Philadelphia: World Premier by Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
Company:
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers to open 2014 home season with World Premier on March 21 and 22
PHILADELPHIA – The internationally active Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D) will open their 2014 home season at the Mandell Theater on Friday, March 21 at 8 PM and Saturday, March 22 at 3 PM and 8 PM.
KYL/D is excited to stage the world premier of Be/Longing: Light/Shadow, a 65-minute, multi-disciplinary piece featuring the dance artists of KYL/D; collaborating artists--including master puppet artist, HuaHua Zhang, and mandala artist, Tatiana Hassan, original lighting design by Stephen Petrilli; and commissioned music by Cory Neale. Tickets start at $28 (additional discounts for students and seniors) and are available at www.kunyanglin.org/be. The Mandell Theater is located on Drexel University’s campus at 33rd and Chestnut Streets.
Through the lens of an immigrant artist finely trained in diverse movement traditions, contemplative practices and philosophies of Asian origin, as well as Western contemporary dance techniques and improvisation methods, Kun-Yang Lin has developed an original movement language. His groundbreaking, technically-demanding, contemporary works grapple with the complexities inherent in a dualistic culture, where motion/stillness, light/shadow and east/west are perceived as opposites. In cultivating an ensemble of skilled dance artists with shared values, Lin seeks to explore our commonalities while highlighting the gifts of each individual. Indeed, it has been said that “Lin has found the key to making dances that show what individuals are all about.” (New York Times Radio)
Lin has spent much of the past few years travelling internationally to teach, perform and conduct research. “I always look forward to bringing back home the fruits of my international research practices. This new piece is inspired by multiple catalysts that have simmered over the past few years – a stunning visual art exhibit of threads of golden light by Lygia Pape at the Venice Biennale and the haunting sculptures of Anish Kapoor in London; the poetry of Persian philosopher, Rumi; the metaphors of the labyrinth and mandala as journeys to our own light; and last year’s movement research along the Bedog River in Java, Indonesia with three other Asian dance masters. The months-long process of distilling these stimulants and weaving them together in the studio with an earlier, re-interpreted work, A-U-M, has led to a new piece that explores our light and shadows and speaks to individual and collective journeys from gravity to grace.”
The company and collaborators will share insights into their creative process during two free, Saturday Open Dialogues at KYL/D’s dance center, CHI MAC, on March 1 and March 8 from 4 to 5pm. CHI MAC is located at 1316 S. Ninth St., between Wharton and Reed.
KYL/D’s dance artists are: Kun-Yang Lin, Jessica Warchal-King, Eiren Shuman, Vuthy Ou, Evalina Cain Carbonell, Liu Mo, Rachael Hart, Brian Cordova, Brandi Ou and apprentice, Wei-Wei Ma. Guest Artists: HuaHua Zhang and Tatiana Hassan Arias. Lighting Design by long-time collaborator Stephen Petrilli. Composer and Sound Consultant: Cory Neale.
About the Company
Hailed for its superbly trained dancers and inventive choreography, the internationally-active, South-Philadelphia based KYL/D probes at the limits of national identity. Drawing upon Eastern philosophies while expanding the perimeter of contemporary dance, Artistic Director Lin's Zen-inspired practice of dance manifests in lush works of poetic sensibility that The New York Times says "create and inhabit worlds of their own." Lin draws upon multicultural insights from his ongoing research throughout Asia, creating a personal movement language that is an unexpected hybrid between Western and Eastern cultures, suffused with strong spiritual underpinnings. KYL/D has performed across the United States and internationally including at the Busan International Dance Festival in Korea, Jogia International and AsiaTri festivals in Indonesia, Festival Internacional de Danza in Queretaro, Mexico, Victoria Theatre in Singapore, HsinChu Performing Arts Center in Taiwan, in the U.S at Interlochen Festival, Columbia Festival, Kaatsbaan International Dance, Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, Dancing in the Streets Festival, Painted Bride Art Center, Annenberg Center, Kimmel Center with the Center City Opera and the Barnes Foundation Museum. WHYY/PBS honored Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers with a nationally broadcast, 30-minute documentary in its award-winning On Canvas series in 2011. KYL/D also was featured by MindTV in its celebrated 2011 broadcast series A World of Dance in Philadelphia. For more information about KYL/D, please visit www.kunyanglin.org.
About the Director
Kun-Yang Lin, Artistic Director of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers & Founder of CHI Movement Arts Center has received numerous awards in his native Taiwan and been widely recognized in the United States for both his dancing and choreography including, in 2002, by Back Stage, which selected Lin as “the year’s most promising choreographer.” Lin has performed throughout Europe with Transitions Dance Company and in the U.S. in the companies of Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Kevin Wynn Collection, Paula Josa-Jones, Janis Brenner & Dancers, Doris Humphrey Repertory Dance Company and the Mary Anthony Dance Theatre, where he also served as Associate Artistic Director. He has been called “an extraordinary dancer” (New York Times), “theatrical visionary…outstanding choreographer and compelling performer.” (Philadelphia Inquirer). Lin or KYL/D has been the recipient of numerous grants, including from The William Penn Foundation, the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, the Philadelphia Foundation, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Independence Foundation, the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, Temple University, the Barra Foundation, the Charter Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, G&G Educational Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. In 2009, Lin was named by the Painted Bride Art Center an “Artist of the City” for his outstanding contributions to the arts and culture of Philadelphia. In 2010, the Mayor of Hsin-Chu, Kun-Yang’s hometown honored him as a “son of the City” for his cultivation of artistic excellence at the international level and in 2011 he was named a “Creative Connector” through a nomination process coordinated by Leadership Philadelphia.
Lin’s choreography, described as “deeply spiritual, remarkable” (Dance Magazine), has been presented throughout the United States as well as in Asia, Southeast Asia, London, Vienna and Mexico. His work has been performed by Cleo Parker Robinson Dance of Denver, CO; the Martha Graham Dance Company in Union Square, Dance Compass, Dance Fusion, Blue Muse Dance, Pick of the Crop Dance, Elizabeth Higgins Dance Theater, Moving Arts Project, Janis Brenner & Dancers, Dance Ensemble Singapore and Ballet Nacional de Mexico, as well as by numerous universities and high schools. In addition, Lin’s choreography has been made part of the dance curricula at Taiwan National University of the Arts, SUNY Buffalo and Dance Ensemble Singapore (DES) Performing Arts Academy.
Highly sought as a teacher, Lin is regularly invited to offer master classes and workshops throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has been on the faculty of The Beijing Dance Festival, The Yard at Martha’s Vineyard, H.B. Actor’s Studio, Peridance International Dance Center and The Limon Institute. Since 2003, Lin has been a Professor at Temple University’s Center for the Arts in Philadelphia. For more information please visit: www.kunyanglin.org
SAVE THE DATE! MARCH 21-22, 2014. KYL/D'S SPRING SEASON CONCERTS AT THE MANDELL THEATER OF DREXEL UNIVERSITY
