One of Malaysia's most distinctive, dynamic, and thoughtful dance artists, Lee Ren Xin's latest work ANGGOTA will raise the curtains on Five Arts Centre's new, intimate studio space in GMBB, Kuala Lumpur, from 10 to 12 June 2022.
ANGGOTA marks a return to creating dance onstage for Ren Xin, after several years making site-specific performances in public spaces. Parallel to this, she developed a daily practice of walking, dancing and documenting the overlapping maps of movement, mobility, and in/visibility in the Petaling Jaya neighbourhood where she grew up. Ren Xin's long-term investigation was distilled into the drifting, poetic video essay JALAN HARAPAN (2021). Ahead of her upcoming show, Ren Xin reflects on some of the ideas and motivations behind ANGGOTA.
More info about ANGGOTA and tickets at www.cloudtix.co.
1. It's been awhile since you've made something for the context of a stage or studio. Is ANGGOTA a departure from what you've been investigating in neighbourhoods and public spaces? Or are there some threads you're carrying forward?
Lee Ren Xin: Working in public spaces, in a dense residential area especially, my attention was very drawn to how one body is being seen, identified, and read, which is very complex, but also at the same time can be very unexpected. With my body, it is limited to the experience of this particular appearance I have. On one hand, each body carries with it a very particular familial history. On the other hand, there is some overlap of shared collective history. It got me to pay attention to my self and my body — where it came from, what is it embodying or perpetrating now, and why. And most importantly, what can I do about that from here on.
One thing that became clear to me, is that in both the neighbourhood journey and in this ANGGOTA creation, a similar thread are the questions of what am I a part of; how am I being a part of; how else can I be a part of this larger whole; what is in my personal power or agency to do; what and how can I take ownership?
Anyway, I thought it was important to come back to myself, to clarify, to ground myself, before moving forth with working with other bodies in public space — which is my desire.
2. What are some of the ideas or questions you've been exploring in making ANGGOTA? The tagline for the show is “I dance for all the women in my family who could not” - suggestions of excavating, abandoning or rebelling against generational or patriarchal constraints? The Malay word 'anggota' also has several connotations - a limb; a member of an organisation or collectivity; a part of a larger whole.
Ren Xin: Anggota wanita, anggota Cina, anggota keluarga, anggota masyarakat, anggota sihat, anggota terbaik, anggota tentera, angora polis. I associate it to when I first entered school or early informal education where I somehow took on to learn how to be a 'good' or 'worthy' member of society.
It’s a lot about embodiment.
Contending with this body that I inhabit: Chinese, Malaysian, female, western contemporary dance-trained.
Because my body is Chinese and female, when in public space, in this setting in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur, the body identity I am most aware of is being a woman. But as I continue to work in this creation, more and more the 'woman' part is less my main attention - although still predominant. It’s made me very aware of the multitudes of body experiences and the limitation of this one work.
Anggota tubuh badan, anggota wanita, anggota Cina... It was important for me to understand better what this body of mine is carrying, what is inherited from the previous generations, to understand what is here, in order to own it and take action and decisions for what I want and can do, onward. In a way, I think this has a similar trajectory with the neighbourhood process.
Regarding the tagline, it came from a journal entry:
I dance for all the women in my lineage who could
not.
Whether because they were busy surviving, they were busy serving, they were busy caring for other
than themselves. Because they have no time for themselves. Because they learnt they should not enjoy
themselves. Because they thought pleasure is only for men, not for women. Because they were told that
pleasure for women is wrong.
Because they were busy serving and surviving; they did not have time to
think about their own desires; because putting themselves last is a good quality; because they never imagined
they could make space for themselves; they never had a chance to think about what they want or their
pleasures.
Because they did not think they could dance; they thought they should not dance; because
they learnt that enjoying oneself is a waste of time, is irresponsible, is outrageous, is selfish. Because
they didn’t have the time for it. Their time was taken up by societal expectations and prescription around
the purpose of the woman’s body.
I dance, for all the women in my lineage who could not dance.
3. You're working with new collaborators in this project - video artist Chloe Yap Mun Ee, lighting designer Veeky Tan and production designer Wong Tay Sy - as well as Tan Bee Hung, a dancer you've worked with before but this time you're co-creating together. Your projects always have a strong collaborative element - what drew you to these individuals?
Ren Xin: With Bee Hung, many years ago when I worked with her, I felt there was something I recognised in her body or the way she moves— recognised — in a way I’m not sure I felt comfortable about. Like, there was something similar that I felt may not be a conscious decision of the body. I loved her performance, but there is something in the body and impulse patterns that I recognise. Like, I know that feeling. And a sense of where it might be coming from. Of course that is just my own feeling. And I think each of our bodies and embodiment have changed over the years. Anyway, I wondered if it was to do with both of us being Chinese women in this social landscape here, or being a part of some “collective history". So for ANGGOTA it started with this simple curiosity.
With Chloe, actually it was Amanda Nell Eu who suggested her name when I was looking for a female director of photography three years ago. I’ve seen some of Chloe's works, maybe not her most notable ones. But from the 'raw' or small-scale ones, I sensed choices and approaches or even resistance that I appreciated very, very much. So I approached her. I don’t know why she agreed. Maybe she thought it’d be interesting to work with dancers.
With Tay Sy, it was really conversations over time in general, unrelated to this particular creation. She is just super generous and open. I also love how many of her memories or recountings of stories have very strong images. And she grounds me by demanding very precise articulation or at least the attempt to, which is very helpful as I delve in a form that can be very abstract. She is someone I can really bounce things with - like a friend, mentor, facilitator, supporter, and just so good lah.
To be honest, I don’t know Veeky well. Tay Sy suggested her, and I trust Tay Sy :)
More info about ANGGOTA and tickets at www.cloudtix.co.
A new member of Five Arts Centre, Lee Ren Xin is a dance artist who is interested in how the body carries, reflects, embodies, and co-creates with place and time. An overarching theme in Ren Xin’s work is how to share a space, or how (we want) to live together. Her works explore ways of inhabiting, as well as the spaces inhabited - how one shapes the other, momentarily or slowly over a long time. At other times, she works with ritual and repetition in public space.