It was a gobsmacking piece indeed. Now I understand why he was complemented as the
most striking Asian choreographer, that night was unprecedentedly exceptional.
Entertaining, exciting, fascinating and intelligent. No dead-air at all, just pure surprises all
the way through. I was entirely absorbed into his performance, not just choreography itself,
but also the cloth, lighting and music, every single thing was an unexpected excitement.
The initial idea of this piece was suggested by LSCD aiming to revitalize one of Yeung’s old works. Yueng has always grieved at the fact that most contemporary dance works can only be on stage for few times, then they will be gone forever. I truly agree on this inconvenient truth. Artists had devoted so much for a production, however it could only survive on the stage for few nights and that’s it. This piece really moved me, probably because I am right in the middle of my own revitalization project. Yeung’s work really shined through my mind. Revitalizing a work is not like redoing it, it is about how you manipulate the original and present it in a more sophisticated way. After 12 years, a cycle of Chinese lunar, Yeung explored and challenged himself with more stage chemistry and physical ability.
Back to the dance itself, it was completely Daniel Yeung, he explored himself from tip to toe. As the provided schedule states, he illustrated various relationships between body, identity, soul, time and space, face, gender, mind, past and present, artist and audience. This choreographic device somewhat reminded me of Merce Cunningham who developed the idea of hunting different ways for different body parts to move, particularly in the scene when Yeung utilized his face as a ‘‘dancer’’. The trend initiated by Cunningham of experimenting self-body and manipulating usual body movements has strong and deep influences on contemporary choreographers. Comparing dance history with music history in this regard, similar stories in music exposed much earlier on dated back to 18th century. Musicians then already started searching other possibilities of creating sounds from the instruments other than the usual way, this kind of approach has become a significant inspiration for the modern artistic explorers.
It was a solo, but not a solo
Props on Yeung’s stage are not just props, they are real dancers too. Mirror was cleverly used in the first session, it was not just there reflecting Yeung, but, more importantly, also the space. I guess no one would ever forget the cloth Yeung used in his performance, it is incredibly stretchy and durable to tolerate his weight. Besides, it is white and see-through, making a sharp contrast to the back drop. He made full use of this cloth, the cloth itself is a dancer, a performer too. It danced, reflected, communicated and interact with Yeung. All the videos played on the cloth are the original ones used in his production 12 years ago, it was interesting to study the difference between the current Daniel Yeung and the one 12 years ago. As in the meet the artist session, he also admitted that age is gradually engulfing us and time does leave traces on us. It may not do much on our physical appearances, but it slowly takes our physical ability away and it is indeed unavoidable. Dancing with himself could be an implication of his unintended confession to ageing.
Discovering the real Daniel Yeung
Daniel was dressed in an ultimate lady outfit and cat-walked up to stage in his most feminine manner, then he took off the items one by one without forgetting to pose like a model, I sincerely appreciate the amusing side of him. That ‘swaggering’ face instantly made me picture him as a university student, humorous and witty. Despite the physical body movements, his emotional facial expression was an enjoyable experience with no
The initial idea of this piece was suggested by LSCD aiming to revitalize one of Yeung’s old works. Yueng has always grieved at the fact that most contemporary dance works can only be on stage for few times, then they will be gone forever. I truly agree on this inconvenient truth. Artists had devoted so much for a production, however it could only survive on the stage for few nights and that’s it. This piece really moved me, probably because I am right in the middle of my own revitalization project. Yeung’s work really shined through my mind. Revitalizing a work is not like redoing it, it is about how you manipulate the original and present it in a more sophisticated way. After 12 years, a cycle of Chinese lunar, Yeung explored and challenged himself with more stage chemistry and physical ability.
Back to the dance itself, it was completely Daniel Yeung, he explored himself from tip to toe. As the provided schedule states, he illustrated various relationships between body, identity, soul, time and space, face, gender, mind, past and present, artist and audience. This choreographic device somewhat reminded me of Merce Cunningham who developed the idea of hunting different ways for different body parts to move, particularly in the scene when Yeung utilized his face as a ‘‘dancer’’. The trend initiated by Cunningham of experimenting self-body and manipulating usual body movements has strong and deep influences on contemporary choreographers. Comparing dance history with music history in this regard, similar stories in music exposed much earlier on dated back to 18th century. Musicians then already started searching other possibilities of creating sounds from the instruments other than the usual way, this kind of approach has become a significant inspiration for the modern artistic explorers.
It was a solo, but not a solo
Props on Yeung’s stage are not just props, they are real dancers too. Mirror was cleverly used in the first session, it was not just there reflecting Yeung, but, more importantly, also the space. I guess no one would ever forget the cloth Yeung used in his performance, it is incredibly stretchy and durable to tolerate his weight. Besides, it is white and see-through, making a sharp contrast to the back drop. He made full use of this cloth, the cloth itself is a dancer, a performer too. It danced, reflected, communicated and interact with Yeung. All the videos played on the cloth are the original ones used in his production 12 years ago, it was interesting to study the difference between the current Daniel Yeung and the one 12 years ago. As in the meet the artist session, he also admitted that age is gradually engulfing us and time does leave traces on us. It may not do much on our physical appearances, but it slowly takes our physical ability away and it is indeed unavoidable. Dancing with himself could be an implication of his unintended confession to ageing.
Discovering the real Daniel Yeung
Daniel was dressed in an ultimate lady outfit and cat-walked up to stage in his most feminine manner, then he took off the items one by one without forgetting to pose like a model, I sincerely appreciate the amusing side of him. That ‘swaggering’ face instantly made me picture him as a university student, humorous and witty. Despite the physical body movements, his emotional facial expression was an enjoyable experience with no
doubts. Sometimes we were drawn into his dark and heavy character, sometimes we were
drawn into his funny and restless character and went wild with him. Reading his dance
was just like reading his life stories. It is important for a dancer to possess such attraction
and charm leading the audience to his world. Daniel has definitely got it. The most
entertaining part would be the shadowing the situation in his dance class, ‘’ Stretch!
Longer, longer, longer!’’ ,“you think you can’t do it? Look at me!’’, Yeung said. Those lines
have certainly rung a warm bell of whatever dance classes we took.
Maybe I should link ‘‘unpredictable’’ to Daniel Yeung, I can’t wait for his next surprise.
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