European Premiere & Taipei Premiere
After an incredible success in the U.S., PPP is excited to announce Gu Jiani's latest production "Exit" is touring to Norway CODA Oslo International Dance Festival and Taiwan Performing Arts Centre – National Theatre and Concert Hall in fall 2017
Photo credit: Lin Dingtai
Gu is unafraid to break the rules of classical dancing as she and Li weave in and out of their light, or continue halfway into the wings as if the dancing extends beyond its visual confines.
We were very pleased to present the European premiere of Gu Jiani’s EXIT as part of CODA 2017, the Oslo International Dance Festival. EXIT offered our audiences a long-overdue insight into a younger generation of Chinese choreographers. EXIT’s precise choreography, architectural design, innovative lighting and immersive sound gave credence to a strong personal and holistic vision of its creator Gu Jiani - one of China’s promising new talent.
Watch a 2-minute trailer of "Exit"
About “Exit”
"Exit" is co-commissioned by The Shanghai International Arts Festival “RAW” Program and Taiwan Performing Arts Center–Theatre and Concert Hall and premiered at Shanghai’s Power Station of Art in October 2016.
In “Exit”, Gu explores the human desire to exit the mundane. In a perpetual cycle of creation and destruction, we seek paths to liberty and self-fulfillment, yet our desires simultaneously stand in our own way. Inspired by the physics principle that all acting forces create equal and opposite reacting forces, “Exit” explores the interplay of cause and effect.
With explosive athleticism, Gu Jiani and dancers create an inter-locking system; one dancer’s action sparks a current that flows throughout the others. Against the tonal wash of a grayscale backdrop – an encircling wall, a long stair and numerous pillows – three dancers use Gu Jiani’s interlocking movement system and pass the energy flow among them, like parts of a machine.
Yet, juxtaposed with the perpetual motion is the idea of confrontation and rejection. In exploring the tension between conflict and acceptance, Gu Jiani’s work ultimately provokes these fundamental questions:
Where is the exit really? Or, should we re-examine our original desires?
Gu Jiani 2017 Fall Tour Introduction
European Premiere
About CODA Oslo International Dance Festival
Founded as a non-profit in the spring of 2001, CODA Oslo International Dance Festival is held biennially in Oslo, Norway. Since its first festival in the autumn of 2002, CODA has presented a diversity of national and international contemporary dancers that represent the highest artistic caliber. The eleventh edition will take place 18 - 28 October 2017. Under the theme of “Sharing”, CODA’s dancers from both Norway and abroad will share their love for dancing with a global audience. Some of the festival’s artists may also be presented in different European cities such as Helsinki, Nancy, Amsterdam and London - among others.
Location: Olso, Norway
Event: the CODA Oslo International Dance Festival
Schedule:
- Performance: October 21, 2017 6:00 PM
- Post-show Talk: by Eckhard Ehiemann at 7:30PM after the performance
Taipei Premiere
About “Dancing in Autumn”
“Dancing in Autumn” is “one of the most favorable dance event in the public eye in Taiwan”, held biennially by Taiwan Performing Arts Center–Theatre and Concert Hall. “Dancing in Autumn 2015” has brought quite a few world-renown artists and works on its stage. For instance, “May B” by Compagnie Maguy Marin, Chunky Move “Complexity of Belonging, Fou Glorieuxv “So Blue”, “SMOKE” by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan， “HUI” by Dance Forum Taipei, “In Freedom” by Anarchy Dance Theatre etc.
Read more about “Dancing in Autumn” please see
https://npac-ntch.org/en/programs/show-Exit-ertun2ezaoEvent: “Dancing in Autumn 2017”
Venue: the Experimental Theater at Taiwan Performing Arts Center–Theatre and Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
Schedule:
- Performances:
- 11/16(Thu.)19:30
- 11/17(Fri.) 19:30
- 11/18 (Sat.)19:30
- 11/19(Sun.)14:30
- Post-show Talk: Nov-19 at the Experimental Theater
Watch an interview with Gu Jiani
“Rave Review of Gu Jiani European and Taipei Premiere”
CODA: What we talk about when we talk about Chinese contemporary dance
Seeing Dance: Acceptance, conflict, construction, destruction: Exit by Gu Jiani
中國時報：體能逼到極限 古佳妮累癱舞者
表演艺术评论台：用盡力氣在一起
表演艺术评论台：衝突與妥協共舞
About The Gu Jiani and Untitled Company
Gu Jiani's work embodies both fusion and juxtaposition.
Originating from southern China, Gu trained in ballet and classical Chinese dance. Through exploration and self-discovery, her work focuses on the relationship between visual impact, emotional impulse and physical space.
Gu previously danced with the Beijing Modern Dance Company, and has worked with such artists as Germany’s Munchner Kammerspiele on “Totally Happy” and Belgium’s Tino Sehgal in “This Variation” at the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing, among others. She started to choreograph independently in 2013. Her recent project series include "Go & Nspace" and "Untitled Group."
Gu received awards from the 2011 and 2013 China National Centre for the Performing Arts International Choreography Competition and her works have toured throughout China. Her duet “Right & Left” was invited to the Hong Kong Arts Festival, University of Michigan, and Melbourne Festival and is touring the U.S. in summer, 2017. The Shanghai International Arts Festival “RAW” Program and Taiwan National Arts Center co-commissioned her recent work, “Exit,” which premiered October 13, 2016 and is touring internationally in the 2017-18 season. Gu regularly gives master classes and workshops to dance students of all levels as well as the general public. She is frequently invited to teach at the Sichuan Arts Academy and other prestigious dance institutions throughout China.
In addition to her choreography work, Gu is a painter and also creates video and multi-media projects. She collaborated on the short film "Design for Desire" which was awarded "Best Commercial Short Film" at the 2014 London Chinese Language Film Festival.
RECENT PRODUCTIONS
Short works: 11:11, By One’s Side, Passed, With L.Y.
Full-length works: Right & Left, Exit