Acty Tang

nominated for the DaimlerChrysler Award for South African Choreography (2003)

performed across the country with the First Physical Theatre Company (1999-2003), alongside Gary Gordon and Juanita Finestone

has an honours degree on choreography and physical theatre at Rhodes University; completing MA degree by thesis

"one of SA's most exciting young choreographers and physical performers" (The Star)

... Strangely, Acty doesn’t feel like a dancer or a choreographer, in the conventional sense. Instead of line or rhythm, his work is best described as an intuition of the power and nuances in his body, which is unearthed through performance, like an archaeologist digging for his find.

His style may be variously described as experimental, contemporary, anti-dance, maverick, avant-garde, strange, inspired by the East; although none of these categories tend to stick. Some works may be very dance-based, some lean towards avant-garde theatre, yet others towards performance art.

Current Repertory:

The Beloved (2004)

a butoh-inspired solo to the haunting voice of Tom Waits

Ndilinde/Wait for Me (2004)

contemporary dance duet for two men, to the Xhosa-gospel-jazz rhythm of Thandiswa Mazwai

amaQueerKwere (2005)

a 40-minute site specific "physical theatre body search", crossed with performance art and happening, for a cast of 4

The art of loving a stranger (September 2005)

solo contemporary dance for an ugly, disturbing body that is beautiful to look at

Past Works:

Dissipation (2003)

dance duet for 2 women, using fractal structures to arrive at the ravishing abandon of bodies in movement

Songs that seep into forgetfulness (2002)

a 30-minute physical theatre ensemble work exploring the meditative connection between body and land

:after combat, the shouting match (2001)

explosive physical theatre and vocal encounter in the aftermath of 9/11, exploring the sensation of falling

Swirling thoughts in fixed bodies (2001)

dance duet for 2 women in contrasting motions of stillness and release, to a Janacek sonata movement

Relapse.mishaps.recap (2001)

the irony of quitting smoking: a quirky dance trio

And the empty space of his shadow (2000)

hour-long solo danceplay: a love story in the face of AIDS

The warmth I feel (2000)

Solo dance work/visual installation on personal loss

In the head/through the body (1999)

an anarchic performance work in the mode of the 1960s experimenters

Your Proximity (1999)

the first butoh-inspired work

Selected Performance Work:

with the First Physical Theatre Company:

This beautiful house is un-made (2003)

by Juanita Finestone & Gary Gordon: full-length physical theatre work

lake ... beneath the surface (2001)

by Juanita Finestone & Gary Gordon: full-length physical theatre work in response to Chekhov's The Seagull and Reza de Wet's On the Lake

Rockabye for a sleeping man and a barking dog (2001)

by Gary Gordon: a dance theatre fantasia on the dream of the butterfly

Bessie's Head (2000)

by Gary Gordon: a full-length documentary danceplay interacting with the interior world of South African writer Bessie Head

Training:

at Rhodes University Drama Department and First Physical Theatre Company:

physical theatre, contemporary release-based work, contact improvisation

selective training/experience in ballet, Graham, yoga, tai-chi

choreography

mime: corporal and contemporary

acting, directing

design

contemporary theory and theatre

dramatic literature

Teachers include Gary Gordon, Juanita Finestone-Praeg, Andrew Buckland, Janet Buckland, Lindsay Reardon, Terri King, Reza de Wet. Other memorable experiences/encounters impacting on training include Harry Hofmeyer, Aneta Marcus-Novak, Robyn Orlin, Gwyneth Lloyd

Research:

MA Thesis title (in completion):

Gazing at Horror: body performance in the wake of mass social trauma

exploring physicality in theatre in context of contemporary theory, particularly Lacanian psychoanalysis in conjunction/collision with deconstructionist politics

Current and recent research interests:

site-specificity

physicality and its relation to language

body, desire and performance: the crossroads of theatre, psychoanalysis and queer theory

body and the epistemology of theatre

avant-garde theatre and dance

dance, body, memory and historiography

dance-in-camera

Lecture topics:

South African dance theatre

Twentieth-century avant-garde: Brook, Grotowski, Mnouchkine

Physical theatre and other innovators in South Africa

Queer postmodern politics: Kushner

Abject and in-yer-face: Trainspotting

Decadence and Symbolism: Wilde

Home | BIO on Acty | Credits | In search of queer body | Physical Theatre? | Site-specific? | Free tattoo!