FUSE#4

da:ns LAB
“I find that it’s hard for my body to dance. Dance is a luxury for me. Now
I’m trying to find new ways to understand what is dance.”
– Xiao Ke (in her day 1 introduction)
Day Two
On dancing in public space,
Republic of Dance was based on the daily public square dances common in
cities across China, danced by older folks. XK x ZH mention that they initiated
this project after being asked frequently about “China’s contemporary dance”,
leading them to seek out dances danced by everyday Chinese people. XK x ZH
approached this with the following questions: Is public square dance different
in various cities? How do public square dances change Chinese society? What
is the body memory of mainland Chinese? It was also a way for Xiao Ke to connect
with her parents’ generation, whom she previously did not identify much
with as they had different lifestyles and what she perceived as bad manners
(e.g. speaking excessively loudly).
XK x ZH identified distinctive elements in the public square dances which
they related to Chinese body memory: poses with the Little Red Book and
positions influenced by Maoist Moral Operas, pauses for photography, and a
unique concept of the use of music which was not count-based. They also
observed that the public square dance groups generated their own forms of
community and communication, with their own groups using online forums.
They noted that body memory lingers, even though China changes very
fast. These memories influenced a whole generation, but wondered how a
younger generation understands this?
Public square dancing also says something about how Chinese use
public space. Despite overseas impressions of control in communist country,
Chinese people use public space a lot and don’t care what others think. The
dancing was an important expression of happiness for a generation with
painful memories.
On censorship,
XK x ZH’s instant theatre initiative in Shanghai Too late/NIAO NIAO Festival/
Instant Theatre was created to circumvent the Chinese censorship process.
They created their own inflatable theatre and festival to support independent
young artists and show their own work. Through an open call they assembled
30 performing artists and amateurs and together created a work called Too
Late. They later brought the Instant Theatre to Penang but regretted it because
it was so hot!
The context for Too Late was that XK x ZH had several shows for the
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