In Search of the Holy Chop Suey

Where or in what time space does identity reside? Yvonne Ng asks How does someone else’s movement quality impact my own dancing self? as she undertakes a pointed investigation for her solo, In Search of the Holy Chop Suey. In it, she ponders a life of creation and imitation in movement and mines influences from sources as varied as her mother, modern dance and kung fu legends, ordinary people, wild animals and more. Says Ng, “When I imitate, I also uncover something unique in myself. Each time I fail to become more like my mother—or my favourite kung fu hero Bruce Lee—I become more me.”

In explaining the title, Ng says: “In the late seventies/early eighties, there was a TV series called In Search of… that focused on mysterious phenomena, e.g. Loch Ness, Holy Grail, Big Foot, etc. But they would never find the ‘thing’ that was the subject of the particular episode. Chop Suey is a dish that reportedly originated from migrant Chinese workers who lived in the U.S.A. in the 19th century. When I was young, living in Asia, I wanted everything western. I knew about the dish and equated it to something Western/North American. The title is a comment on my belief that each of us has a deep desire to find meaning for our lives—even as that meaning eludes us and/or is not what it seems.”

Photos by Cylla von Tiedemann