Phoa Yan Tiong Event – Wednesday 14 January 14:00-17:00 hrs. / ATD Theaterzaal

No reservation required, free admission
Location: Academy of Theatre and Dance, Jodenbreestraat 2 Amsterdam, Theaterzaal (ground floor).

Welcome to an afternoon dedicated to martial arts teacher Phoa Yan Tiong (1926-2006). Through his work, we will explore the profound relationship between mime and Asian martial arts in the Netherlands since the 1960s.

At the invitation of mime researcher Marijn de Langen, various guests will share their memories of Phoa's work, both in movement and in words, including his son Saffire Phoa, choreographer and dancer Pauline de Groot, and several other former students. Erwin Dörr, the current Shaolin teacher at the Mimeschool, will also join us. Various archive materials will be on hand to view, and there will be space for meeting and exchange.

This afternoon, we are guests at the Living Archive of Nita Liem and Bart Deuss, formerly of Danstheater DON'T HIT MAMA, which has been set up in the large theater hall. On 15 January they will share stories about families, generations, and migration. In this way, we are coming together these days around migration histories in Dutch theater and dance.

Phoa Yan Tiong (1926-2006) came to the Netherlands from Indonesia at the age of 22. He was a Peranakan Chinese, i.e. an Indonesian with Chinese ancestors, who grew up in Batavia in the former Dutch East Indies and was taught martial arts there from the age of six.  The style he learned was Au Hauw Ch'uan (Black Tiger: a semi-intrinsic Kuntao style from China). From the age of sixteen, he started teaching himself, and from the age of 22, he was allowed to call himself a master. In the Netherlands, Phoa Yan Tiong became a world-famous magician, specializing in table magic. In addition to his magic work, Phoa Yan Tiong began teaching martial arts in the 1960s. Between 1965 and 1989, he taught at the Mime School (initially the School for Movement Theater), thereby exerting a major influence on Dutch mime (training). Phoa also played a role in modern dance education: he taught at Pauline de Groot's dance studio and at Anne Walsemann's summer schools. During her research into the history of mime in the Netherlands, which resulted in the book Dutch Mime in 2022, Marijn spoke to many mime artists, and Phoa's name repeatedly came up as an important teacher who influenced both their mime technique and their way of thinking. This meeting is a first step in mapping out the heritage of Phoa Yan Tiong.

Read the interview with Marijn de Langen

We gather through stories - Living Archive

FELLOWSHIP CONCLUSION – Thursday 15 January 2026 / ATD Theaterzaal
Doors open at 13:30 Part 1: 14:00 – 17:00; part 2: 18:30 – 20:30 

Reservation: please click here

Starting with Research Month in early 2025, Nita Liem and Bart Deuss shared their work about nine times in various events. They began their research in September 2024, which took place largely at the ATD. In temporary spaces, often in room 4.08, they immersed themselves in their LIVING ARCHIVE, reflecting on their work and meeting with fellow creators and performers from the more than twenty-year history of the pioneering dance theatre movement Don't Hit Mama.

Nita and Bart focused on the specific marriage between dance and theatre, between street and stage, that characterised Don't Hit Mama. They often experienced their research as “time travelling through 20 years of projects”. Connections and traces became visible after extensive source research that took them to Johannesburg (ZA), New York City and Washington (US), London (UK) and Toubab Dialaw (SE).

The tenth event with which Nita and Bart conclude their Fellowship is about migration and their own colonial traces. Based on the performance Asian Celebration and with family system specialist Kitlyn Tjin A Djie from Bureau Beschermjassen. She recognised the focus on moments of transition in the work of Don't Hit Mama. This was followed by many inspiring exchanges, which deepened the work of both partners. This Living Archive bears witness to this and at the same time marks Nita and Bart's transition to the next phase.

Credits
Concept: Bart Deuss en Nita Liem
Beeldend kunstenaar/Scenograaf: Michiel Voet
Bureau Beschermjassen: Kitlyn Tjin a Djie
Host: Honey Eavis
Dansers: Sonja Bloem, Shailesh Bahoran, Clinton Masyur, Yasmin Diktas
Muziek: DJ Lovesupreme
Verslaglegging: Funmi Adewole Elliot
Productie: Barbara de Boer en Therese Sahlin
Catering: Starlounge
Techniek: Kiki Heslenfeld, Marcel Slagter, Jochum Vrijland