Carmen Yih

Cred. Nam Chops

The JourneyCarmen began her dance journey jamming alone in her bedroom to the tunes of Kylie Minogue and High School Musical. Growing up, her grandmother frequently shared her stories of Chinese Opera and traditional dance, instilling Carmen with an innate sense of awe and appreciation for the performing arts. In those years she found what would be the heart of her practice today - a celebration of the authentic expression and empowerment found through dance.

Carmen studied ballet, commercial jazz and commercial contemporary under the tutelage of Monique Shipp before continuing her dance studies at Denise Utz School of Dance predominantly in the Cecchetti Method of Ballet. She completed Advanced 1 in the Cecchetti Method with Honours and was awarded the Cecchetti Ballet Winter School Scholarship. During this time, she explored her interest in choreographing; competing and achieving runner-up in solo contemporary choreography for 3 consecutive years at the Cecchetti Choreographic Competition adjudicated by Marissa Yeo. During her high school studies, she regularly choreographed for the extra-curricular dance program, with her ballet and contemporary teams becoming national medallists at the DanceStar National Championships.

After competing in Form Dance Projects’ Sharp Short Dance, she was awarded a scholarship to Seet Dance’s Intensive with Lee Serle where she developed her knowledge of modern and contemporary dance lineages through connecting with the founder of Seet Dance and former Union Dance company dancer - Charemaine Seet. After this experience, she was inspired to pursue the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts where she had the opportunity to learn from artists including: Sade Alleyne, Lloyd Newson, Kialea-Nadine Williams, Siobhan Mckenna, Kimball Wong, Antony Hamilton, Stephanie Lake, Monica Lim, Julie Ann Minaai, Brianna Kell, Kyall Shanks, Brooke Stamp, Georgia Rudd, Rachel Coulson, Samantha Hines, Kalman Warhaft, Jonathan Homsey, Efren Pamilacan, and Philipa Rothfield.

While pursuing tertiary studies in contemporary dance, she discovered her place in the street dance community, becoming an active member of Burncity Waack - Naarm’s community of dancers specialising in the LA-born 1970s freestyle club dance form of ‘Waacking’ and Burncity Krump - Naarm’s community of dancers specialising in the LA’s South Central-born early-2000s street dance form of ‘Krump’.

She furthered these new avenues of interests by seconding with not-for-profit street dance organisation L2R Dance, Sydney Dance Company, and with Monica Lim and Rianto in their developmental residency. She also co-designed Next Wave’s World+ program produced by MaggZ and supported by VicHealth. Her interest in the intersection of street dance and contemporary dance spaces led to the beginnings of Space Generate - a community all-styles jam focussed on movement exchange and experimentation open to movers of all styles and abilities.

Shortened Bio
Carmen Yih (she/her) is an emerging Chinese-Australian dance-artist graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts' (VCA) Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance). Carmen’s practice centres on platforming the unique perspectives and stories of young people of colour through vernacular and contemporary dance forms. In 2023, Carmen was awarded the Creative Brimbank Be Bold Residency for the development and presentation of a new street-dance theatre work 'M_N', tackling the impact of socio-cultural notions of masculinity on youth mental health. Carmen is a member of Burncity Waack, representing nationally in the 1970s freestyle dance ‘Waacking’. Delving into her interests in street and contemporary dance, she seconded with L2R Dance and Sydney Dance Company, and was a co-designer for Next Wave’s World+ program. Her performance credits include: Alleyne Dance’s ‘HOME’ (2023), James Batchelor's ‘Gesturing, Weaving, Unfolding’ (2023), The Dance Cartel’s ‘Butterfly Soupe’ (2022) and repertory by Garry Stewart and Siobhan McKenna. Carmen was awarded the Lionel Gell Foundation Scholarship, VCA Choreography Development Award and Paul and Donna Dainty Award by the VCA for her excellence in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance).

Click to see Curriculum Vitae

Contact
Instagram: @hitahhchi
Email: hitahhchi@gmail.com