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Tracking Focus, Corporeal Signals in Dance
#dancethehistoryofbody
#dancefilmexhibition
#dialogueamongselections
By Will HUANG
The existence of "the self" emerges from consciousness, yet the body predates our self-awareness, making it far older. Even as our sense of self fades with age, the body remains our companion until the end. Through education and socialization, our consciousness has come to dominate our physical awareness, creating a disconnect. Yet the body keeps sending signals of varying intensity. Dance offers a vital path to rebuild this connection and examine our relationship with our bodies. This gave rise to the theme "Dance, the History of Body," exploring how dance films reflect on body and identity.
In 2020, amid the pandemic, Taiwan Dance Platform launched its first themed Dance Film Exhibition. The call drew 172 entries from 27 countries, with 11 works selected after two rounds of judging. These pieces showcase various dialogues, conflicts, and reconciliations between bodies and subjects. If I Can't Dance (Hong Kong) explores healing and physical limitations. Untitled (Taiwan) delves into bodily sensations. Slow Dance (Zoomed In): A Green Leaf (Hong Kong) reflects on life as a dancer, while its companion piece Slow Dance (Zoomed In): Latin Dance 1 poetically captures the creator's defining dance work. Other selections examine the self through culture, urban life, society, memory, and identity.
Curator and preliminary judge CHOU Shu-yi explains: "Dance films rarely find audiences in Taiwan. We hope this platform allows creators to share their vision and gives spectators context for these works." Before the exhibition, the creators of all 11 pieces gathered to exchange ideas, exploring their work through questions and discussion.
Taiwan's creative strength shines through its four selected works
In the showcase of Taiwanese works, street dancer CHEN Pin-ni and photographer-director CHEN Po-yi present Monster Escape Operation, a vibrant and energetic piece exploring the concept of "freedom." Their work contextualizes street dance culture through levity. Despite generational gaps in the street dance community's perspectives, creative dialogue offers a promising path forward, with plans to develop this into a series.
Weaving on the Moon transitions from live performance to screen, incorporating distinct indigenous elements throughout its dance, music, and aesthetic design. During discussions, choreographer and artistic director Watan TUSI explored how identity evolves between traditional and contemporary expressions. The work takes on new dimensions through director William LÜ's lens, capturing subtlties and emotions often lost in live performances.
Director HSU Hai-wen, after a decade in France and previous nominations at both Taipei and Kaohsiung Film Festivals, earns special mention with Untitled. The work attempts to reconnect with bodily experiences from their time in France, employing unique sound techniques to guide audiences through their own physical self-examination alongside the creator.
Hung Dance aims to expand their original IP beyond live performances into multiple media formats. Their work BIRDY masterfully tackles the technical challenges of dance and cinematography across diverse settings—from outdoor pools to studios and underground tunnels—while maintaining an exquisitely crafted aesthetic universe. Through various artistic approaches, they transform the pheasant motif into a compelling symbol of Taiwanese social issues, offering multiple interpretative layers that captivate spectators.
Works from Hong Kong, Macau, and Beijing explore both personal identity and urban life
From Macau and Beijing, Macau Blank Diary centers on Praça de Ponte e Horta as directors KAM Hiu-lam and WANG Quan-qing 's canvas for urban documentation. Taking a personal perspective, KAM arranges dance sequences and captured cityscapes based on temporal and visual sensibilities, with music composed only after editing—creating a meditative portrait of life in the old city.
Another Macau piece, The Rhythm of Sharing, documents memories of hometown eateries through selective symbolism and sparse cinematography, preserving dance contexts with elegant simplicity.
In Hong Kong's If I Can't Dance, choreographer Jennifer MOK weaves numerous theatrical settings into the work's serious themes. She playfully notes a moment where two men create tension by pulling ropes from outside the camera frame. This setup inadvertently created what felt like an invisible trio dance—a dynamic that remains hidden from spectators in the final piece.
Both submissions from Hong Kong's Slow Dance series earned selection for the program. Choreographer and artistic director Joseph LEE originally conceived this as a performance series before transforming it into a multimedia collaboration with director Kitty YEUNG. While they have completed four films since 2022, submission rules limited them to presenting only two. The Slow Dance series examines defining moments in dancers' careers while exploring the nature of time itself—from personal artistic evolution to the disconnect between individual and societal rhythms—creating space for audiences to reflect on these temporal dimensions.
European contributions bring experimental energy
The Swiss work Searching for Tarab, a decade-long project, chronicles Geneva dancers Laurence Yadi and Nicolas Cantillon cultural pilgrimage to Cairo. With documentary-style narrative and polished technique, it traces the challenges and influences that emerge when Western contemporary dance meets Tarab, the traditional Arabic music form. During discussions, Nicolas, an enthusiast of global cultural immersion, revealed plans to explore Taiwanese culture—perhaps spawning another world-touring dance piece.
How does digital technology reshape dance? Anna from Ongoing Realities describes their journey from motion capture to algorithmic choreography tools. The Swedish piece [esc] emerges from this cumulative research, delivering striking spatial depth, rich technique, and narratively dynamic yet structurally precise visual innovation.
As the exchange drew to a close, CHOU Shu-yi and jury member William LÜ (from both preliminary and final selections) openly shared their visions, exploring participants' interest in future dance film creation and discussing resource accessibility across different countries. They hoped this exchange would forge connections among artists, laying groundwork for future collaborations. Amid this warm atmosphere, jury member LÜ offered an insight: "Dance, the History of Body is intimate yet communal." This observation resonated throughout the room, drawing everyone closer. While seemingly addressing the theme, it encompassed broader implications about curation, artworks, life journeys, and relationships. Through this curation, not only creators but all spectators might discover those abstract yet tangible connections residing within their bodies, waiting to be unearthed.
Program
►Dance Film Exhibition - Dance, the History of Body
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