Artistic interdisciplinarity is glorious when it works

Last night's "You're here, now what?" was more than a performance salon. It was a living, breathing experiment in artistic convergence where poets, theatre and movement artistes, musicians and a painter vulnerably shared a black box, and where a multiplicity of artistic perspectives collided for one hour.

The cast comprised artist-educators from various disciplines. Most were part of the NAFA community. The entire show unfolded like a collage: Joshua Yang's 'live' painting of a glass bowl, Vene May's stirring spoken words about Moses in Manila, Michelle C's Teochew-infused poems of loss and absence, Yarra Ileto and her dance partners' somatic storytelling. As a holistic piece it was layered, textured, and alive. 

A salon suggests intimacy, curation and conversation. The post-show panel was titled "After the Dust", and the discussion was spirited and buoyant. The artists shared how they each bared their truths in the process of devising this work, and the director Gavin Low, attuned to their emotional stakes, held space for all their stories, honouring the difference between embodying a character and (re)living your own narrative. One of the performers reflected on the discomfort of having her spoken word pieces deconstructed and reassembled into a collective narrative—an unfamiliar but transformative process. Some in the audience said they crave more onstage friction and disruption. Panelist Felix Cheong asked the question on everyone’s mind: did anyone try stepping into another’s discipline? No, not this time, but the idea lingered like a dare.
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An audience member Juliana Lim evoked applause from all present when she said, “Watching the show gave me goosebumps. This is the proof that those who teach, also can!" 

This was interdisciplinarity in motion—messy, moving, and magnetic. A reminder that when we ask, "You're here, now what?" the answer might just be: collaborate, disrupt, and create something special none of us could have imagined alone. 

#interdisciplinarity  #interdisciplinaryarts #laniakeaculture