Face to Face

The Art of Decipherment

A simple hand, outstretched. Another hand, covering a face. What do they express? Fascinated by our new modes of virtual communication, Naishi Wang, a Toronto-based choreographer originally from China, drew inspiration from body language, emojis, and the rudiments of speech to create Face to Face. In this dense and captivating duet about the ambiguities of communication, the body becomes a key that opens endless windows.

Using hand gestures, rhythmic play, or simple embraces, Wang and his collaborator Lukas Malkowski, both superb performers, speak through movements. Sometimes mirroring the other, sometimes doing the opposite, their fluid or syncopated gestures are X-rays revealing volatile and impregnable states of being. A hymn to imperfect transmission, Face to Face depicts the ramifications of our relations to the world, to the other, and invites the audience to decrypt its secrets.

Produced by Naishi Wang

Created, choreographed and performed by Naishi Wang

Created with and performed by Lukas Malkowski

Outside Eye Ginelle Chagnon

Dramaturgy and Video Design Ivy Wang

Assistant for image art Henry Mak

Sound Design Wen Yang Ho

Lighting Design Chris Malkowski

Costume Design Adam X

Technical Director Emerson Kafarowski 

Stage Manager A.J Morra

Management Dance Umbrella of Ontario

Co-produced by Festival TransAmériques + Citadel+Company (Toronto)

With the support of Conseil des arts du Canada + Ontario Arts Council + Toronto Arts Council + Goethe-Institut Montréal

Co-presented by La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines

Premiered at The Citadel, Toronto, on April 20, 2022

A Quebec première

Written by Elsa Pépin

Translated by David Dalgleish