See You is must see. Choreographed by Taiwanese Lai Hung-Chung with his own company, Hung Dance which was founded in 2017. This is a deeply moving piece – mainly in slo-mo – influenced by Tai Chi with elements of popping. This new emerging choreographer is hugely talented and imaginative with enormous ambition as he tackles traumatic subject matter, loss, longing and confrontation on a universal scale through a crowd of dancers.
The simplest of moves can achieve an epic status
To start the show, a blue light shines on a group of dancers huddled together with one girl on top, the rest of the stage in shadow and throughout the superb lighting by Tsai Chao-Yu, plays an atmospheric part. The dancers are all clad in shapeless white long trousers and tops, their feet in socks, the costumes designed by Yang Yu-Tei. The movements are simple and slow, reflecting Tai Chi, where one can appreciate their full physicality. It is profoundly emotional and made one reflect how the simplest of moves can create powerful choreography and achieve an epic status. There are no showy tricks but an essential honesty in how various relationships are portrayed. At times, there is hypnotic music, at others, frenzied, to express the dancers’ differing states.
Unfortunately, this piece narrowly missed gaining a fifth star. After an outstanding first twenty minutes it degenerated as it went on far too long with no sense of dramatic structure. But this choreographer will go far in the future as he masters his craft and this piece is certainly one to watch.
