For dancers, dancing a solo dance of less than 10 minutes is not easy, and "Dance Storm" champion Hu Shenyuan launched a difficult challenge for himself to dance a 60-minute solo dance on the stage.
Titled "The Ship of Theseus," the solo dance will premiere at the Shenzhen Guangming Culture and Arts Center on April 22. Hu Shen is a producer, producer, dance drama structure, stage concept design, director, choreographer and actor.
The "Ship of Theseus," one of the oldest thought experiments in Western philosophy, raises the question: If all the components of an object are replaced, is it still the same object it was?
"Our body is like a big ship moving forward, and before we know it, our skin, our bones, and our appearance have changed." Inspired by this, "The Ship of Theseus" tells the story of a dying old man who climbs over the walls of memory, discovers unfinished dreams that have been stranded, travels through different time and space, and searches for fragments and beliefs of dreams.
"A person's solo dance, you can do whatever you want, the difficulty is here, in the infinite choice, how should I choose?" 」 Two years ago, Hu Shenyuan began to have sporadic creative ideas, but what theme to jump on was a difficult problem.
From just learning to dance and not being favored, to being admitted to the Central University for Nationalities and rarely standing in the center of the stage because of his low stature, to meeting modern dance to broaden the boundaries of dancing, to winning the championship in the first season of "Dance Storm"... He began to work hard to dig up his previous story, and suddenly came up with a word: the original heart.
Until now, he still practices the basic skills diligently every day, still wiping the floor, still stretching, and still practicing the movements that have been repeated for more than ten years. Behind the aura and body, what you want to stick to is the original heart that wants to dance on the stage. Finding the direction, he slowly excavated, how to show this original heart step by step.
"When a person dances solo, everyone will vomit when they watch me dance for 60 minutes, so I think of many ways to enrich the space on the stage." Inside the black box is a changeable, rotating, pure white surreal stage, with devices and props such as boats, small puppets, and climbing ladders, constructing a multi-dimensional world with a sense of space and time.
From adolescence to old age, Hu Shen on the stage has undergone four changes in body shape. He innovatively integrates elements such as Sichuan opera face change and Peking opera into dance, and breaks the use of faces in traditional opera, using alternate masks to show the course of life.
The music composition comes from Lee Sung-woo. Hu Shenyuan searched for music for a long time, and it didn't feel right. One day on the plane, about to take off, he received a song push, found that it was exactly the direction he wanted, so he contacted Li Xingyu and proposed creative ideas to him. You can hear the recent hit "Little White Boat" on the stage, Li Xingyu played at least five or six versions, and Hu Shenyuan finally selected a version from it. A lot of dialogue and vocals are also produced in cloud creation.
Hu Shenyuan used a fairytale stage to tell about his changes and growth over the years, "In fact, I should dance solo works after 5 years, when I have enough strength to stand up, but I want to launch a most difficult challenge to myself at this time." ”
Hu Shenyuan is the first resident artist of the Guangming Culture and Arts Center. Since its studio was listed in September 2020, Guangming Culture and Arts Center and Hu Shenyuan Studio have jointly created the "Hu Shenyuan Experimental Dance Theater", launched the "Cutting-edge Choreographer Talent Training Program", opened up the "National Young Dancer Creation and Choreography Base", and held the "Choreography Trick" Creation Camp... Through the joint efforts of professional venues and personal IP, we strive to broaden the audience of modern dance and promote the development of modern dance.
At the beginning of the creation of "Ship of Theseus", the main creative team was stationed on the stage of the Grand Theater of the Bright Culture and Arts Center. As the opening performance, it will kick off the second "Guangming Arts Festival" of the Guangming Culture and Arts Center. With the theme of "Let the Light of Art Shine into the City of Science", the "Guangming Art Festival" will present 42 sets of 50 performances, 5 exhibitions and dozens of different types of activities.