University of California, Berkeley dance professor SanSan Kwan has long been interested in the concept of passivity, a notion that fuels her piece premiering this week.
“I started reading up on passivity, and I wrote a journal article looking at the work of other Asian American artists and the ways they embraced things like hospitality, generosity and deference,” says Kwan, who last year stepped down as chair in dance in the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance. She adds, “…. I thought it would be interesting to practice that same sort of deference, generosity, etc., as a dance maker, and also recognize the paradox of the medium of dance, which is predicated on activity and action, as a way to explore inaction.”
“How to Make a Passive Dance,” an immersive performance, comes to iMPACt Center for Art and Dance in San Francisco on Sept. 18-20.
Kwan, who won an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for her 2021 book “Love Dances: Loss and Mourning in Intercultural Collaboration,” says she has always been a quiet, not particularly assertive person, and grew up feeling like it was something she should be ashamed of.
Her feelings changed when she became an adult and especially a parent and teacher.
“At parent-teacher conferences teachers would say, ‘Your son needs to work on speaking out more in class,’” she says. “I would tell my son, ‘You need to speak up more in class and show you’re an active, engaged participant.’ As a teacher, I was taught to put down a participation grade. But by the end of the semester, I didn’t know how to assign a participation grade… is it really true that the way to be engaged is to always be asserting yourself loudly?”
Kwan’s premiere is set on five female Bay Area dancers: Ai Yin Adelski, Rosika Dater-Merton, Lily Gee, Raychel Hatch and Tatianna Steiner, and understudy Kayla Chang. Kwan, whose mentors include Lenora Lee, maura nguyễn donohue and the late H.T. Chen, says her gender choice was intentional.
“The notion of passivity projects onto women and Asian Americans in a particularly pejorative way, as a negative stereotype, so I wanted Asian American female dancers to be the ones to find ways to maybe reframe those stereotypes. At the same time, even when you want to disavow a stereotype, you’re reminding people of it. I’m more interested in thinking about it in more nuanced, complicated ways whereby we’re not framed only by this as a negative stereotype but something we can reframe and understand as potentially something to embrace,” she says.
The piece is set to an original score by Bay Area composer Ben Juodvalkis that is “sparse, ambient, quiet and meditative, as well as “really layered” and “kind of chaotic.” The dance also includes readings of three poems and an excerpt from a short story by Asian American writers. The performers will wear men’s shirts that belonged to her late husband.
The distinctive set design has video projections and 600 teacups. Kwan notes, “Yes, 600 teacups, and I’m not going to say more than that.”
Also, patrons may roam the stage — without shoes or with provided shoe covers — during the performance.
“I really wanted to find a way to invite audience members to experience this form of receptivity, and I felt a more traditional stage configuration wouldn’t give them that opportunity,” Kwan says.
“How to Make a Passive Dance” offers various lessons.
“For dance students, the lesson would be how important it is to be in collaboration with others and how we can value the medium of dance as a site for relationality,” Kwan says. “To audiences, I would say open yourself up, be receptive and pay attention. I recognize that for some the idea of celebrating passivity might be a bit distasteful, and there certainly need to be folks who are willing to be assertive, stand up, speak out and resist, but I’m also thinking about this as a way to be good listeners.”
SanSan Kwan & Dancers’ “How to Make a Passive Dance” is at 8 p.m. Sept. 18-19 and 3 p.m. Sept. 20 at the iMPACt Center for Art and Dance, 1625 Bush St., San Francisco. Tickets are $20-$60 at www.tickettailor.com/events/.