Ziyian Kwan

As we approach the 20th anniversary of Older & Reckless, we shine a light on the senior artists who we are honoured to feature in our celebrations, including the fearless ZIYIAN KWAN (Vancouver).

Ziyian Kwan, photo by David Cooper

We asked ZIYIAN to please tell us about an exciting upcoming project

"Upcoming, I am leasing a storefront space to create a new work entitled Made In Voyage, which sources stories of the performers’ grandmothers to pay homage to elders. Dance will be visible to passersby throughout the creative process and a book will be published that encapsulates the work, offering other than usual modes of sharing dance with people, during the pandemic and beyond."

Earlier this year, Ziyian initiated a peaceful dance action, to protest racist violence against East Asian people in Vancouver, related to COVID 19. Ziyian organized a guerilla performance at Vancouver’s Chinese Cultural Centre, as a way to counteract negative events with solidarity and healing. Please follow this link for the full CBC News article and The Early Edition interview with Ziyian on May 11, 2020.

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Ziyian has worked as a Vancouver based dance artist since 1988 and as an interprète, has performed close to 100 original creations by an eclectic range of choreographers on international stages. As Artistic Director of Dumb Instrument Dance, her choreography abstracts lived experience to create collages of surreal imagery, spoken form and kinetic narrative. Over three decades, Ziyian’s artistry has been indelibly touched by collaboration with luminaries in the fields of dance, music, film, theatre, literature and visual art.

‘I am my heart’s dumb instrument’ www.dumbinstrumentdance.com