After the exchange with South Korea in 2009 this second edition of BEYOND focuses on China and the Chinese contemporary dance and art scene. It will look at different approaches of dance creation from practical as well as theoretical perspectives.

Following the previous format of BEYOND _ Seoul, the programme will be divided in two main sections of three weeks each, one in China (Beijing and Shanghai) and one in the Netherlands (Amsterdam).  

During the first phase in China the physical preparation Double Skin/Double Mind developed by Emio Greco | PC and the ancient martial arts of Yi Quan, will be the basic material for participants to prepare the body and investigate movement. The creative work of Indian choreographer and artistic director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts Jayachandran Palazhy will provide an insight into the creation of movement material for contemporary dance, departing from the ancient and traditional martial art Kalarippayattu. The improvisation system developed by William Forsythe under the new media title Improvisation Technologies presented by Nik Haffner, will serve as a tool for the development of structures and compositions. 

All workshops are open for dancers, choreographers and dance students and artists and students from other disciplines with interest in the moving body. A group of Asian and European dancers selected by partner institutes of BEYOND_China and choreographer nunu kong will take part in each workshop too. The workshops will be accompanied by lectures on dance dramaturgy and creative process and by discussions with scholars and artists from the Chinese contemporary arts scene, moderated by the Chinese dance critic and researcher Qing Qing. All of these activities will eventually find their way to the creative lab where the selected dancers can test and challenge their own creativity guided by the young and promising Chinese choreographer nunu kong. The end result of this first three weeks of body preparation and creative process will be presented in the theatre of the Dutch Culture Centre on 13 and 14 August.

Programme of activities open to the public

July 26 (Mon) to July 31 (Sat):  Caochangdi Workstation in Beijing
Registration for workshops at CCD Workstation Beijing by sending an email to: ccdworkstation@263.net
July 26 (Mon), 10.00 – 12.oo hrs.: Workshop Yi Quan by Master Yao Chengguang
July 26 (Mon) – July 30 (Fri), 13.oo – 16.00 hrs.: Workshop Kalarippayattu & Bharatanatyam by Jayachandran Palazhy
July 29 (Thu), 19.00 – 20.30 hrs.: Lecture by Jayachandran Palazhy
July 31 (Sat), 15.00 – 17.30 hrs.: Discussion Tradition & Innovation

August 2 (Mon) to August 9 (Mon): 800 Art Space in Shanghai
Registration for workshop at Wu Jiao Chang 800 Art Space, Shanghai through CANART by sending an email to: canart@live.cn
August 2 (Mon) – August 6 (Fri), 10.00 – 12.00 hrs.: Workshop Yi Quan by Phillipe Chevaux
August 2 (Mon) – August 6 (Fri), 13.00 – 15.00 hrs.: Workshop Improvisation Technologies by Nik Haffner
August 7 (Sat), 15.00 – 17.30 hrs.: Discussion Tradition & Innovation
August 9 (Mon), 10.00 – 12.00 hrs.: Workshop Double Skin/Double Mind by Barbara Meneses

August 10 (Tue) to August 14 (Sat): Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai
Registration for workshops at the DCC through through CANART by sending an email to: canart@live.cn
August 10 (Tue) – August 13 (Fri), 10.00 – 12.00 hrs.: Workshop Double Skin/Double Mind by Barbara Meneses
August 13 (Fri) & August 14 (Sat), 19.30 hrs.: Performance presentation BEYOND_China and introduction to the performance.

The partners of BEYOND_China that have selected the dancers are: Coachangdi Workstation (Beijing,China), Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore, India), Jin Xing Dance Theatre (Shanghai, China), Guangdong Modern Dance Company (Guangzhou, China), Arts Council Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), Borneoco (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and Emio Greco | PC (Amsterdam, the Netherlands).