sàn

2018

parallel performances

by Lê Mai Anh & Cam Xanh

sàn! is a performance conceived by Cam Xanh, featuring dancer and choreographer Lê Mai Anh as a guest.

the first stage of the performance began four hours before the audience arrived, when Cam Xanh began writing on the floor with pink chalk, covering the space from wall to wall with her signature. as the visitors arrived she was still scribbling away, covering the entire surface so the second stage could begin. in the second stage, the audience was invited to enter the room, inevitably scuffing the signature with their footsteps; this was swiftly followed by the third stage, in which contemporary dancer Mai Anh Le began to intentionally rub out the writing with her dance, while Cam Xanh followed after her, stoically replacing the smudged inscriptions.

the concentration with which Cam Xanh executed her task was contrasted by the actions of Mai Anh, who not only engaged with the space (gliding about the room, dragging her feet or hands to blur the signatures, and filling the air with her expansive gestures) but also occasionally engaged with the spectators, gently nudging them about, or sitting or standing next to them in a parody of spectatorship. the spectators were of course participants as well, as their bodies defined the space, both by marring the signatures—creating more work for the artist with their every movement—and by creating a shifting landscape for the performers to navigate.

the performance lasted about four hours and thirty-five minutes in total. the title of the performance sàn! means floor, platform, or support in Vietnamese.

Lê Mai Anh is a dancer and choreographer graduate of Rencontres Internationales de Danse Contemporaine in Paris. she has presented conceptual performances incorporating dance and poetry. Cam Xanh is a conceptual artist working with visual as well as performance art. she has a particular interest in language especially slam poetry.