da:ns LAB 2023: IDIOSYNCRASIES

da:ns LAB is an annual artist meeting presented by the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, produced by Dance Nucleus and curated by Daniel Kok. It is a platform that began in 2015 to interrogate choreographic practice and to feature progressive ideas in the performing arts.

In da:ns LAB 2023, we will wonder aloud if it is possible to approach the concept of queer less as a question of representation or identity politics, but more as a verb: an active, continuous process of questioning assumptions, testing boundaries, undoing what is stuck, repairing what is broken, or giving a form to possibilities. Yet, a paradox lies at the heart of this endeavour. On the one hand, we might fall into the trap of designating queer as another static identity category—domesticating it by pinning it down for easy instrumentalisation, refusal, fetishisation or consumption. On the other hand, how do we avoid giving a form to what needs to stay unformed, if only so that we can continue to make sense together and discover anew what culture is?

da:ns LAB 2023 looks to artists whose praxes provide insights to what queering performance means. The programme invites participants to formulate for themselves the varieties of means, meanings, and meaningfulness that queer could generate.

Open Call for Participants

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and Dance Nucleus invite up to 30 artists and other practitioners in Singapore and our region who are interested in queer and interdisciplinary performance to participate in da:ns LAB 2023 – Idiosyncrasies.

Over 3 intensive days, participants of the lab will respond to the framing questions and activities posed by our invited artists and facilitator.

Pre-registration is required.
Registration deadline: 15 Jan 2023, 5pm.
Successful applicants will be contacted within 5 – 7 working days.