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The elephant looms large,

We cannot see what’s behind it,

Like we cannot see the truth;

The elephant is decrepit,

We do not know if its heart,

Is still pulsating with youth.

 

 

The “elephant” is the central symbol in this work; it embodies an immense solitude, silence and truth that can almost be seen but cannot be spoken.

 

Every person navigates life through different circumstances, identities, encounters and losses. We grow numb and turn a blind eye to the elephant in the room, yet the elephant would not leave even if we pretend not to see it. Silence is evasion; it is the avoidance or denial of truth.

 

The “invisibility” of the elephant means all silent truths have said into time, where lived experiences fade away; the “elephant” is hidden in time, or it has long vanished.

 

Through the interpretations of the “elephant” by six performers, the work constructs an intricate relationship between different theatrical forms in the same space, bringing to light the symbol of the “elephant” and its “invisibility”. As we come face-to-face with the unspeakable truth, do we succumb to or break out of silence-do we choose lies or honest?

 

Chang Xiaoni, graduated from Beijing Dance Academy Choreography Department; currently the teacher of Dance Department of Beijing Normal University School of Arts and Media.

 

 

She has once worked as the director of the large-scale music and dancing poetry Asian Copper; the work The Chant of Yellow River won the first prize of editing of "Wenhua Award" of The Ministry of Culture in the Seventh National Dance Competition; the work Aphasic won third prize for modern dance in the “Rome International Dance Contest” of Italy; the work Wukong in a Sudden was shortlisted for exhibition performance in the Shanghai International Arts Festival “China Young Artists Project”, and was shortlisted in the 2017 Yokohama Dance Collection, Japan; the dance video work The Room was shortlisted in Athens Video Art Festival, Greece.

 

Choreographer: Chang Xiaoni

Creation/Cast: Li Bin, Qi Han, Kerry Cheung (Hong Kong), Carmen Yu (Hong Kong), Anson Chan (Hong Kong), Tong Michael Ho (Hong Kong)

Stage manager/Music/Lighting：Libby (Hong Kong)