Now in its third year, the Along the Edge Arts Festival in Hong Kong provides a multidisciplinary space for artists who dwell on the margins of societal structures and cultural norms. The perfect setting then for the premiere of Night Market, a series of short dance films by the prolific choreographer Kelsey Ang.
Night Market celebrates cultural diversity from the perspective of third culture kids, people who have spent significant portions of their childhood living outside the culture of their parents. Third culture kids are exposed to a variety of cultural experiences which can prove both alienating, creating a sense of distance from any parent, national, or mainstream culture, and liberating, with the cross-pollination of influences spurring independent mindsets and original works of art.
Kelsey Ang is the founder and director of SHIFT Dance, an international dance platform which offers immersive classes and collaborative experiences out of its base in Hong Kong. For Night Market, she has collaborated with musicians and filmmakers whose life experiences stretch from Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore to Los Angeles, Norway, Ireland, and Iceland.
Four short sequences explore the sensory displacement of the subway, the Filipino concept of Kapwa from the purview of an ocean outcrop, and the neon vibrations of a night market where every moment exists in flux. Celine Chai and Lauren Ho play Kelsey Ang’s dance partners. Music comes from Munir of the Indonesian disco collective Midnight Runners, and from Sandrayati Fay, who earlier this year collaborated with Damien Rice and JFDR for a song in memory of the Honduran environmental activist and indigenous leader Berta Cáceres.
Night Market will stream online via the Along the Edge website until Sunday. Supporters of the project who choose to donate at https://nightmarketproject.com will receive an exclusive zine, combining original artworks and dance photography with photo collages inspired by the rich landscapes of Asia.
