What is this all really about?

Were you once a background dancer, actor, singer, or even cheerleader? Being on the periphery or behind the primary cast is a role often perceived as irrelevant. Yet, if you have ever been a background of anything at all, you could’ve easily assumed the final piece to even the most complex of puzzles.

The Background Dancer hence, covers all things off stage about the world of dance and furthermore. Intended for both newcomers and existing members of the performing arts, this weekly podcast intends to educate and acknowledge the importance of complementary pieces supporting the industry while providing essential tools to equip one with a constantly developing and demanding workplace.

Across an entire season, chosen topics will each be explored in three episodes per month. Among the major categories include art management, entrepreneurship, education, journalism, technology, wellness, fashion, politics, choreography and interdisciplinarity.

FOREGROUNDING DANCE IN THE BACKGROUND!

The primary objectives of the show also refer to the host’s core principles of community building, education, career progression and workforce versatility:

Create accessible and easily legible content for dance and art lovers worldwide
Provide in-depth analysis of diverse topics from experienced and renown experts
Educate masses about the dance and wider art ecosystem regarding its different fields
Establish a community/platform for passionate dance contributors to share and connect
Assist both host and audience in preparation for a post-performance/non-performing career

Dance artist, multidisciplinary producer and host Jason Yap (Dance Studio Theatre) strongly believes in the potential of a multi-faceted community of artists where multi-disciplinary collaboration, inter-generational learning and cross-cultural exchange is at its core. Yet, this can be only accomplished if the background infrastructures are better acknowledged and supported.

Happy listening and happy connecting! :)

About the Hosts

Cindy Ng

Creative Content Editor

Cindy was born and raised in Malaysia and began her classical Ballet training (Royal Academy of Dance) at the age of 9, under the tutelage of Datin Jane at Dance Space Academy.

Since moving to Hong Kong, Cindy has worked with choreographers from Hong Kong, China, Europe and London and performed in CCDC Dancer’s Homework, Perplexed Harmony, Beyond Restraint, Cat Derive, Random Position and Three Fingers at Arm’s Length. She has received the Academy Funds Development Scholarship and have an opportunity to participate b12 Dance Festival 2017 in Berlin and Contact Meets Contemporary Dance Festival 2017 in Gottingen.

Despite her body figure, Cindy has a huge appetite for many things besides food. After graduating from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), majoring in Contemporary Dance in 2019, she immediately joined the postgraduate company BODHI PROJECT Dance Company in the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD), Austria. She collaborated with choreographers from all over the globe such as Christine Gouzelis (Greece), Kuik Swee Boon (Singapore), JS Wong (Malaysia), Adrienn Hód (Hungary) and Leila McMillan (UK). As a choreographer, she made Amidst the F.O.G., Parasite and Pages whilst studying in Hong Kong and gained recognition for her skills.

Silver Yee

Educational Content & Outreach Manager

Silver Yee completed her Master Degree in Cultural Studies and Criticism (MA) from Graduate Institute of Dance, Taipei National University of the Arts.

During her MA study in Taiwan, she has performed dance works for local and international artists, including “Remember not to say goodbye” by Lucas  Viallefond, “But You Didn’t” by Jack Kek, “Thought and Voice of the Body” by Kathyn Tan, Mary Wigman’s “Dance of Death II” reconstructed by Henrietta Horn, “Unspeakable” by Su Shu etc.

In 2017, she made her choreography and production debut, “Kill Your Darlings”, with Jason Yap in klpac. In 2020, she collaborated with Kyson Teo and Lim Thou Chun to create a full length site-specific performance piece “Where Souls Meet” in Kluang.

As a dancer and arts administrator, she has toured internationally including Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Scotland.

Currently she is pursuing her PhD in Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts.

Jason Yap

Dancer / Podcaster / Producer

Jason Yap began his dance education after high school and trained in various genres including Latin, Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary and Ballet. In 2014, he completed a Bachelors of Psychological Science at HELP/Flinders University and was accepted into the Bachelors of Fine Arts (Honours) programme majoring in Contemporary dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) a year later.

Jason has performed works for both local artists including Jack Kek and Kuik Swee Boon, as well as international artists such as Milan Tomašik and Mehdi Farajpour. In 2017, Jason co-produced his choreographic debut titled Kill Your Darlings. He was also selected to represent the HKAPA at international events such as the Paris Summer Academy and ISPaR (2017), CAMPING and Ponderosa (2018). In 2018, he initiated the interdisciplinary art collective, STAGE, and later received the Director’s Award for his overall contribution to the Academy. He most recently established his independent educational podcast, The Background Dancer (2021) and joined the cultural startup Artunio as co-founder (2023).

Outside of dance, Jason has developed a penchant towards interdisciplinary practices and aspires to become an entrepreneur and curator in the performing arts. He is currently an ensemble member of Divadlo Študio Tanca in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.