Peter Chin, award-winning choreographer and artistic director of Tribal Crackling Wind presents his latest work WOVEN, which uses cloth as a metaphor for the interconnectivity of nature, humanity and the unseen.

Woven into our Cultural Fabric

Core gets up-close and personal with Peter Chin about his current show Woven, and how he came to be a sought-after choreographer with hardly any formal dance training, in a series of video interviews with Cherryl Bird.

Visiting with choreographer Peter Chin in his home is like a momentary escape to a tranquil Indonesian oasis in the middle of the bustling city. I feel a calm come over me listening to the water rushing over the rocks in the Japanese-influenced garden fountains on the north-facing terrace.  Looking south, beyond the balcony’s edge, exotic flowers facing Lake Ontario reach for the summer sun.  Chimes echo on the current of the cool breeze flowing through the entire space.  Feng Shui.  Harmony.  Balance.  Light. And colour.  Textures.  All these aspects of design are at play in his home.

Mementos from his travels to the east adorn the walls and every object seems carefully selected and of significance personally or professionally.  That same aesthetic that you find in his home informs his art as well.

In Woven, his newest work, Chin uses the age-old art of weaving as metaphor for the interconnectedness of everything.  Cloth connects us through ritual and ceremonial tradition.

It took Chin three years to produce Woven.  The highly anticipated show is finally being presented with an international cast of five dancers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Mexico, and Canada on Sept 24-26, 2015 at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre Theatre before moving on to Oaxaca.  The dancers are trained in their own styles such as traditional Balinese and Javanese dance as well as contemporary dance techniques.

Dancers have described the show as “stunning!” The costumes are rich and textured and one piece was designed by Stephen Wong of the fashion label Greta Constantine.

by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Twitter @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird


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