Shaking Shame

English

“We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings.” – Audre Lorde

Can we break free from discomfort and shame surrounding physical pleasure? Melyn Chow explores this question in Shaking Shame: an intimate, physical performance that examines the connection between shame, pleasure, and liberation.

Five performers create a landscape of trembling, distorted bodies. Sacred and promiscuous, playful and dangerous. With the audience's gaze upon them, the performers aim to transform fear and shame into powerful, liberating movement. As the boundaries between the sensual, the sexual, and the everyday blur, they invite you to experience the erotic as a source of power.

For this performance, Melyn Chow drew inspiration from Audre Lorde’s essay Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power.

In the Press
“Chow calls Shaking Shame a performance exercise, and it proves to be an absolutely fascinating one.” – Theaterkrant

“I’ve been moving all my life, but how do I actually feel without clothes?” – Interview in Het Parool

“When I place myself in the space between physical discomfort and desire, I come alive as a creator.” – Interview with Subbacultcha

Melyn Chow
The work of Melyn Chow (she/her) is physical, intimate, and provocative. Raised in Singapore, she studied at Lasalle College of the Arts (SG) and the Mime School at AHK (2022). As a performer, she has worked with companies like RAW Movement (SG) and creators such as Nicole Beutler, Davy Pieters, Zara Bracht, Dries Verhoeven, and Floor van Leeuwen.

Since 2023, Melyn Chow has been a maker with Frascati Producties. After her “mime porn” video installation I happen to be doing this for you (Melyn Chow & Kim Zeevalk / Frascati Producties, 2023), Shaking Shame is Melyn’s second production with Frascati Producties.