WEI-AN HWA (MALAYSIA)
Wei-An started dancing because he thought it was cool. So, he decided to study dance and enrolled in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating, he went on to dance in Frontier Danceland, and has recently moved on to become an independent artist. During his time as a dancer, he has had the opportunity to work with choreographers like Pichet Klunchun, Wu Chien Wei, Noa Zuk, Ole Khamchanla, Shahar Binyamini, Gabrielle Nankivell and Luke Smiles, and Sita Ostheimer.
In 2018 Wei-An has compeleted the ELEMENT Residency at Dance Nucleus in Singapore, as well as a residency in Rimbun Dahan in Malaysia, during which the piece “The Art of Falling” was made. Wei-An was also selected by the M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival (Singapore) to collaborate with Kim Ho-yeon and Lim JungHa of the Dab Dance Project in Korea to create “Ignoramus”, which has been performed in both Singapore and Korea.
Today, Wei-An continues to delve into the worlds of hip-hop dance, b-boying, and tricking; disciplines that feed into his contemporary dance practice. He also organises an annual event called Paradigm Shift held in Singapore, aimed at bringing contemporary dancers together with dancers of other backgrounds and influences.
ELECTIVE WORKSHOP: THE ART OF FALLING
2 DAYS Workshop | 11th & 12th JULY 10:40 – 13:00
Class Description:The Art of Falling is a series of lessons aimed at teaching fundamental ways of moving in and out of the floor. It begins with basic ways to break a fall and begin floor work, and develops into a means of creating dynamic and exciting movements, as well as a method for breaking falls from acrobatic movements.
This class is about learning to fall down well, in both every day life, dance, and while learning new skills. It uses a few basic fundamentals, along with an understanding of anatomy and alignment to provide a good foundation for floor work.
The class builds in intensity and complexity, starting with simple exercises and building into complicated movement phrases that help to illustrate the ways in which the principles of The Art of Falling can be used in acrobatic movement phrases. These phrases draw from elements of b-boying, gymnastics, and tricking, combined with a strong sense of flow that is innate in contemporary dance to provide new movement combinations and possibilities.
The lessons also build towards the teaching of certain acrobatic skills, whether handstands, rolls or jumps, while also showing participants how to apply the fundamentals of the class in this context for a safe learning process.
