Concept & Vision
The vision for Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight is to create a unique theatrical expression, blending poetry, dance, and visual design. It draws inspiration from the profound poetry of Yu Xiuhua, a renowned contemporary Chinese poet living with Cerebral Palsy. Yu Xiuhua's impact on Chinese and global literature has been likened to that of Emily Dickinson in China. The production strives to embody and visualize Yu Xiuhua's reflections on love, desire, beauty, disability, and the societal pressures faced by women. Conceptualized and directed by Farooq Chaudhry, Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight explores the intricacies and contradictions inherent not only in Yu Xiuhua's life but in all of us.

 

The project brings forth thought-provoking inquiries about the relevance of personal strife in today's society, as individuals endeavor to discover their genuine identities amidst a constant whirlwind of diversions. It encourages contemplation on whether embracing our true selves and stepping out of the shadows leads to liberation, or if these shadows hold deeper meaning. Can these stirring poems and their reinterpretation through live performance serve as a gateway to a parallel world where our true essence can flourish and our spirits can roam freely?

 

Yu Xiuhua will join two dancers and an actress on stage, supported by seven large shadows crafted by the acclaimed lighting and visual designer Michael Hulls. The visual landscape will be enriched by innovative digital projections of the poetry as elemental symbols of the natural world, and a fresh, aesthetically integrated approach to the reimagining of surtitles within the performance.

 

Following an initial research phase in September 2023 to establish a creative process conducive to fostering trust in this delicate collaboration, the project will progress through two extensive creation periods in 2024, culminating in a world premiere and subsequent international tour. The production champions disabled performers and those enthusiastic about innovative approaches to dance, and its artistic, cultural, and diversity contributions are significant.

 

A Word from the Artists
“I am very excited to collaborate with Farooq Chaudhry on this performance project. Poetry is an art of imagination, and for the past few decades, my physical disabilities have always accompanied me. However, poetry has been a pair of wings that have helped me take flight and ascend to unpredictably vast places. I know that another version of myself has lain dormant in the shadows, ready to spring forward at any moment. When poetry encounters the body once again, I am eager to see how this journey of imagination will unfold on stage.”
- Yu Xiuhua, Poet

 

“In 2017, I chanced upon Yu Xiuhua's poetry, and it immediately captivated me. Her words fearlessly and unflinchingly leapt off the page, conveying the vulnerability and struggle of a woman seeking acceptance from both her inner and outer worlds. I found that I could relate to some extent, having grown up in the U.K. as an immigrant and constantly feeling like a shadow in a society that refused to accept me. As a teenager, dance “gave me wings” that set me free in a similar way that writing poetry did for Xiuhua. For reasons I cannot explain, and with no clear destination in mind, I feel compelled to embark on this journey with her and our creative team. I hope that we may take flight together and soar into "unpredictably vast spaces.””

 

“The Poetry of Shadows

As a small child I discovered two Indonesian Wayang shadow puppets in an old chest of my grandmother’s and ever since I’ve been fascinated by shadows. Shadows are like poetry, they have a way of indirectly expressing reality and unveiling profound truths.

 

Whether creating my installation Shadow Space for the Ikon Gallery, or creating Shift for Russell Maliphant and the shadow play within DESH for Akram Khan I relish the
opportunity to create a world of shadow and poetry. And now, I'm excited to bring that same fascination to Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight.”

Artistic Director: Farooq Chaudhry (UK)
• Co-founder and Producer of Akram Khan Company
• Listed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as one of world's top hundred cultural actors and entrepreneurs (2008)
• International Creative Producer for China’s national dance icon Yang Liping (2016 — present )
• Producer at the English National Ballet (2013 — 2017)
• Accepted an OBE for his services to Dance and Dance Production (2019)
• Appointed as a Tate Artist Trustee (2019)
• Honorary Doctorate Recipient from De Montfort University (2014) & Goldsmiths University (2023)

Poet/Performer: Yu Xiuhua (China)
Yu Xiuhua is one of the best-known and most influential contemporary Chinese poets. Yu Xiuhua (b.1976) grew up in an impoverished family in rural Hubei, China. Born with cerebral palsy, she was unable to attend college or find work. While trapped in an arranged marriage, she began to write poetry in 1998 and gained wide recognition in 2014 when her poem "Crossing Half of China to Sleep with You" became an online sensation. Her poetry collection Moonlight Rests on My Left Palm (2015) sold over 400,000 copies totally, breaking the record for Chinese poetry titles in the past two decades. Yu received the Peasant Literature Award in 2016. Still Tomorrow, an award-winning documentary film about her life and poetry, was shown to the public and released to critical acclaim the same year. In 2018, she was awarded the Hubei Literary Prize. In defiance of the stigma attached to her disability, her status as a divorced single mother, and as a peasant in rural China, Yu Xiuhua found her voice in poetry. Starting in the late 90s, writing has become a vehicle for her to explore and share her reflections on homesickness, family and ancestry, as well as the reality of disability in the context of a body's urges and desires. In 2014, Yu's poem "Crossing Half of China to Sleep with You" blew open the doors on the world of contemporary Chinese poetry. She became an Internet sensation, finding a devoted following among young readers who enthusiastically welcomed her fresh, bold, confessional voice into the literary canon.

The rhythm of Yu's writing rises and falls with the seasons, capturing the physical toil of farming, the textures of leaves and grasses, and the light contained in a raindrop or dancing on a rock. Yet, her relationship with the nature goes further than one of admiration, trust, and peace – Yu also reflects on the suffocating impossibility and frustration around her and the limitations of the body.

Composer: Roger Goula (UK)
• Roger Goula is a London based composer and multi-instrumentalist whose range of
original works spans across albums, film scores, music for dance, TV, theatre and art
installation.
• Coming from a contemporary classical background, Roger’s work has developed into an experimental approach of classical chamber and orchestral music blent with electronics.
• Roger’s solo debut album Overview Effect was released in 2016 by Cognitive Shift in partnership with One LittleIndian.
• He scored the Oscar Nominated documentary “All That Breathes”
• He composed for award winning TV and film including: ITV/Netflix flagship series The Frankenstein Chronicles (Rainmak Films), the BAFTA nominated BBC docudrama
Against The Law (BBC Studios), the last ever two episodes of the legendary BBC series. Inspector George Gently (Company Pictures), the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days (Sandpaper Film) and The Betrayed Girls (Sandpaper Film), the feature film Access All Areas (Camden Films), Stay Behind: My Grandfather's Secret War (Bullitt Film).
• He has collaborated with choreographer Dickson Mbi in partnership with the Akram Khan Dance Company on a new choreography DUENDE and Olivier Award winning production Enowate.

 

Light & Visual Designer: Michael Hulls (UK)
• Over the last 30 years Michael has worked exclusively in dance, particularly with choreographer Russell Maliphant, and established a reputation as a “choreographer of light”.
• Eonnagata, Michael’s collaboration with Sylvie Guillem, Robert Lepage, Russell Maliphant, and Alexander McQueen, for which Michael won the 2009 Knight of Illumination Award.
• AfterLight led to Michael being nominated for both the Knight of Illumination Award and the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, in 2010.
• Michael has also worked for over 20 years with Akram Khan, including on his full length solo DESH, in-I Akram’s collaboration with Juliette Binoche at The National Theatre, Torobaka, Until The Lions, XENOS, CREATURE and JUNGLE BOOK reimagined which is currently on international tour.
• In 2009 Michael became an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells, in 2010 his contribution to dance was recognised with his entry into the Oxford Dictionary of Dance and in 2014 Michael received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance.
• In 2023 Michael accepted an OBE for services to Dance and the Arts.

 

Animation: Nick Hillel (Yeast Culture) (UK)
• YeastCulture create original and immersive visuals and projection mapping for live performance and installations.
• With over a decade of experience the award winning company works across art forms blending film, animation, illustration, documentary, set design and projection mapping.
• Their work has featured in classical performances, contemporary dance, theatre and galleries as well as visuals for live bands for international tours.
• Credits include the London Symphony Orchestra and director Peter Sellars on Janáček's ‘Cunning Little Vixen’ and Ligeti's ‘Le Grand Macabre’. Other collaborations include ‘RE_RITE’ gallery installation with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Akram Khan’s 'Jungle Book Re-Imagined' and ‘Desh’, Avant Gard Dance 'Illegal Dance’, Olivier award winning ‘Enowate' with Dickson MBi, Boy Blue’s ‘The Five and the Prophesy of Prana’, ’Bluebeard's Castle' with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony and projects with Nitin Sawhney, Cirque du Soleil, Wang Ramirez, Michael Tilson Thomas, Michael Nyman, Ben Okri, Matthew Herbert, Hussein Chalayan, Jamien Jalet, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Ludovico Einaudi, George Fenton, the V&A, the BBC, Channel 4.

Writer: Amy Ng (UK)
• Plays include UNDER THE UMBRELLA (Belgrade Theatre Coventry, UK Tour), ACCEPTANCE (Hampstead Theatre) , SHANGRI-LA (Finborough Theatre) and a new adaptation of Strindberg’s MISS JULIE (Chester Storyhouse).
• Radio plays include TIGER GIRLS (BBC Radio 4) and KILBURN PASSION (BBC Radio 3).
• She is under commission to the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre, and ice&fire.
• She was invited to take part in the BBC Writersroom 2017 Drama Room, and was later named on the BBC’s New Talent Hotlist. She is adapting her play UNDER THE UMBRELLA for TV with Merman.
• Amy trained as a historian with a research interest in multinational empires, imperial decline, and nationality conflict, and is the author of ‘Nationalism and Political Liberty’ (Oxford University Press).

Choreographer/Performer: Maya Jilan Dong (China)
• Associate Dancer of Yang Liping Foundation.
• Principal Dancer of the Peacock Dance Company.
• Young Artists Program（Shanghai International Arts Festival）commissioned artists.
• Paticipated in Yang Liping’s works: Dynamic Yunnan, Peacock, Apeng&Jinhua, Rite of Spring, etc.
• In 2018, the solo dance “Whip” choreographed and performed by herself, was supported by the Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Arts Council England.
• Nominated for the Emerging Artist Award of the British National Dance Awards 2018 for her performance in “Whip”.
• In 2021, as a choreographer, she was invited to participate in Chen Shizheng’ s work Classic of Mountains and Rivers.
• In 2022, she performed in the drama Love in the City directed by Tim Yip as: Saheiyini.
• In 2022, invited to participate in the Hunan Satellite TV Chinese Spring Festival Gala
and perform the solo dance Spring Cow.

 

Choreographer/Performer: Lico Kehua (China)
• Lico graduated from Minzu University of China, majoring in Chinese folk dance performance.
• She has worked as a full-time contemporary dancer in BeijingDance/LDTX company for 6 years. During the period, she starred in 30 performances with different artists and choreographed 5 works.
• Participated in many cross-field international cooperation projects, and actively promoted cultural exchanges between East and the West. The work involved dance, aerial straps initiation, painting, music, sculpture, video and environmental art.
• She has collaborated with artists such as: James Thierreé, Farooq Chaudhry, Tobias Gremmler, Anne Tournié, Jacob Jonas, Karina ShiglaBobinskin, Alexandre Dai Castaing, Kuniyoshi Yamada, Gabriel Schmitz，etc.

Performer: Tian Chaudhry (UK)
• Tian appeared in the Sony feature film The Invitation.
• She will appear as one of the leads in the feature film Coyote as well as Apple series Trying. Other credits include the Netflix feature film Rogue Agent and feature film The Gallery directed by Paul Raschid.
• She is a graduate of Bristol Old Vic Drama Schol and was selected as one of the finalists of the Warner Bros TV drama school graduates competition, after a worldwide search.
• Upon graduating she appeared in Red Light Winter at the Turbine Theatre.

 

Rehearsal Director/Movement Coach: Su-Man Hsu (UK)
• Su-Man, who used to be a professional dancer, is now known worldwide as a famous facialist and wellness expert in the beauty and skincare field.
• She grew up on a farm in Taiwan and moved to Europe at the age of 25 to pursue a flourishing career as a dancer with highly renowned companies, earning much acclaim for her presence, charisma, and unwavering honesty.
• She has transformed some of Hollywood’s biggest names into capable dancers for movie and theatre roles, including French actress Juliette Binoche, Freida Pinto, and Olga Kurylenko.
• World-renowned choreographer Akram Khan invited Su-Man as his rehearsal director for his dance segment in the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games in 2012.
• Even at sixty, Su-Man practices what she preaches, and her unmatched sense of discipline maintains her devotion to daily dance practice.

Fengling Productions
Feng Ling Productions was born out of Farooq Chaudhry’s curiosity with Asian artists, stories and perspectives. His profound interest ignited a strong desire to cultivate meaningful international collaborations in dance, music, and theatre.

 

The company's vision is guided by an unwavering commitment to empowering the creativity of producers and aims to transcend familiar boundaries and conventional norms. By bridging old worlds with new worlds, the company seeks to uncover universalism, beauty, and innovation in each artistic endeavor.

 

Fengling Productions is dedicated to working with the most exciting and adventurous talents, believing that Asian storytelling can enrich and complement the global artistic narrative. As a producer-led company founded by visionary Creative Producer Farooq Chaudhry (Akram Khan Company) and Creative Producer Geni Lou, its core values revolve around the belief that "beautiful things happen when different worlds meet."