This piece began with Jessica Rizzo’s text, three voices speaking simultaneously, a polyphonic poem juxtaposed with one body bearing the weight of it all. Yang Hao has interpreted this text using dance and pedestrian movement to speak to his experiences as a Chinese man pushed and pulled by both eastern and western cultural influences. Artistically, Yang Hao and Jessica Rizzo are interested in investigating the fragmentation of narrative and different perspectives on movement and language.
Description
A female voice speaking to herself, questioning and answering at the same time. A man dances with the voice, atomizing himself, assuming different roles, shapes, and identities in relationship to the unseen woman. He uses water to draw a square on the floor and dances inside the square. The square becomes a home or shelter in his imagination, but it evaporates quickly. He draws it again and again, as though trying lend permanence to his memories. He begins to consider his own identity, which involves questions of dance, age, loneliness, and power. How does the personal become political? What do we need? Love? Escape? Validation? Sex? Companionship?
Artists
Choreographer & Performer: Hao Yang Yale China Arts Fellow HK-ETO NYC, YiRan Li Playwright & Dramaturg: Jessica Rizzo DFA candidate in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Composer: Christopher Ross-Ewart MFA candidate in sound design Voice: Elisabeth Stahlmann MFA candidate in Acting YiRan Li started her professional Ballet training when she was 9 years old in China. After graduation she has worked at National Ballet of China and The Hong Kong Ballet. YiRan is not only a dancer, but also a choreographer and a dance teacher. She received her first master degree in dance education from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Also she was supported by Hong Kong Government with the full scholarship for her second M. F. A degree at New York University Tisch school of the Arts. In addition YiRan Li is a certified Yoga, Pilates, Zena Rommett Floor-Barre, Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis instructor.