Commissioned by Shanghai International Dance Center Theater

Three groups of choreographers with three kinds of style

“The Trial” has a realistic style to remind us of the Sword of Damocles through Kafka’s “Trial”

“Arrive” is an emotional anatomy of four female dancers that features hip-pop style

“Shadow Passenger” chases the fading time starting from Edgar Allan Poe to Murakami Haruki

Hip-pop dance champions, dancers from international groups on the same stage to think with their bodies and talk with their movements

[ Introduction ]

What are you mumbling?

Is it a confused question, a heart-warming statement, or a firm lament?

Three groups of choreographers from D.LAB DANCE use three different works to focus on their current status and analyze themselves, after some struggling and exploring.

The theme of “Musings” comes from the observations of XU Yiming, commissioned artist of D.LAB DANCE. Three groups of choreographers and dancers will share their thoughts by dancing.

Contemporary dance “Shadow Passenger” by Tang Tingting and LIAO Chien-Shun

The dance work starts with Edgar Allan Poe’s “Raven” and ends with Murakami Haruk’s “Kafka on the Shore.” The character on stage becomes a traveler of time, guided by a young boy Raven. The life is not only changing between existing and vain, it’s also an experience combined of each moment. When looking back at life, the artists feel their connection with the world: “You are part of the new world when you wake up.”

Hip-pop-featured “Arrive” by Slipper Project

Going forward, digging deeper. Always looking for the purest blue even in the heavy storm. The fusion of hip-pop and contemporary dance creates a new style that doesn’t need a definition. It also records the experience of how four female dancers explore their inner hearts. They ride the waves and chase a new self in the iron forest of city, breaking and clashing with all the boundaries on the way.

Dance Theater “The Trial” by XU Yiming, YU Guojun and TANG Tingting

The work is inspired by Kafka’s “Trial”. The artists focuses on daily details, discovers the absurdity of normal orders and the people who are locked in the system. The dance work uses body language to express the denial of numbness and craving for sanity.

[ Highlights ]

A crossover dialogue in which Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe and Murakami Haruk talk with dance language

In this work we can see many literature reflections from Kafka, Allan Poe and Haruk’s works. We can also feel and think freely. The dancers use their own way to inject their feelings and emotions into the movements, based on their own experience of life and reality. The audiences can take a peek into their “Musings.”

A minimum stage setting to discover the essence of dance with only one desk, one chair and one cabinet

A desk, a chair, a wooden cabinet and a microphone… common things are empowered with new meanings and these simple props build up a realistic space. This minimum set simplifies the complexity of a stage, making it possible for the dancers to enter a dialogue between themselves, the audience and the environment. The shapes and lines on stage are just like shapes and lines in real life. Breaking through those boundaries is also a journey of searching the dancers’ inner hearts.

Collaborated by hip-pop champion dancers and international dancers

The project is collaborated by a group of young dancers and choreographers. XU Yiming, dancer and choreographer of “The Trial” is a commissioned artist of D. LAB DANCE, winning the bronze medal on the 4^th Beijing International Ballet & Choreographer Competition and the golden medal of the 5^th Beijing International Ballet & Choreographer Competition. Liao Jianshun, dancer and choreographer of “Shadow Passenger” , is a dancer at Wayne McGregor Dance Group while Tang Tingting used to play in immersive theater “Sleep No More.” “Arrive” is cocreated by three members of Slipper Project, who are champions at hip-pop competitions, and guest performers in popular dance shows.

[ Creative Team ]

Choreographer: XU Yiming, YU Guojun, Slipper Project (LI Yu, Qiu Siwen, Henry), TANG Tingting, LIAO Chien-Shun

Co-presented by D.LAB DANCE, Shanghai International Dance Center Theater

Commissioned by Shanghai International Dance Center Theater

[ D.LAB DANCE ]

D.LAB DANCE is a premier art institution in Shanghai that specializes in theater performance and dance training. Founded in 2014, D.LAB has curated rich experiences and developed great local reputation as a platform that integrates theater production and dance training, as well as commercial cooperation with multiple brands.With her background as a multi-award winning ballerina and an elite contemporary dancer, the founder, DUAN Jingting has taken an unconventional approach in her design of D.LAB’s dance training program. With a primary focus on ballet and contemporary dance, we also supplement the curriculum with Chinese classical dance. Because of our unique focus on these selective dance styles, along with highly experienced instructors, our program has received remarkable feedback from our members since it was launched in March 2014.

[ YOUTH INCUBATION PLATFORM ]

Shanghai International Dance Center Theater Youth Incubation Platform (hereinafter referred to as "youth incubation platform") is platform for young dance artists in China who have room for growth and development to communicate and display, sponsored and established by the Shanghai International Dance Center Theater. It provides creative resources, funding, publicity and exchange and learning opportunities for outstanding young dancers, promoting development and catalyzing innovation. It provides a new window for Chinese original dance works to go out of the country and into the world.