SPOTLIGHT: A Season of Performing Arts

Butterfly Island

SPOTLIGHT: A Season of Performing Arts

The Sublime Progressions

Last Ride, Fresh Eyes (Podcast version)

I will die in my home

Since When

Butterfly Island

The Farewell Comeback Tour

The Forgiving Trees

Date & Time

15 - 16 Apr, 2023 1pm - 4pm & 6pm - 9pm

Location

Prison Yard & F Hall Studio

Price

$280

General

Eccentric island for the displaced and eclectic stage for tales of migration

“Every butterfly is a flower in its past life, returning to the present to visit itself.”

Nestled between the discordant past and unresolved future, the fictional Butterfly Island is a safe haven for foreigners, strangers and all those displaced. At the beach, the mermaids sing remix versions of their childhood songs. The tears they shed turn into pearls, embedding the touching stories of migration. Celebrations always kick off on time with the islanders dancing the seemingly antiquated yet sensual dance. Floating bottles pass by Butterfly Island every day as stories of strangers unfold themselves…

Butterfly Island is the brainchild of the quirky and charismatic He Qi-wo (ErGao), considered one of the bright stars of contemporary dance in the Mainland. After his 2018 production of Disco-Teca that blended visuals, installation and dance with kitsch-chic in Tai Kwun, ErGao assembles large amount of visuals on diaspora in his latest work Butterfly Island which features millennial to Gen Z dancers. Tai Kwun’s various spaces are transformed into a “synthesize scene” in which people from different regions and eras meet and bid farewell to each other, just as butterflies’ momentary encounters.

Creative Team

Concept/Director: He Qi-wo (Er Gao)
Performers: Liu Qing-yu, Zhang Dian-ling, Lou Hio-mei, Wang Yun-ke, Sun Ming-chi, Dong Chong-han, Xie Zi-ling, Li Run-jian
Lighting/Staging Design: Low Shee-hoe
Spatial Design: Shen Jun
Music Design: Fractal
Dramaturg: Sun Xiao-xing
Costume Design: Hu Die Gong Zhu
Video Design: Li Yu-qian, Zhou Li-heng
Visual Design: Fu Mei-lin
Academic Consultants: Dr. Wang Qian, Lin Xin-bei
Producers: Annie Feng, Pan Xiong
Observers: Shen Jun, Chen Yu-jie, Cathleen Pan Si-ming
Video Script: Wang Bing-yi
Special thanks to: Shi Jing-jie, Tam Suet-wa, Guo Man-yu, Mid-Mountain Dancers, Guan Xu-wen, Wain, BIEDE

Remarks

  • Performance Duration: around 3 hours
  • Ticketed audience can freely access Prison Yard and F Hall for the first 2 hours of the performance; the last 1 hour of the performance will take place inside F Hall and no latecomers will be admitted
  • Part of the videos contain Chinese and English subtitles
  • Recommended for age 12 and above
  • Audience is required to walk around various locations. Please assess your physical condition if it is suitable for participation
  • No cancellations, refunds or changes can be made on confirmed tickets
  • Comfortable clothing is recommended
  • Programmes are subject to change without prior notice. Tai Kwun reserves the right to make the final decision regarding the arrangements.


Event Photos


Ticketing

Tickets | $280

Tickets available at art-mate.net from 6 March 2023

Patrons may enjoy one of the below discount schemes for each purchase where applicable, available on a first-come-first-served basis:

  • 40% off for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders and full-time students

  • 10% off for Tai Kwun Fan with valid discount code

SPOTLIGHT: A Season of Performing Arts 2023 Package (Quota for discount package is full):

  • 15% off upon single purchase of 3 standard tickets of the same show

  • 20% off upon single purchase of standard tickets from 3 different shows

  • 30% off upon single purchase of standard tickets from 4 different shows


House Programme


Biography

He Qi-wo (ErGao)

Concept/Director

He Qiwo, aka ErGao, is a dancer, choreographer, director and curator from Yangjiang, Guangdong. Graduating from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, he won a full scholarship of Singapore [CP]3 to do further study in contemporary performing art criticism in 2021.

Ever since he founded ErGao Dance Production Group in 2007, his works have constantly seen body as the core of artistic investigation and the primary medium, using diverse strategies to illuminate social and cultural identities, sex, gender and other topics in the Mainland in absurd and grave way. His recent works focus on mobility of new urban migrants in Chinese society, and the issues on the public nature of dance.

His representative works include Kung Hei Fat Choy series, Disco-Teca (presented in Tai Kwun Dance Season 2018), This Is A Chicken Coop, Super Tight, Everyday Dance Movement and so on.