The  dance project that transforms poetry, the most stunning form of Eastern literature, into the most poetic medium in performance art: dance. The project delves into the literary essence of its namesake poem, or underlying text, and then turns that poetic essence into a poetic variety of body language. It breaks through the textural/language barriers as the text becomes body language. In other words, the project’s producer, Dominique Yen, converted Eastern literature into body language so that audiences speaking different languages can “read” the Eastern literature, way of thinking and culture simply by appreciating her dance project. Kid is an artistic feat that incorporates East and West in terms of physical dancing and theatrical aesthetics.

From a reader’s viewpoint, choreographer Dominique Yen “reads” her project and engineers the interplay of light and shadows to depict a mother-child relationship, with light being the child. The project features interactions between shadows and physical objects as well as those between shadows and the dancers’ movements, which are alternately gentle and forceful. The two dancers, one of whom performs in the form of a silhouette while the other is clearly seen, represent darkness and light merging into one. The mother makes warm, gentle hugging and other movements when the lighting dims during the interlude. In this project, noise is interwoven with sounds and melodies into audio effects that symbolize an imaginary medium challenging and evoking auditory sensations of the audience, with the melodies serving as an emotional trigger.

Author: Ai-Lin Yen

You are a pair of scissors that gentlycut me into the shape of a mother,Wherever there is light,I am your shadow.As if I were still pregnant with you,we are one.Whenever the light goes off,I see you standing, alone and independent.You are a strong magnet,attracting me,I want to embrace you tightly, once more.