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Festival TransAmériques
May 22 to June 5, 2025
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Make Banana Cry, Stephen Thompson + Andrew Tay © Richmond Lam

Make Banana Cry

Andrew Tay , Stephen Thompson

A tidal wave of body politics prepared to make the Western gaze quiver sweeps over a subversive runway led by Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson.

Details

Provocative and unconventional creators Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson are at the helm of Make Banana Cry, a subversive runway featuring a parade of body politics prepared to trouble the Western gaze. Recklessly flirting with cultural clichés inside an immersive fake “exhibition” by visual artist Dominique Petrin, they critique and protest against stereotypes of “Asian-ness”.

In an attempt to shake off the weight of representation and fetishization, the two partners in crime open the doors to a destabilizing space meant to challenge assumptions. Make Banana Cry acts as a choreographic machine where performers confront the tension between their cultural identities and stereotypes. An irreverent happening which contemplates the problematics of “universal” western popular culture while drawing on the intersectional artistic backgrounds of each of the invited artists.

Credits

Produced by Andrew Tay + Stephen Thompson

Performed by Francesca Chudnoff + Hanako Hoshimi-Caines + Cynthia Koppe + Sehyoung Lee + Andrew Tay + Stephen Thompson

Guests Justin de Luna + Winnie Ho

Visual Installation Dominique Pétrin

Lighting Design Karine Gauthier

Production Romane de Montgrand

Tour Technician Öykü Önder

Original Collaborators Ellen Furey + Claudia Fancello + Jean Jauvin (conception lumières originale) + Hanako Hoshimi-Caines + Dana Michel + Coman Poon + Simon Portigal

Produced with the support of the Festival TransAmériques as part of Respirations du FTA + Conseil des arts du Canada + montréal, arts interculturels – MAI + Centre de Création O Vertigo-CCOV

Creative Residency Centre de Création O Vertigo-CCOV

Presented in association with UQAM – Coeur des sciences

Premiered at montréal, arts interculturels – MAI, on April 6, 2017

Thanks to Véronique Hudon + Galerie de l’UQAM + Aaron Wright (Fierce Festival) + Dance4 UK + Miriam Ginestier + Michael Toppings + Sticky Rice Magazine

Written by Myriam Perraton-Lambert

Translated by Luba Markovskaia

 

© McKenzie James

Andrew Tay (Toronto)

A hybrid creator, the inaugural guest curator at the Centre de création O Vertigo and, as of recently, the artistic director of the Toronto Dance Theatre, Andrew Tay cofounded Wants&Needs Danse with Sasha Kleinplatz. Together, they curate the indispensable festive and creative happenings Short&Sweet and Piss in the Pool, which they produce and disseminate outside the usual circuits. 

Full biography
©Diane Arques

Stephen Thompson (Nice)

Visible at the FTA for many years, internationally recognized Stephen Thompson is a remarkable and provocative interdisciplinary artist. His collaborations and performative works are intersections of cultural politics, queerness and a vaste body of knowledge. 

Full biography