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.
About the artist
Naishi Wang (Toronto)
Naishi Wang has lived and worked in Toronto since entering The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2004. He attracted the Festival TransAmériques’s attention through his involvement in Quebec choreographer Paul-André Fortier’s projects 15 X LA NUIT and Trois (Agora de la danse, 2017), among others.
Media Coverage
“Daringly performed without music, the story was as heart-breaking as it was inventive with Wang using his body and voice to bring the audience into his personal experience.”
Raymond Helkio, The Buzz mag, à propos de Alone together
Interview
“We’re living in the era of symbolization, where we share texts and emojis in large quantities. I asked myself how these virtual changes influence our real, face-to-face interactions, and how our real interactions can influence our digital emotions.”
Schedule
- Sun05Jun3 p.m.
- Mon*06Jun9 p.m.
- Tue07Jun7 p.m.
- Wed08Jun7 p.m.
