The piece originates in the salt fields of Taijiang, in Tainan, where day after day the repetitive labor of salt workers has shaped bodies, gestures, and the rhythm of local life. These actions, essential to survival, carry a ritual dimension that has become embedded in the memory of the land. This territory forms the starting point of the work. Over the course of history, beliefs have continually evolved: from the ancestral spirits of the temples to modern imaginaries of "superheroes." Each of these belief systems gives rise to emblematic figures with whom individuals identify—figures that carry values which structure and nurture society. Yet these collective values can sometimes come into tension with individual freedom and self-fulfillment. The body, however, continues to seek support and to aspire toward a force that exceeds reality. To whom, then, do our beliefs and values truly belong?
Credits
Choreography— Shihya Peng
Music— Alexandre Bouvier
Co-production— Resident Island Dance Theater (Taïwan)