Chinese Name: 微光製造
Establishment: 2019
Founders: Wang Yeu-kwn and Lee Yin-ying
Official Website: https://shimmeringproduction.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ShimmeringProduction/
Did You Know That…?
The dance troupe Shimmering Production was established by dancers Wang Yeu-kwn and Lee Yin-yin in 2019. Both of them were dancers from Cloud Gate 2 (雲門2), which was the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s premier incubation program for young dancers and choreographers.
Wang Yeu-kwn, currently serving as Shimmering Production’s artistic director, constantly strives for enhancing artistic creation and dance promotion. Through his works, Wang explores the connection and alienation between human beings and the urban environment, paying close attention to body estrangement in cities and bringing up philosophical questions with contemporary dance. He launched a creative project called “A Trilogy – Quest of Relationships (關係三部曲)” in 2021.
In an interview, Wang said that as he came into contact with various choreographers in Cloud Gate, he started to think about what and how to express through his body and dance. From then on, he started to create his own work. During a tour with Our Theatre (阮劇團), where he traveled to remote villages to promote theater, Wang realized his responsibility towards future generations in the performing art community. Hence, he formed Shimmering Production, with the aim of promoting dance education through his newly established group.
Lee Yin-ying, another founder of Shimmering Production, received her fundamental dance education during junior and senior high school. Later, she studied in the Department of Dance at the National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA). After graduating from the university, Lee joined the world-famous dance troupe Cloud Dance. During her decade-long career in Cloud Dance, Lee performed many beautiful dance pieces, including “13 Tongues (十三聲)” and “Lunar Halo (毛月亮).” In 2019, Lee co-founded Shimmering Production with Wang Yeu-kwn, continuing to explore new possibilities of the combination of the body and the arts.
Shimmering Production’s dance work, “Being (捺撇),” is the first part of its creative project, “A Trilogy – Quest of Relationships (關係三部曲).” It’s a duet performed by two dancers on a giant piece of paper with ink on their bodies, attempting to deconstruct and re-construct the composition of “us.” Presenting the conflict and harmony in two people’s relationship, the duo has created new body movements through “Being,” giving their performance a distinctive charm.
“Being” has been performed at various major festivals at home and abroad since its debut in 2019. It won three awards at the Yokohama Dance Collection in Japan in 2021. The next year, the dance piece was brought to the Spring Forward Festival in Elefsina, Greece, and the Tanzkongress (Dance Congress) in Mainz, Germany. In 2023, “Being” appeared on stage at the Darmstadt State Theatre (das Staatstheater Darmstadt) in Germany and the National Theater & Concert Hall in Taiwan.
Through the Taiwan Dance Platform, Shimmering Production was invited by the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts to perform the dance piece “A Quest for Relationship: Island of _______ (去你的島),” an international collaboration between Taiwan and Indonesia. Because of the dance work, the troupe was selected for the artist-in-residence in the UK and Japan in 2023. “A Quest for Relationship: Island of _______” features Indonesian choreographer Danang Pamungkas, opening up a dialogue about “who I am/we are” to explore the cultural essence hidden in each other’s bodies. In this cross-cultural communication, the dancers try to seek something transcendental through their performance.
Commissioned by the National Theater & Concert Hall and National Kaohsiung Center, the second part of Shimmering Production’s trilogy “Islands (人之島)” is scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2024, with support from the UK’s dance and performance center The Place, Japan’s Kinosaki International Arts Center, and the Clare C. & Friends Fellowship of the Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion.
In addition to focusing on contemporary dance, Shimmering Production strives to bring art into everyday life. The dance company has launched the “Dancing Everywhere” project (到處跳舞計畫), offering workshops for amateur dancers and general public to rediscover their body movements and physical uniqueness.
