FringeReview Worldwide 2025
Push and Pull
Hung-Chung Lai
Genre: Dance, Dance and Movement Theatre, Experimental, International, Movement, Physical Theatre, World Theatre
Venue: Théâtre La Condition des Soies
Festival: FringeReview Worldwide
Low Down
An extraordinary duo dance performance exploring the push and pull dynamic of a relationship that touches deep emotional strings through the aid of a very intelligent choreography. The 2 dancers show a skill that goes beyond movement interpretation, approaching the intensity of truly accomplished actors.
Review
PUSH AND PULL
“She shows herself and then hides; she advances and then retreats; she gives and then takes away—all to inflame his desire.” —Kama Sutra
Push and Pull is a 45-minute dance and dance theatre performance by Taiwanese choreographer Hung-Chung Lai that explores the push and pull dynamic of a relationship between 2 individuals: man and woman. The theme of attraction and repulsion is a very ancient one, as old as humankind itself, thus forming a strong archetype in almost all civilizations. From Greek mythology to Indian mysticism the energy spurring from denied love and uncontrolled attraction is what holds the universe together and at the same time spins it into a continuous cycle of movement.
This very cycle of movement, the alternation between bonding and rejection, is what triggers the dancers into a choreography that at times seems to investigate the laws of physics as well.
Starting from the discovery of “the other” or “the opposite pole” the dancers are dragged to the ground by the pull effect of gravity; inventing superb moments of choreography on the floor creating at times what seems to be body constructions inspired by martial arts. Then suddenly from the heaviness of the ground the 2 performers quickly leap into the lightness of the air to reach a point where they literally seem to skate on ice.
The physics of the 4 elements (fire, water, air, earth) is thus symbolically explored as well as all possible emotional and bodily connections between the dancers: lips, wrists, fingers, elbows, back. No part of the body is immune to the magnetic power of attraction but at the same time the need for individual autonomy suddenly surges with aggressive intensity.
A 5-minute long scene, where an exploration of a handslap is executed in a myriad of games, brings to mind a sentence of the Kamasutra contained in the chapter about the various modes of striking: “Whatever things may be done by one of the lovers to the other, the same should be returned by the other.”
Not only are we shown the external world of the 2 protagonists but at one moment a short window into the inner psychological world is opened as their hands become an emotional stethoscope probing into the unconscious of one another thanks to some ingenious sound effects.
The final effect is a highly engaging work of art carried out by a pair of formidable dancers and movement artists.
A cathartic show and a wonderful performance.
