拉手手 — Tracing a Dance to Hold Hands

In 拉手手 (lā shǒu shou), participants are invited into a maximalist dance space where video collaging serves as both guide and provocation. Through movement, the work co-builds a new vocabulary for queer Chinese dance—one that unfolds in the interstices of place, belonging, and tradition. Designed by resident artist Chantel Foo out of a nostalgia for their Uniquely Singaporean™ upbringing, their queer expatriation from homeland, and desiring towards a dance they might belong to, 拉手手 looks at non-traditional Chinese dance phenomena and aesthetics, including Chinese Square Dances (广场舞 guángchángwǔ) and the memetics of “awkward dance” (尬舞 gàwǔ) on social media, as choreo-political reference points.

Dreaming alongside Dance Dance Revolution, filial piety, absurd internet lineages, live-streaming aunties, Chinese EDM, Douyin deep dives, solo KTV, queer raving, classical Chinese Dance training, and a longing for home, 拉手手 is equal parts resource and joy. Take my hand, let’s dance!

This is a non-prescriptive choreographic scoring for queer and/or Chinese bodies, where awkwardness is embraced. Chantel particularly invites kin of the queer and/or Chinese community to partake in this shared movement practice, though all are warmly welcome. This For Your Reference program is also For Their Reference—gestures you/we create will be annotated to form a collective index as part of their research project.

This program is part of the For Your Reference series, where our artists in residence share and discuss key references informing their ongoing research at Amant. Amant programs are always free. RSVPs are strongly encouraged. Doors for 拉手手 will open at 6:45pm on Wednesday, April 30 in Géza, located at 306 Maujer.

Host or Publisher Amant Foundation