Synopsis:

Anchoring the Festival is the signature dynamism of new creations by Singapore's Kuik Swee Boon, South Korea's Kim Jae Duk, and French choreographer Arthur Bernard Bazin working with T.H.E's dancers for the first time this year.
*There will be a post-show talk on Fri, 2 December 2016.

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Pure by Kuik Swee Boon (Singapore/Malaysia)
Inspired by the philosophical adage, l'existence précède l'essence (existence precedes essence), Kuik examines the complexities of "living together" as both a unit of family and society.

In seeking to outline its physical, emotional and rational aspects, he questions if one can be honest to oneself and yet remain truly open minded to all possibilities. Does the desire for inclusivity ironically become a quality of weakness?

Equilibrium by Kim Jae Duk (South Korea)
Kim's latest creation probes Asia's ancient wisdom – specifically, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. Equilibrium contemplates the pitfalls of Western capitalism: increased greed, jealousy,and unhappiness. The dancers seek the "purest state of contentment."

Do we need fame and wealth in order to be happy? Kim is weary of the crippling excesses of modern life. "Instead of inhaling from the world to fill the emptiness within, one should endeavour to empty one's mind and soul."

Attachant by Arthur Bernard Bazin (France)
To engage, appeal, endear, attach.

Feeling trapped in the complex web of life, yet existing as part of it. Attention to detail, behaving sensibly, becoming predictable: these are the ways of living that define the individual so deeply they solidify as structures – even more dangerously, as limitations. It is impossible to separate what is ingrained. The more one melts into the world, the more one is defined by its codes. Hence the title of Bazin's new creation, Attachant: ways and habits that have adhered too closely to the point of no release.

Can bodies rebel by drawing upon their heritage? Layer by layer, the choreographer peels away the fossil of structures. We may never truly understand how we arrived at this point, but we can discover the ties, the attachments forming these bonds.

Using Contact technique as both movement and metaphor, Attachant builds its creative explorations through intricate knots of bodies, looking past perceived physical limitations to the renewable advantages of drawing close to a fellow being.