New dance festival to showcase charm of contemporary styles
The inaugural Dance Out of the Box Festival is expected to become a coveted stage for artists of new crossover contemporary dance works. It will also involve workshops and international dance production screenings.
The event will be held at Shanghai International Dance Center from September 2 to October 2.
With a name inspired by the phrase "think out of the box," the monthlong festival aims to encourage innovation and integration in contemporary dance creation, and help bring exploratory works to the stage.
The four cutting-edge contemporary works scheduled during the festival are: "The Dream of My Realization" (September 2-3), "25㎡ Rhapsody" (September 16-17), "Legend of Hao Hao" (September 17-18), and "Upside Down" (September 23-24).
A performance of the contemporary dance production called 25㎡ Rhapsody.
"The Dream of My Realization" centers on a dream-chasing dancer, who is also a choreographer, actor and internet celebrity.
In "25㎡ Rhapsody," dancer and choreographer Zhu Fengwei took inspiration from the 25㎡ hotel rooms he usually stays in during performance tours. A small room doesn't restrict his imagination, as Zhu tries to build connections between reality, fantasy and memory with his body and stage lighting effects.
"Legend of Hao Hao" involves film, stand-up comedy and martial arts. Dancer Yang Hao calls his innovative performance "a dance-up comedy."
"Upside Down" combines contemporary dance with avant-garde drama, traditional opera and poetry as it deals with identity, love and existence.
The Upside Down dance production deals with identity, love and existence.
The festival features an immersive dance creation camp called "25 Feet" which will be jointly introduced by Chinese and Dutch artists from September 28 to October 2.
Dutch contemporary dance works "Freedom," "Between Us," and "Memory Loss Inside" will be screened at the theater.
The festival is supported by Shanghai International Dance Center Development Foundation.
"We hope the festival can showcase the active creativity of contemporary dance," said Chen Li, vice general manager of Shanghai International Dance Center Theater.
"We want to break people's stereotype impressions of dance. The spirit of contemporary dance is to integrate with other art forms and build connections with daily life."
The "25 Feet" camp will be jointly introduced by Chinese and Dutch artists.
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