Manila-based choreographer and visual artist Eisa Jocson explores the entanglements of gender, affective labor, migration, and corporeality. In her works she also takes on the power structures and economies of gaze that are inscribed in theater and the entertainment industry. In her new piece Manila Zoo Eisa Jocson explores the intersection of humans and animals, of work, isolation and spectacle. When will Disney’s world turn into a zoo? The COVID-19 pandemic has made this question even more urgent. Who can move freely? Who is forced to live in one place, in a confined space? In Manila Zoo, happiness and horror merge. While the audience at the Gallus Theatre and the performers in Manila are connected live via a screen, they search for the political inscribed into theatre and make clear that animals and humans in isolation share the same psychosis.
world premiere:
October, 8 2021 Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
Contact produktion und touring:
Katja Armknecht
katja.armknecht@mousonturm.de
+ 49 (0)69 40 58 95–29
tour:
March, 26 & 27 2022 Tanzquartier Vienna
April, 7 2022 Kaserne Basel
Past dates in 2021: BIT teatergarasjen, Bergen/Spielart, Munich/Tanzfestival Rhein-Main, Frankfurt am Main
Cast & Credits
Artistic Direction, Choreography, Performance: Eisa Jocson
Musical Direction: Charlotte Simon
In Collaboration with: Bunny Cadag, Cathrine Go, Russ Ligtas, Joshua Serafin
Creative Presence: Arco Renz
Dramaturgy: Anna Wagner
Light Design: Jan Maertens
Live Stream Video Design: Yap Seok Hui | ARTFACTORY
Choreographic Advice, Movement Coach: Rasa Alksynte
Production Management, Coordination & Distribution: Katja Armknecht
Artistic Production Management Frankfurt & Touring: Andreas Jahnke
Production Management Manila: Perky Parong
Technical Manager: Yap Seok Hui | ARTFACTORY
Live Stream & Video Engineer: Stev.e Kwak | ARTFACTORY
Sound Engineer: Fernando Castro I public noise
Light Engineer: Sebastian Schackert
Video Engineer: Jimmy Kömpel
A production by Eisa Jocson and Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main (Germany) in the frame of Tanzplattform Rhein-Main. In coproduction with BIT Teatergarasjen (Norway), Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (Singapore), Kaserne Basel (Switzerland), RISING Melbourne (Australia), Tanzquartier Vienna (Austria), Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taiwan) and TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama (Japan). Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media of Germany within the framework of the Alliance of International Production Houses, International Coproduction Fund of the Goethe Institut. Tanzplattform Rhein-Main is a cooperation project of Hessisches Staatsballett and Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, enabled by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and supported by the Department of Culture and Science of the City of Frankfurt/Main, the Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts and the alliance of foundations [Aventis Foundation, BHF-BANK-Stiftung, Crespo Foundation, Hans Erich und Marie Elfriede Dotter-Stiftung, Dr. Marschner-Stiftung, Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main.
Biography
Eisa Jocson
Eisa Jocson is a contemporary choreographer and dancer from the Philippines, trained as a visual artist, with a background in ballet. With her work she exposes body politics in the service and entertainment industry as seen through the unique socioeconomic lens of the Philippines. She studies how the body moves and what conditions make it move – be it social mobility or movement out of Philippines through migrant work. In her creations – from pole to macho dancing and hostess work, to Disney princess to Superwoman and to Zoo animals – capital is the driving force of movement pushing the indentured body into spatial geographies. Jocson has toured extensively in major contemporary festivals with her solo triptych: “Death of the Pole Dancer” (2011), “Macho Dancer” (2013) and “Host” (2015) and with the HAPPYLAND series, produced by Mousonturm: “Princess” (2017), “Your Highness” (2017), “Manila Zoo” (2021). “The Filipino Superwoman Band” (2019), a work on the affective labor of Overseas Filipino Musicians was commissioned by Sharjah Biennale. She is a recipient of the 2018 Cultural Centre of the Philippines 13 Artists Award, the winner of Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in 2019 and received the 2021 SeMa-HANA Award for the work TFSB2020: Superwoman, Empire Of Care at the Seoul MediaCity Biennale.
More Information
Eisa Jocson artistic works & collaborations
Corponomy Installation (2019)
Super Woman KTV (2019)
The Filipino Superwoman Band (2019)
Becoming White (2018)
Corponomy, A Performance Lecture (2017)
Happyland part 2: Your Highness (2017)
Happyland part 1: Princess (2017)
Host (2015)
Philippine Macho Academy (2014)
Alpha (2014)
Coke (2014)
Macho Dancer (2013)
Up (2012)
Love Your City (2011)
Death of the Pole Dancer (2011)
Apollo 11 (2010)
Stainless Borders: Deconstructing Architectures of Control (2010)