Choreography: Kuik Swee Boon (Singapore) & Wu Yi-San (Taiwan)
In collaboration with lighting designer Goh Boon Ann, music composer Chang Hui Ni, and crosstalk pioneer Han Lao Da.
A crosstalk-inspired performance that speaks, leaps and communicates through dance.
At once fresh and innovative, The Ordinary Man finds its roots in Chinese crosstalk, drawing meaning from daily life to express and evoke emotion and imagery. Set to the rhyme and rhythm of crosstalk, it explores the bittersweet ironies of life and living through the ebb and flow of dance, in a journey that resolves in tears and laughter. Co-choreographed by Taiwanese choreographer Wu Yi-San and T.H.E Dance Company Artistic Director Kuik Swee Boon, and featuring Taiwanese guest dancers Kao Hsin-Yu and Chen Ying-Chih, the work draws extensively from the unique cultural backgrounds and experiences of each dancer. Singapore crosstalk pioneer Han Lao Da serves as Crosstalk Consultant.
A Huayi 2014 festival commission. The Ordinary Man is developed from Crosstalk, one of a triple-bill of dance works featured in Solo/Duet, which was commissioned by the NUS Centre for the Arts and presented at the NUS Arts Festival 2012.
Praise for The Ordinary Man:
“T.H.E Dance Company makes bold strides with… the unabashed laugh-out-loud funny The Ordinary Man.” – Germaine Cheng, The Straits Times
“《像生》开启了对现代舞的全新体验。舞蹈中‘跳’出来的相声,吸引了全体观众的目光,爆笑全场,也冲击震荡我心。”- 沈芷华,联合早报
Premiere: Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2014, 16 February 2014, Esplanade Theatre Studio.
premiere date 16–18 Sep 2021 | Goodman Arts Centre Black Box | Nah Jieying, Klievert Jon Mendoza, Goh Jia Yin & Maybelle Lek
T.H.E Dance Company is supported by the National Arts Council under the Major Company Scheme for the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023.
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