Wen Wei Dance

National Arts Centre - Studio

Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 8:00PM

Friday, May 1, 2009 at 8:00PM

Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 8:00PM

Chinese-Canadian dancer-choreographer Wen Wei Wang’s precise direction seamlessly meshes classical Chinese dance, traditional ballet, and contemporary choreography. This mélange of styles results in an incredible body of work that is stripped, suggestive, edgy, and full of invention. Wen Wei Wang is the winner of the 2009 Rio Tinto Alcan Award – Dance.

Cock-Pit is a reflection of his own experiences as a student at dance school in China, where he was one of five boys who shared a small room for more than five years. Designed for one female and four male dancers, Cock-Pit uses movement, dialogue and song to explore violence, masculine insecurities, and male bonding. Illustrated by the characters’ tangled emotional relationships, the simple narrative structure exposes the complexity of physical closeness through movement. The four men are contained in an area without entrances or exits; they remain onstage for the entire piece. They have no way of being alone except in their imaginations. They are psychologically isolated, yet inescapably together. All are vulnerable, oversensitive – and therefore weakened. One female dancer enters and exits as figments of their imaginations – representing a mother figure as well as a symbol of sexuality.

Wen Wei once again collaborates with composer Giorgio Magnanensi and lighting designer James Proudfoot in this promising new dance creation.

Wen Wei Wang

www.wenweidance.ca

Presented by National Arts Centre Dance