2023-05-18
 
This section is reserved for RQD members
Become a member
Not a member yet?
Join now!
This article is for RQD members only.
Log in
This article is for RQD members only.

Parts of this site have been translated into English. If you have any questions, please contact info@quebecdanse.org

Thank you for your understanding.

Go to the website
  • fr
Join the RQD
Log In
Log In Join the RQD
  • Dance News
    • News
    • News Feed
  • Dance Agenda
  • Billboard
  • Membership
    • Become a member
    • Privileges and advantages for members
    • Dance Training Support Program
    • Membership Policy
  • RQD Trainings
    • Professional Training Programs
    • Eligibility and conditions
  • Member Directory
  • Resources (FR)
    • Health and Safety
    • COVID-19 (FR)
    • Inclusion and Equity (FR)
    • Harassment Prevention (FR)
    • Skill Development (FR)
    • Human Resources (FR)
    • Financing and Management (FR)
    • Touring (FR)
    • Promotion and Communications (FR)
    • Directories (FR)
    • Publications (FR)
      • Briefs and Manifestos (FR)
      • RQD Studies and Publications (FR)
      • I-Mouvance (FR)
      • Dance History (FR)
  • About the RQD
    • Presentation of the RQD
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS and Committees
    • Master Plan
    • Prix Interprète
    • Quebec Messages for International Dance Day
    • Toile-mémoire
    • Media
    • Partners
    • Contact
fr
  • Join the RQD
  • Home
  • Actualités de la danse
  • Nouvelles
  • Each step at a time by Charo Foo Tai Wei
Version française
15 May 2023

Each step at a time by Charo Foo Tai Wei

by Charo Foo Tai Wei

In honour of Asian Heritage Month, choreographer and performer Charo Foo Tai Wei shares her inspiring journey from Singapore to her current life in Quebec.

In the mid-90s, in Singapore, I bought dance festival packages to watch different kinds of international dance performances. After a show, I would stay behind to have a discussion with the artists. As a dancer, their artistic journey was inspiring and encouraging. I told myself that one day I wanted to step onto an international stage.

2005 I arrived in Quebec with very little knowledge of French. I started to integrate myself into a new country and a new culture with an open mind and curiosity. I went for an audition at the l’École de Danse de Québec, and I got accepted. I could never forget that feeling of excitement and contentment to be part of the school.

To pay my school fees and rent, I started to work as a street performer, performing classical Chinese dance in old Quebec. It helped me discover the street art scene and get in touch with the festivals in the region.

That autumn, I got to perform at cultural events and art festivals in Québec. It built up my confidence in a new environment. I was constantly exploring different performance opportunities to find a feeling of belonging in this new city where I had just landed.

It took me almost 2 years to finally feel at ease.

My school plan didn’t go as well as I expected. Due to an injury, I had to stop school for a year. At that moment, I felt devastated and lost, but I didn’t want to give it up and go back to Singapore. My inner voice was determined to continue dancing, and that was all I could think about. I continued to work as a street performer, as that was the only legal work I could do back then. I went for a theater audition on my 2nd year in Québec. I remember: the audition was in the morning, and I got a call by the end of the day. That phone call changed my life. In less than a year, I started touring internationally with the company for the next 7 years. I learned and grew with the company, ExMachina. I got to tour, act and dance alongside  theatre director, Robert Lepage, and actress Marie Michaud in the production “Le Dragon Bleu”.

Tangente danse
Charo Foo Tai Wei
Jin Gu Bang – The Golden Stick Ritual

I started teaching classical Chinese dance workshops to schools and adults after the tour ended. In 2015, I discovered Butoh. This practice completely changed my view of dance. My body felt welcomed to these teachings with joy. Organic movements, listening to our inner voice, working with our DNA—teachings I couldn’t get elsewhere. I keep this Butoh practice vividly with me daily, like a ritual. It really opened my horizons and strengthened my connection with my ancestors.

Since then, I have created work intertwining classical Chinese dance and Butoh. I feel enlightened by this mixed form of art, traditional and avant-garde.

 

I started to create short dance works in 2017 Lù and 2018 The Beauty Song, which was presented in La petite scène, organised by Le Cercle (QC) and Festival Accès Asie (Mtl).


In 2019, I was selected by the CanAsian Dance Festival to create a piece that pays homage to my Taoist shaman aunt, The Golden Stick Ritual. It was presented at Tangente in January 2021 co-collaborated with Festival Accès Asie. Followed by a Butoh piece, Shù, presented in CanAsian Dance Festival 25th anniversary.


In 2023, I created a new solo work, Yearning. A piece that speaks about personal trauma as an immigrant and how I dig myself out towards the light in this chaotic world.

I left my country in search of a new life without knowing what lay ahead; it is unsettling and challenging. To this day, I am still wandering into the unknown. I do believe that with resilience, perseverance, and determination, there is hope for everything.
Dance has always been my refuge and a safe space for me. It is the only place where I feel at home.

by Charo Foo Tai Wei
Back to news
Les échos du milieu
15 May 2023
Un jour à la fois par Charo Foo Tai Wei
À vous la parole
12 May 2023
Rencontre « À vous la parole! » Mois du patrimoine asiatique avec Misheel Ganbold et Sibyl Sunitha
Call to action
12 May 2023
Meeting « Empower Hour » Asian Heritage Month with Misheel Ganbold and Sibyl Sunitha
Dance development
12 May 2023
A look back at International Dance Day 2023
Subscribe to our newsletter

Recevez le Québec Danse Hebdo et les communications du RQD.

Please enter a valid email address.

About RQD
  • RQD Presentation
  • Board of directors and Commitees
  • Master Plan
  • RQD Trainings
  • Dance Training Support Program
  • Dancer Prize (Prix Interprète)
  • Quebec Messages for International Dance Day
  • Toile-mémoire de la danse au Québec
  • Media space
  • Partners
  • Membership
  • Contact
Join the RQD
  • Join the RQD
  • Membership Categories
  • Membership Policy
  • Individual Membership
  • Corporate Membership
Resources
  • Health and Safety
  • Inclusion and Equity (FR)
  • Harassment Prevention (FR)
  • Skill Development
  • Human Resources (FR)
  • Financing and Management (FR)
  • Touring (FR)
  • Promotion and Communications (FR)
  • Directories (FR)
Navigation
  • Contact
  • Dance Agenda
  • Dance News
  • Billboard
  • Directory
  • Member area
Social Media
Address

3680, rue Jeanne-Mance, bureau 440
Montréal (Québec) H2X 2K5
View map

Phone: (514) 849-4003
info@quebecdanse.org

Language
  • English
  • Français
© 2023 . Conditions d'utilisation — Web agency : Pixel Circus