I Don’t Wanna Dance Alone! is the latest contemporary-driven work from the Jang Huddle collective led by choreographer, and director, Cindy Yunha Jang-Barlow. The cast (Angela Yang, Caryn Yachinta, Elsa Lee, France Tan, HyeJin Jeon, Joanne Huang, Jiwoo Yeam, Kevin Tay, Samantha Cheong, Sophia Zhang, Timothy Romero, and Xixi Xian) featured a superb and diverse line-up of movers of various Asian, and dancing, backgrounds. The work, within its show programme, pre-empts us as the audience to witness a reimagining of one of Jang-Barlow’s narratives. Such a narrative encapsulates her upbringing as an Asian woman in the contemporary dance world, highlighting a need and demand for more Asian voices to be represented. To respond to this demand, ideas of community, Asian togetherness, intergenerational embrace, nostalgia, and diversity are meshed into the bodies of the cast, enriching their movement and performance as a result.

The piece opens as I step through the doors to the stage of the Q Theatre Loft floor, my eyes pan over to the stage where a small set, designed to envision the bedroom of a young female in 2004, was in motion as the young girl character fiddled, seated on the bed. This bedroom-esque site evoked an aura that bubbled in pastel-ly hues and a fairytale glimmer. The nostalgic ambiance immediately put me into a dreamlike trance – gesturing me to find a seat so my curiosity, about what was to occur in front of me, would be soothed.

My anticipation heightened, as the familiar light dimming occurred over the theatre seating. The cast paraded and lept onto the stage – bursting to the brim with energy, charm, and glee. An idol-like essence flurried and flourished throughout. I leaned forward on my seat, envisioning my childhood self looking at the celebrity pop artists’ posters on my bedroom wall – desiring to one day be like them. Means of humor and cheek were spackled through the dance, allowing the audience to breathe and giggle alongside the cast. Just as you could maybe start to relax in your seat again, you were then shunted into a stark contrast of emotion, staging, and music.

Dystopianism and discomfort as aesthetics were shifted onto the dancers, perhaps imbuing the harsh reality that Asian voices and dancing bodies are underrepresented and marginalized.

Following such, the audience further gazes into the narrative of a young girl growing older, lost between her Asian culture and dance studio lifestyles – entrapping herself between them somewhat. Moments of vocal poetics and conversation add an artistic touch to the sound composition (through the work of Rewind Fields – Callum Lee) constructing pure and raw emotion within the context of the work. The linguistic artistry throughout said work reminds the audience of the significance of culture and communication to one’s lifestyle. In a metaphoric sense, I could feel the leaves of the deeply enrooted family tree brush against my face of the Asian community that was staged in front of me. The bittersweetness and loving presence of family and community within the cast’s characters remind us as audience members to look at what and who raised us.

It is the joy to dance that embellished I Don’t Wanna Dance Alone! That age, identity, culture, and just overall who you are, should not define whether you can dance or not. We can all dance and as Jang-Barlow perfectly captures within the show’s programme “Let’s dance together; we don’t wanna dance alone!” I look forward to seeing the future workings and artistry form the Jang Huddle collective and Cindy Yunha Jang-Barlow herself, hoping that the collective continues to further push and strive for the representation of Asian voices in the dancing global society.

I Don’t Wanna Dance Alone! Is on at the Q Theatre until Sunday 17th March.

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