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FOCUS CHINA
Body, ideology, contemporary

The past is a foreign land. In the two excerpts from Pear Garden and Yong 2, Tian Tian guides the audience in an exercise in imagination, or exploration, of the past as an ‘exotic place’.
Pear Garden is a dance adaptation of one of the forms of traditional Chinese opera dating back to the Song era (960-1270 D.C.).
Yong 2 is an original composition inspired by the miniatures of the Han era (202 A.C. – 220 D.C.) representing young girls in the act of dancing. This journey expresses the profound respect of Tian Tian towards the past, but also her need to draw a connection with today, the personal dimension, and contemporary sensibility. In her double role as choreographer and researcher of ancient Chinese dance, Tian Tian combines an archaeological reconstruction of traditional Chinese dance with the will to re-imagine it for today’s audience.

FOCUS CHINA
Body, ideology, contemporary

Usually, when one hears of Chinese performing arts, the mind goes to the same set of images: the iconic movements of Peking opera, the physical bravura of acrobats and contortionists, the colossal group choreographies. Postcards from an exotic China, far away in time and space, difficult to reconcile with our (European) idea of “contemporary”. Suggestive snapshots that tickle the imagination while inferring a substantial, irreconcilable difference between “them” and “us”.
Beyond this two-dimensional portrait that the media constantly reproduce, there are not one, but several Chinas. Chinese contemporary dance well reflects this multiplicity: a mutable reality where tradition and experimentation coexist, and interact in complex ways. “Body, Ideology, Contemporary” aims to explore such complexity and offer a broad overview of Chinese performing arts to the Italian and European audience.
Five emerging choreographers present their work through performances and workshops. At the centre of their research, the body and the ideological forces that influence, shape and define it. From Lian Guodong/Lei Yan’s body as a place of resistance, to Wu Hui’s and Yu Yanan’s body as a receptacle of memory; from Er Gao’s provocative queer body, to Tian Tian‘s archaeological reconstruction of the body. In addition to the performance section, the program offers many opportunities for an in-depth understanding, including lectures by academic personalities, meetings with the artists, and public events joined by Italian dance artists too. Visuality will also play a central role, with video materials presenting seminal personalities and works from Chinese contemporary dance artists.

Fabrizio Massini – Curator