walang hiya- Burlesque longform

Walang Hiya, a long-form 20 minute burlesque performance that focuses on Filipina sexuality and integrates traditional Filipino costuming, dance, and theatrics, commissioned by CanAsian Dance and presented by Tangente Dance and Festival Accès Asie. 

The Philippines experienced 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, resulting in a restrictive, conservative culture that seeks to control female sexuality. In Walang Hiya, Joy contrasts these constraints and those associated with the reality of living in a racialized and fetishized body in diaspora with the sex-positivity of burlesque. The piece was also presented in Toronto as part of the CanAsian Dance Kickstart.

Most spectacularly, Walang Hiya incorporates the death-defying Filipino folk dance of Tinikling (bamboo pole dancing) into the eroticism of intuitive sensual dance, leaving the audience at the edge of their seats throughout. 

Credits

Choreography and performance, Joy Rider
Performance, Lia Jasmine, Komodo
Dramaturgy, Gerard X Reyes
Lighting design, Jareth Li
Costume design, Joy Rider & Elise Truong
Outside Eyes, Lauren Jiles, Chloe Seyres, Gitanjali Kolanad
Photos by David Wong

Created with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts