Bharatanatyam, hip-hop and contemporary dance training, Gobardhan experiments with various techniques to build bridges where others might not see the possibility. Gobardhan’s work is typically led by connecting stories and knowledge they have gathered on the path in the Hindoestaanse diaspora. Chandenie has been commissioned by Tate, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, The Place and The Royal Docks. They also worked with artists such as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Botis Seva and House of Absolute.
Duane Nasis (he/they) is a queer Filipino-British multidisciplinary movement artist based in London. With a movement background rooted in London’s thriving ballroom/voguing culture, Duane has explored a diverse range of practices from physical theatre, clowning and cabaret, to contemporary dance, gymnastics, and even lucha libre wrestling. Their unique physical vocabulary is manifested in projects with Sadlers Wells, Rina Sawayama, and Marvel Studios. Most recently, Nasis performed a live response to Mahmoud Khaled’s installation at The Mosaic Rooms, and collaborated on an outdoor film installation with Anthea Hamilton for The Hayward Gallery — both projects exploring themes of queerness & masculinity.
Jamal Sterrett (he/him) is a self-taught dancer and performance artist based in Nottingham. Stemming from bruk up, flexing and ballet dance, Jamal fuses the heightened senses of his Asperger’s with these dance styles to respond to, embody and transmute specific locations. Sterrett’s improvised movements seek to reveal the outer and inner paradigm of spaces, and redefine the relationship between our bodies and the environments.
Chris Zhongtian Yuan (he/ they) works with video, sound and performance to examine the ways in which everyday spaces of absence are politicised through sound and storytelling. Yuan will present a sonic and performative continuation of their artist film All Trace Is Gone, No Clamour for a Kiss (2021-22), co-commissioned by FLAMIN and V.O Curations. Through sound, music, intimate conversations and gestural movements, the project explores the thin line between individual and collective histories. The performance is in collaboration with trumpeter Kevin G Davy and artist Ella Frost.
Ifeoluwa (AKA Yewande Adeniran, they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, mentor and academic with a focus on fusing together global drum-heavy sonics, the darker side of UK club music, and abstract left-field techno DJ mixes, leaving club-goers simultaneously dancing and crying in the club.
Erin Li (she/her) is Asymmetry Curatorial Fellow at Whitechapel Gallery from June to December 2022. Her recent curatorial practice ferments everyday experiences, emotions, and philosophies into collaborative, multidisciplinary art projects.
