About the performance:
360° full body – lenght and real – time video projection invite us to discover a new definition of the body.
In the beginning, there is nothing but darkness. Then, out of the dark emerges an electronic soundscape of footsteps, breathing and subtle body movements. You can feel the presence of a body moving. Suddenly, a face appears with eyes closed. You realise a sculpture-like body standing in front of you. The head starts moving slowly, becoming aware of its own presence. Joint by joint, limb by limb, the body, standing upright in the middle of the stage, seems to (re)discover itself and to become aware of its own structure by acquiring knowledge about its own nature. Later, a 360º full body-length projection of an artificial second body invades the scene creating an experience of motion distinct from the movements of the first body. How does the natural body get used to this second body? Also, how does the natural body realise its own transformation triggered by the artificial second body? A new definition of the body is to be discovered!
“The concept of Second Body comes from the experience of driving cars” – said the artistic director of the company Jeff Chieh-hua Hsieh. “If I want to steer the wheel, to brake, to step on the gas, I don’t need to consciously think, yet the car can still go ahead, turn, and park at the correct spot according to my will. Moreover, when I am driving, I know how big my car is when I weave through narrow alleys, and I know where the four wheels are as the car proceeds in its tracks. Maneuvering a car is an experience done almost entirely out of reflex, without the need for the brain to actively think. This reminds me of the way we move our hands and feet, which move naturally without the need for us to think. When we are infants, we learn how to use our own bodies: we learn to stand on our feet, move, and run, and gradually learn to exercise our bodies as we will. We even learn how to use our bodies to the max in certain sports and exercises. In sum, the accumulation of knowledge, concepts and training allows us to use our bodies without conscious thought, making the use of our bodies an extension of the natural, physical body itself. The same happens when learning to drive, so that driving becomes a process achieved without thinking, with the car becoming an extension of the body. The present work starts from establishing the presence of the body, while learning the structure of the natural body through setting up knowledge of the body itself. In addition, the knowledge of the structure of exercise is used to represent what we know of our own first bodies in the moment. Afterwards, a fully functional body starts to build up, then change the environment for itself. Gradually, the environment starts to change the body as well. The following section is a 360º full body-length projection enters the picture to create a non-natural second body, which creates an experience of movement distinct from the movements of the first body. We are re-learning this new body. Adaptation? Conflict? Do we, during the conversion between these two, produce new knowledge to define our bodies with the change in our viewing perspective? Furthermore, how does the second body replace the definition and existence of the first body in the process?”
“Create an immersive physical-digital environment that puts no boundaries between real and virtual space.” – Hyperallergic, New York.
“Two modern dancers battled for love in a changing interactive visual environment. The visuals connected and reacted perfectly to their every movement, making them even more intense and hypnotic.”- Dots Magazine, The Netherlands.
About the company:
Anarchy Dance Theatre
Founded in 2010 by architect and choreographer Jeff Chieh-hua Hsieh with focus on contemporary dance theatre style, Anarchy Dance Theatre aims to build up a unique dance vocabulary, training system and a platform that encompasses artist collaboration from all fields. “Anarchy” derived from series of dance pieces Hsieh created in discussion of authority structure in human society. Since motion-sensitive dance work, Seventh Sense, was created in 2011, the company has been toured in the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Hong Kong, UAE, China and New York and attracted local and international acclaims from performing arts, digital arts and visual arts communities. Seventh Sense IIpremiered in November 2012 as a significant work for the Digital Art Festival in Taipei. Following the second dance-digital-art work collaboration with Ultra Combos, Second Bodyreceived much praise and drew extraordinary reviews. In August 2015, it had its world-premiere in Taiwan and its european premiere at Ars Electronica Linz in September 2015.
Jeff Chieh-hua HSIEH
Jeff Chieh-hua Hsieh, the artistic director of Anarchy Dance Theatre, a Taiwanese based independent choreographer, who received his BA degree in Architecture and MFA in Dance Choreography. A unique texture and strong structural characteristic of his choreographic works are derived from his architecture background, with focus on awareness of body and its relationship in between with time, space and society. In 2010, he was invited by Singapore’s Frontier Danceland to collaborate and present a new piece with Artistic Director Low Mei Yoke at Esplanade and to choreography at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2012. His recent work In Freedom (2015) was commissioned by National Theatre & Concert Hall Taiwan and his previous works, Seventh Sense (2011) and Seventh Sense II (2012), were commissioned by Ministry of Culture Taiwan and presented at National Theatre’s blackbox. Other choreography credits include, Anarchy’s Dream (2009), Anarchy (2008), Gray Mass (2006) and Falling Kiss (2006). His first two works in 2006 have successfully won him prestigious awards of choreography in Taiwan.
Ultra Combos
Ultra Combos is an innovative and interactive new media design house founded in 2010. The name “Ultra Combos” came from the combination of legendary three divinatory tricks in ancient China.When looking for novel ideas for projects, they hope to have broad and thorough thinking just like the “Ultra Combos” divination. Since 2006, team members have been active in art events, including Ars Electronica Linz, Digital Art Festival Taipei, SIGGRAPH US, Kaohsiung International Container Arts Festival, International Festival of Electronic Art 404, FILE Electronic Language International Festival in Brazil and TSONAMI Festival of Sound Buenos Aires in Argentina, TodaysArt Festival in Hollad and WSD World Stage Design in the UK.
Yannick Dauby
Based in Taiwan since 2007. Exploring the soundscapes of this island through field recording, audio documentaries and community projects. Composing electroacoustic music (aka “musique concrète”) and performing improvised music with found objects, analogue devices and digital processing. Creating soundtracks and sound environments for contemporary dance, public art and films. Involved in activities about ecology and local traditional cultures.
We Do Group
Wedo, was taken from Eastern Jin Dynasty’s literature Guo Pu’s annotation of the earliest shapes of light fixtures or vessels. We Do Group is a team of creative talents from diverse disciplines. The team creates with lights and has long established stature in the performing arts. Recent years, We Do Group has been involved extensively in contemporary art, architectural lighting, public art and interior lighting projects. The We Do concept seeks to infuse the professionalism of light design into creative lifestyles.
River LIN
Born in 1984, River Lin is an independent curator and artist working across the fields of performing and visual arts. Out of artistic boundary as strategy, River’s work includes site-specific performance, theatre, dance, and installation making. In River’s interdisciplinary art practice, he concerns culture differences between generations, the contemporary psychological state, and the performative body in ritual process.
Shao-ching Hung/ Dancer
Someone who goes without turning back once the mind is determined. This is Shao-ching, who cleverly finds her complete interpretation through out the concepts given by choreographers, and further more expresses her own personality with honesty. She keeps seeking different possibilities in interpretation during her work of masters without losing her own value. Graduated from the department of Dance of Taipei National University of Arts, worked as a full-time dancer from 2005-2010 in Dance Forum Taipei. Worked with Lin Hwai-min (Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theater), Rose Parkes, Ming-Shen KU (Founder of Ku & Dancers), and also interpreted “set & reset” of Trisha Brown. In 2011, she participated in “Seventh Sense” of Anarchy Dance Theatre and toured in Spain in October 2012.
The seats for the show are without a specific number. All seats are located on the stage.
Duration: 45 min
Production: Anarchy Dance Theatre
Concept & Choreography: Jeff Chieh-hua Hsieh
Software Development, Visual & Sound Design: Ultra Combos
Sound Design: Yannick Dauby
Dramaturgy: River Lin
Lighting Design: We Do Group
Custom Design: Yu-teh Yang
Technical Initiator & Operator: Grace Hsiang-ting Teng
Soloist: Shao-ching Hung
Tour Management: AxE Arts Management
Project Support: QA Ring
Project Mentor: Justine Beaujouan
Project Consultant: Kevin Cunningham
Commissioned by: Quanta Arts Foundation/QA Ring
Project Mentor: Justine Beaujouan
Project Consultant: Kevin Cunningham
Pictures: © Ching-Ju Cheng
Supported by Ministry of Culture Taiwan
