Dance Video Spotlight - William Yong
CREATORS NOTES from videographer WILLIAM YONG on the collaborative creation of a new dance video featuring contemporary dance artist DENISE FUJIWARA for Older & Reckless: 20 Years of Age on Stage
William Yong by Alistair Newton
"Denise and I had a wonderful experience making Nappera-bo. Thank you to Older & Reckless for inviting us to work together. I am so ever grateful to Denise for being so brave and making space for any of my ideas and suggestions and trusting me during the whole process. It was a very intimate collaborative experience since we brainstormed, created costumes, and developed her images and the narrative of the film together. She was a complete joy to work with. This work aims to reflect the current condition of our humanity in which fear and distrust arose from masked units and anonymity. I am so excited to share this haunting short film to the world."
- William Yong
William Yong is a multi-faceted artist, performer, choreographer, actor, dancer, designer and director for theatre and film. Since he founded Zata Omm and W Zento Production, as the artistic director, William has spent last fifteen years breaking new ground collaborating with artists, scientists and engineers in bold and innovative ways. Zata Omm has become a site for research under his tenure, focussing on the integration of dance, technology and broader culture in order to re-imagining performances for our technological age. W Zento Production, a film and video production house, found its way to be in demand for the vibrant short films and creative arts industries.
William and Zata Omm have created two dance short films Sugar and Snails and To Fly or Fall, both were shown in cities and festivals around the world. He was profiled in three documentaries as a director and choreographer- one in an episode of the Bravo channel TV show Freedom, another documenting him as resident guest choreographer and the creation of Truce for Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, and a third one documenting the making of vox:lumen for World Stage 2015. William has also collaborated with renowned music video directors and cinematographers such as Lisa Mann, Ray Dumas and Jason George. He choreographed for and performed in music videos for The Used's Rise Up Light, The Nexus and Over And Over Again, Mother Mother's Modern Love, Apocalytica's Cold Blood and Adaline's Part Of You.
His upcoming film projects including directing, editing and producing all video contents for the first virtual edition of Dusk Dance Festival 2020 that was broadcasted in Oct 2020. He is also invited to direct four short films including projects for Diana Tso, Sara Porter, Denise Fujiwara (for Older & Reckless 2020) and Pounds Per Square Inch Performance.
