A haunting music, like the rhythm of a heart, an isolated body, whose limbs cut the air at the speed of combat and suddenly come back to tranquil slowness, light spaces always changing: "Traverse", the new creation by Taiwanese choreographer Shang-Chi Sun, hits you first with its multiplicity, the pace and the layers of the body and its environment, sometimes complementary, sometimes opposing. It is a transcription in movement of a presence whose strength, desires, impulses are emancipating and going through its temporal memories. In the oscillation of each moment, Shang-Chi Sun travels trough different states of the body and simultaneous experiences of past and future in space.
"Traverse" is first of all a very personal piece with the signature of an exceptional dancer. The speed, fluidity and multiplicity of his choreographic language is completed by an amazing precision and sense of rhythm. A direct, pure, straight forward dance.
press reviews
"The solo 'Traverse' by the Taiwanese Shang-Chi Sun stands in terms of dancing most certainly out. with enormous precision and speed Sun cuts with his arms the space to music by Ryoji Ikeda, then tempo changes let phases of interiority appear. The techno like sound carpet and the purist use of his dancers body remember at some moments the pieces of the Japanese Hiroaki Umeda. Sun, who danced already in productions by Sasha Waltz, has without doubt created a technically brilliant work."
Tanzpresse, January 18th 2012, Annett Jaensch
"All this becomes even more obvious in “Traverse”, the second choreography of the night, than in “Je Sans Paroles”. “Traverse” shows the sterile aggressiveness of mechanical rhythms (composition: Ryoji Ikeda), in which Shang-Chi gets lost and which crush him and tear him apart. To confront them, he is using, yet again, the tardiness mentioned before and the stream of concentrated tranquillity. A fantastic night."
Szene Leipzig, June 10th 2011, Steffen Georgi
"In the second part of the evening we also experience an
extraordinary dance performance. There is a dancer in front of a minimalistic
stage design, who understands to occupy the space. Sun‘s locomotory system is
underpinned by a strong soundscape: drumming noise, clicking, growing and
creating an intensity as if a jet is getting ready for take-off. This is only
outmatched by the precision and strength of his movements, which have a unique
charisma. Everything seems tense in every sequence – up to the tip of the small
toe."
Leipzig Almanach, June 18th 2011, Alexandra Henning
Credits
Music Ryoji Ikeda
Choreography/dance Shang-Chi Sun
Set design Jens Siewert
Light Shang-Chi Sun, David Friedrich
Technical Direction Kamil Rohde
Duration 16 min.
A coproduction by fabrik Potsdam
With friendly support by Centre Culturel de Taiwan à Paris
Aug 27, 2015 | Traverse | Cinelândia Center (open air), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Aug 25, 2015 | Traverse | Centro Cultural Correios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Aug 21, 2015 | Traverse | City (open air), Florianópolis, Brazil
Aug 19, 2015 | Traverse | Centro Cultural, Alto Bela Vista, Brazil
Aug 16, 2015 | Traverse | Centro Cultural Capivar, Baixo, Brazil
April 12th 2015 | Traverse | Festival Rencontre Essonne Danse, Morsang-sur-Orge (F)
January 9th & 10th 2015 | Traverse | by Japan Society as part of their 16th Contemporary Dance Showcase from Japan + East Asia (US)
March 15th 2014 | Traverse | Biennale Musiques en Scène, ENSATT, Lyon (F)
Pictures
Video
Trailer Traverse