Wang_Mengfei_Utopia_2018

our minds and caused several debates: Should we narrow down to a specific stressful issue? Should we designate a specific script for body movement? How much space should we leave to the audience to generate their own body language? How could we motive them? And finally, what is the meaning in the performance we were going to do? Apparently, Jesung and I held conflicting opinions though we shared the same concern of “Modern pressure” (Well, at least we learnt that stressful topics might unavoidably make our team stressful). Fortunately, later we moved the topic to a bright side-- there is a thing who lives with stress side by side-- an imagination of a dreaming world--the “Utopia”.

There is no world with complete darkness or extreme brightness. Darkness and Brightness exist at the same time. They define each other. Similarly, our life is a balance of modern pressure and utopian imagination. It is modern pressure that makes “Utopia” extremely valuable and precious.

In the choreography process, we continued the original idea, but use it in a reverse way. The light trajectory is no more a record of what happened, but rather a seductive hint for body movement. And it does not always continue growing but would disappear at some time--just like our life, we would sometimes get lost and feel trapped--this is the moment we experience stress. But it is also a moment we could see utopia--this is why the colorful still dots show up, reminding people where they are, and who is experiencing the same situation. When the two trapped people hug each other, they would feel warmth, empathy, greeting and hope. Utopia is no more a fantasy, but a reality by our sides.

During the performance, audience’s interpretation of “Utopia” is deepen gradually: firstly, with a comparison between two dancers frozen separately and hug together when paused; Then with an increasing chance to hug when more and more people participate in; Finally, all people hug together and everyone witness a real “world” of Utopia.

I love this project. It confirms my belief that Art is a way to cure human soul.

Through design, we could visualize things invisible and reveal a dreaming world that all the public long for.