About
Dora Award-nominated artist, Derek Souvannavong is a dance artist based in Tkaronto (Toronto) of Lao heritage. Souvannavong is a 2022 graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours Dance Program at York University, where his achievements in choreography and performance were recognized with the Spedding Memorial Scholarship and the Menaka Thakkar Award in World Dance. He has recently premiered solo work this identity: woven at Dance:Made in Canada/Fait au Canada, co-created in collaboration with Peggy Baker. Souvannavong has performed in various works by Ballet Creole, Michele Rizzo, dreamwalkerdance, Rock Bottom Movement, Frog in Hand, Rumi Jeraj as well as worked with artists Tracey Norman, Angela Blumberg, Emily Cheung, Laurence Lemieux and Toronto Dance Theatre. He is a former company member of Free Flow Dance Theatre where he has performed in productions by Danny Grossman, Edward Kastrau, Terrill Maguire, and Newton Moraes. Being of Lao heritage, Souvannavong is also intrigued by traditional Lao dance forms and wishes to continue exploring relations between Lao dance forms and the western diaspora of contemporary dance, weaving together his Lao heritage into his work.
My current work focuses on traditional Lao dance forms and their relations to western contemporary dance. It looks at its similarities and differences but more importantly it touches upon my identity as a Lao-Canadian dance artist. With a heavy training in western dance forms, I questioned what my role within contemporary dance is. It allowed me to question a loss of self-identity and explore ways to rekindle and rejoice in who I am within a Eurocentric dance form.
Dance to me, is something universal that transcends verbal language and conveys thoughts, feelings, and messages through the use of the body. It is something to be shared and celebrated. I believe the same with culture. My work pursues the recognition and festivity of different identities and cultures that celebrate dance together through the sharing and giving of such. I aim to celebrate and acknowledge my heritage and culture and bring a part of me into every work that I do.
