PEILING KAO DANCES to Present YOU ARE HERE at Kumu Kahua Theatre

Taiwanese choreographer Peiling Kao's Hawai?i debut features solo work performed by Kao, a trio created for local dancers, and a collaborative piece made in dialog with new Honolulu friends. Since relocating from the San Francisco Bay Area in August 2016, Peiling Kao has aimed to bring creative ideas, connect to her new community through artistic exchange, and share her vision of contemporary dance with audiences in Hawai'i.

This full-evening length, deeply innovative dance performance includes three pieces: per[mute]ing (2016), She Was A Visiter (premiere), and You Are Here (premiere).

In 2016, Kao was commissioned to create an original solo work for San Francisco-based Hope Mohr Dance's Bridge Project: Ten Artists Respond to Locus. It was a groundbreaking, multidisciplinary exchange with dance history inspired by the work of dance pioneer Trisha Brown.

Dance critic David Moreno wrote: "Kao dismantled [Locus] into something soulful, breaking down sharp lines and gestures into fluid presence. She danced without the 4×4 confinement suggesting something much bigger, freer, and authentically her own. Kao's dancing is always a pleasure to behold, always deeply genuine."

The second piece, a trio named after Robert Ashley's groundbreaking experimental music She Was a Visiter (1967), reflects and explores the secret of numbers that manipulate and systematize the choreographic process. Kao choreographed She Was A Visiter for three outstanding O'ahu dancers: Madelyn Biven, Maria Houar and Malia Yamamoto.

The last solo, You Are Here, starts with the premise that the soloist is actually never alone. Kao choreographed this piece based on twenty prompts she received from her friends and colleagues in Hawai?i. Rather than seeking internally to find movement in her past bodily training and influences, in You Are Here, Kao compiled influences from artists and scholars in Hawaii and connected with these individuals through interdisciplinary artistic exchange.

When: December 8 at 8pm, December 9 at 4pm and 8pm.

Where: Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant St, Honolulu, HI 96813

Tickets: $10 online https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3120041 $15 at the door.

For more information: peilingkaodances.com

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