Tammy Tsang: Don't you wanna Dance Say you wanna Dance

Tammy Tsang (she/her) is an interdisciplinary dance artist. Her work is informed by the intricacies of the human body. With a focus on her audience’s bodily experience, Tsang plays with sensory systems, tactility and tangibility.

Tsang’s project Don’t you wanna Dance Say you wanna Dance evokes the uncomfortable feeling of being trapped, frozen and unable to move or act, a familiar experience that resonates with many following lockdowns and public restrictions. The film presented here is a contemplation of the installation that Tsang created for this PANIC! bursary project, with the support of A/V artist Connor Haynes. Audience members were invited to enter a mini dance club with instruction: ‘DO NOT MOVE’. Motion sensors detected all movement, which deactivated the disco until the person remained motionless.

The film blends documentary footage from the installation with a haunting voice reciting lyrics from popular songs, creating a poem. Lyrics such as ‘You should be dancing’ and ‘Don’t blame it on the sunshine’ weave around the personal text by Tsang, juxtaposed with the upbeat music mixed by Kieran West, adding to the feeling of unease throughout the project. Tsang uses this work to investigate the feelings and sensations that arise when we are unable to enjoy the innate pleasures of moving to music.

Audience members were invited to enter a mini dance club with instruction: ‘DO NOT MOVE’. Motion sensors detected all movement, which deactivated the disco until the person remained motionless… Tsang uses this work to investigate the feelings and sensations that arise when we are unable to enjoy the innate pleasures of moving to music."
This photograph shows a dimly lit room with a pop-up mini club in the centre of the frame. Foil strip curtains fringe the back and side walls of the structure, illuminated in yellow. DO NOT MOVE hazard tape lines the top of this tent, with accompanying disco balls hanging up inside. Fringed barriers flank the tent structure
A close crop photograph of the back of a person’s torso and head, who faces the inside of the pop-up mini-club. The person has shoulder length blonde hair with a black and white chequed blazer. They are looking into the tent, with foil strip curtains illuminated in blue, a disco ball and the same DO NOT MOVE hazard tape.
A close up of a top corner of the pop-up mini club. We see DO NOT MOVE hazard tape that lines the top of this tent, with accompanying disco balls that glint and reflect yellow spots onto the top of the fabric
A photograph of a person who appears to be looking up in wonder, inside the disco. They have a black leather jacket and short cropped hair, illuminated in pink. The foil fringe strip curtains look shimmering in blues, pinks and purples.
Photographs by Jenny Handley

Installation and Video Artist: Tammy Tsang

Technical Artist: Connor Haynes (The Self)

Music: Tammy Tsang & Kieran West

Special thanks to Jenny Handley, Bella Probyn, Georgia Taylor Aguilar, Mark Baker and the Tetley team for making the work possible.

Discover the other PANIC! bursary artists

This work is presented as part of the PANIC! (Promoting an Artists’ Network in the Crisis) series of bursaries.

Earlier this year, PANIC! awarded a group of artists in Leeds City Region £5,000 and £1,000 bursaries to support the making of a new contemporary visual artwork or project. The bursaries offered space to create a voice and help us think through the new psychological, social and cultural conditions we face today.

You can find the work of artists Abdullah Adekola, Tora Hed, Dave Peel and Emily Ryalls here.

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