Taiwanese contemporary dance troupe Huang Yi Studio +(黃翊工作室) will present its latest work Ink (墨) at this year’s flagship program for the International Society for the Performing Arts' (ISPA), "Pitch New Works."
Commissioned by the National Theater and Concert Hall and the National Taichung Theater, Ink displays how choreographer Huang Yi deconstructs and reconstructs calligraphy master TONG Yang-tze(董陽孜)’s Silent Music in his dance performance. The bodies of dancers are like brushes leaving heavy and light strokes in the space, enacting the “flying white / half-dry stroke” calligraphy technique on stage. Channeling the energy of physical movement into the lines and curves of calligraphy, Huang Yi’s new dance piece expresses both sophisticated and wild flow of motions. Moreover, Huang invites audiovisual artist Ryoichi Kurokawa to translate the cursive lines of characters into flashes of light and sound after their previous collaboration in Under the Horizon. The dancers’ bodies combined with the impact of unique contemporary music present flowing paintings drawn by dancers, light and shadow.
The troupe will introduce their new work to the curators of global performing arts organizations through a presentation on January 10 (Eastern Time), along with nine other teams from Singapore, Iraq, Spain, Norway, United Kingdom, Canada and more. Also, Huang Yi Studio + is now planning its US tour for Fall 2024, featuring Ink and Huang Yi & KUKA.
The Pitch New Works projects were selected from a pool of 101 applications by ISPA’s Pitch New Works Committee. The committee was chaired by Hanako Yamaguchi, Independent Arts Consultant and former Director of Music Programming at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Also serving on the committee were Igor Lozada Rivera Melo, Director at Universidad de Guadalajara, Cultura UDG; Jochem Valkenburg, Programming Director of Music and Music Theatre at the Holland Festival; and Meiyin Wang, Producing Director at the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center.
Ink’s Artistic and Creative Team
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Programmer & Dancer / HUANG Yi
Calligraphy / TONG Yang-tze
Audiovisual Design / Ryoichi Kurokawa
Co-commission / National Taichung Theater, National Theater & Concert Hall