Story...

THE MYANMAR PROJECT: HPAN MYAY HMAN MYAY

18-30 April 2014:  Land of Glass, Land of Mirrors International Performance Exhibition Tour to Yangon, Myanmar

Reflections from collective participants and collaborators on tour:

Amanda: It is a privilege to be invited into two new worlds; that of dance and a community in Myanmar. I enjoyed and learnt so many new things from both in such a short time. I loved watching the process of connecting through movement and music; I loved the strength in the staff who dedicate their lives to the needs of others. I loved seeing creativity with a different purpose. I relish the motivation to follow in this direction some more. I was originally and always will be inspired by the dancers and Luci's ephemeral ideas. This happened to be expressed in Myanmar, but it comes through all of the Remnant Dance pieces I have watched. By chance, the slightest change in perspective, that small shift that completely changes a direction… the stillness and shifting of scales, the gentleness and quiet beauty of a people. My inspiration more specifically about Myanmar is slowly developing from this first introduction, it will take time, and a lot more listening, and being there to comment on this. I am inspired by the staff at AYDC.

Andrew: It has been wonderful to have the talents of the collective Remnant Dance, Red Art Shed and the Flame Collective to provide experiences for our kids that are well beyond what a charity can normally provide. Unlike assessing school grades or bricks and mortar or sanitation systems, there is no easy way to measure the many benefits that have flowed through to our kids. Measuring their smiles is perhaps one way. There have been many of those! The real fruit of an unorthodox partnership like the one between Remnant Dance and MyKids may never be quantified. But it is absolutely clear to me that the children have experienced genuine love, been given genuine opportunities to express themselves, and have experienced things that parents across Australia would dearly seek for their own children.

Caroline: I enjoyed the friendliness of the Burmese people, the 'open arms and hearts' of the children at AYDC, the flavoursome food and the camaraderie of friends and the collective. The humility and contentment of everyone we came across; to whom we went to 'show and teach' but from whom we learnt and gained so much more than we gave, were inspiring.

Charity: I loved being involved in this project and that Hpan Myay Mman Myay is a sharing of stories/conversation. I love that it's a result of previous trips/conversations (eg: working closely with the children on our last trip; being responsive to create something beautiful and authentic) and that the children were the first ones to view/experience it. I enjoyed dancing with and for the children.  I am inspired how beautiful and genuine the Burmese people are. I experienced first-hand that dance is more than just dance. It IS a language just like English or Burmese as we can communicate using our bodies even though we don't speak the same "tongue" or some who don't have the understanding of the expression of dance.  As for my creative practice: there are new ways to create work and involve other areas such as social justice where we can input a fresh perspective of creative aspects in lives.

Esther: I enjoyed witnessing the individual creativity of the children and how their responses were unique and beautiful!  The children inspired me to infuse more of my individual creativity into my dance... and to reveal more of myself.

Ellen: To spend time with people from a different place, who use different words and movements, who wear different clothes and eat different food, is exciting, difficult, and extraordinary. It was a gift to meet people in Yangon who became friends, and I loved sharing our dancing stories. I will always remember smiling eyes and beaming faces, as we were welcomed to their country. 

Katie: I relished connecting with people; finding new ways to listen, speak and move as a means to meet people and understand people... Immersing myself in the Yangon, Myanmar life as much as I possibly could; allowing myself to be changed by the experience.  The small, un-inflated comments people made to express their appreciation and belief in the value of our work as a collective was inspiring… The willingness of participants and community members to momentarily release themselves from the norms of their daily experience in order to embrace the project.

Lucinda: I expected to wrap up a project, but found myself in the middle of a story.  Wide-eyed children crawled into my heart and lodged themselves there: shiny, precious and shimmering. Our communication was one of spirit, and so we remain connected. I really expected to be finished by now, but am finding something new is just beginning. 

Nancy: The Remnant tour was excellent. It was quite different to other groups from Australia and elsewhere with an exclusive focus on the creative arts. This gave the children opportunities they would never get. I can't remember ever really knowing what my favourite things were. But the kids at AYDC now know what theirs is - drawing or dancing or singing. Staff and kids also had the great opportunity to go to an art gallery and a film premiere with live dancing. These were wonderful new experiences for staff, kids and many other people associated with the centre.

Stephanie: I really enjoyed being part of the Hpan Myay Mman Myay project. It was wonderful being able to interact with the kids and just watching the joy on their faces when dancing with them. Even though there was a language barrier, dancing broke that barrier and suddenly everyone became family. 

Photography by Amanda Humphries, 2014

 

Final reflective comments: Andrew Rogers, Founder & Director of MyKids Australia Inc –

The final night of the Remnant Dance tour was surreal and sublime. Eight of our children from very impoverished backgrounds were attending an art gallery exhibition in the highly regarded River Gallery II in Yangon with pieces of their own work on display. One of our past students was performing a dance piece surrounded by professionals and people of means from all walks of life including the Australian ambassador and international businessmen. And all this was taking place in a gallery with beautiful art produced by Amanda Humphries who had worked hard to bring her Myanmar experiences with the children to life through art works.

I am not sure how many Burmese children, especially ones with sad histories like ours, have ever attended such an event, let alone had their own work displayed! That was surreal.  And the composition of the event which incorporated beautiful artwork, dance and film by Lucinda Coleman set in a wonderful location really was sublime.  However, this should not have come as a surprise.

I have always been impressed with the beauty and professionalism of the Remnant Dance events that Lucinda has organised on behalf of MyKids. This most recent tour was a fitting finale to the previous years of work.

MyKids, the charity which I started, is committed to improving the lives of Burmese children in every way we can. Our primary focus is in practical areas like education and nutrition. However we appreciate the importance of nurturing the whole child. This includes their emotional and creative sides, areas that are often neglected in Burmese society and by charities like ours.

So it has been wonderful to have the talents of the collective Remnant Dance, Red Art Shed and the Flame Collective to provide experiences for our kids that are well beyond what a charity can normally provide. The kids loved doing the creative workshops conducted in March. Then some of those kids had the incredible privilege of participating in the production of a dance film which let them tell their own stories through dance. Then a month later all of our kids attended the film's premiere in the delightful grounds of Sein Lann So Pyay which they enjoyed immensely.

Unlike assessing school grades or bricks and mortar or sanitation systems, there is no easy way to measure the many benefits that have flowed through to our kids. Measuring their smiles is perhaps one way. There have been many of those! The real fruit of an unorthodox partnership like the one between Remnant Dance and MyKids may never be quantified. But it is absolutely clear to me that the children have experienced genuine love, been given genuine opportunities to express themselves, and have experienced things that parents across Australia would dearly seek for their own children. 

From Glass Mountains to Beginnings

Amanda Humphries’ paintings tell stories.  Some of her pieces dance; others whisper that there are secret worlds hidden in safe circular spaces.  

 

Glass mountain STORY image copy

Full of mystery and beauty, Amanda’s recently released Glass Mountain series, along with her series of Light Movement Study pieces are a reflection of the artist’s experience of sensory engagement with dancers.  Each of the works captures something of the colour and movement of bodies in action, and was inspired by Remnant Dancers rehearsing in studio spaces, as well as performing on the stage.

Amanda’s newest limited edition series, Beginnings, offer a glimpse into another world through tiny circular windows, full of light.  Inspired by her time at the Nagar Glass Factory in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), these translucent paintings invite you into a place where glass is a metaphor for connectivity, and where the echo of children’s laughter curves in Burmese script on fragile glass vessels.

To enjoy these images, please visit: www.redartshed.com

To both enjoy these paintings, and support the artists touring to Myanmar for the international premiere of Hpan Myay Hman Myay, you can now place an order to purchase your own limited edition print online.  For the month of April only, 50% of all profits will be donated to The Myanmar Project, so if you are thinking of investing in one of Amanda’s pieces, you can also support the Remnant Dance project at the same time, simply by placing an order online in April!

 

 

 'Glass Mountain 1' is a limited edition art print of the original watercolour and ink painting by Amanda Humphries in 2014. The original work is 102 x 150cm and was produced for the Glass Palace Exhibition in Perth, Western Australia and is also showing in Myanmar at the Hpan Myay Hman Myay (Land of Glass, Land of Mirrors) touring exhibition in April 2014 in association with Remnant Dance. 

 


 

The Myanmar Project: Second Stage Development

*All images taken by children from the AYDC during their creative arts workshops

ON LOCATION: Yangon, Myanmar

By Amanda Humphries, March 2014

Creative workshops were underway this week after thoughtful preparation by Remnant Dance artists working in consultation with staff and children from the Andrew Youth Development Centre (AYDC) in Yangon, Myanmar. The program was coordinated by Occupational Therapist Katie Chown, who had ventured over to Myanmar to work with the children from the AYDC in 2013. Together with the Remnant Dance artists, the AYDC staff and translators, and three artistic collaborators from Australia, a meeting place was established and a week of fun and hard work was to be had!

There were 5 workshops the children could choose to participate in as they felt most drawn towards: Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Photo Documentation and Costume Design. All workshops were gently placed within the realm of encouraging free thought and play based learning. This was to heighten a sense of discovery and self direction for the children as a platform to tell their stories. We always started and ended the workshops with a group warm up and cool down activity lead by Katie that often had crazy bursts of dancing weaving together the different aspects of creative practice.

Through the process of facilitating and creating together, ideas, stories and connections emerged from the activities.  We are now at the stage of reflecting and weaving these ideas into a dance film and within visual art works and documentation.

Sometimes, the self directed activities and play was a little hard to initiate. It took a while for the kids to run with their own rhythms and stories; eager faces often waiting to see what all the other children were doing, or waiting to be given direction. Once the messy art gear was out, or the instruments were in their hands it was only a matter of time before curious minds began to experiment with the materials.

This was also an element we responded to within our creative practice. The meeting place was energetic, full of unspoken language and words, but their own stories, like Myanmar itself, was shrouded in mystery. This in itself was a story. This is what we found at our meeting place. There are stories there, we can see this, but we still don’t know what they are. And that is ok.

The work we are creating together with the children this week will now be incorporated in to the dance film.  This place allows for expressing creatively and exploring the meeting places, including sensory connections, through the metaphor of glass. The filming is taking place at the Nagar Glass Factory in Yangon. This morning marked the first 5am shoot! Mirroring phrases in the misty morning sunrise; reflections echoing through the broken glass, and the sound of the world in the distance.

The Myanmar Project: creative cross-cultural collaboration

Collaborative, haptic, full of perspicacity, curiosity, creativity and social justice, The Myanmar Project is a celebration of story-telling across diverse platforms and cultures.  Through the partnership of the charity organisation MyKids Australia Inc with the collective Remnant Dance, arts practitioners creatively invite the sharing of the stories of impoverished children living in Yangon, Myanmar.

ECU

This project is part of postgraduate research by Remnant Dance Maker Lucinda Coleman through Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia.  The overall project will involve exploring connectivity through dance-making practices leading to the creation of a contemporary dance film.  The research has ethics approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee at ECU.  You are invited to take part in the research by posting comments and images on The Myanmar Project Facebook Event Page, and you are advised that any postings on this Facebook Page may be used for data collection for the research.   At the close of the research project, postings on the page will be removed and the page closed down.  Any data collected from the site will be stored confidentially and authors quoted for research purposes will remain anonymous.  Please read the Information Letter for Facebook Participants before posting comments and images on the Facebook Event Page. 

Nov 21 - Dec 3, 2013: The Myanmar Project - First Stage Development

Dance Maker Lucinda Coleman and Film Maker Cara Phillips travelled to Yangon, Myanmar to meet with children from the Andrew Youth Development Centre, view locations for the 2014 film shoot and spend time soaking in the atmosphere of the extraordinary country that is Myanmar.

Photography by Lucinda Coleman, Yangon, December, 2013

From Me'-za mountain's jungle foothills,
Washed by the circling river constantly,
My heart, against my will, yearns for the Golden City

by Let-wè Thondará (1723-1800)