A living fantasy of light, dance, music and chant, Hagay Dreaming takes audiences into an enchanting new realm of performance.
The product of a collaboration between Taiwanese-American artist Shu Lea Cheang and Truku artist Dondon Hounwn, Hagay Dreaming tells a visual story drawn from that of the indigenous Truku tribe of Taiwan. The performance combines Shu Lea Cheang’s futuristic mixed-media art style and Dondon Hounwn’s ancestral tribal music and rituals to create a wholly unprecedented experience. Hagay Dreaming tells the story of a hunter who whilst hunting in the mountains gets caught up in a sudden downpour of rain. Seeking shelter in a hollowed-out tree, the hunter falls asleep. When he awakes he meets a group of people who he perceives as women, but finds exist outside of gender norms. This group identifies themselves as Hagay, nonbinary beings that pass on ancestral wisdom to the hunter. They teach the hunter inherited traditional knowledge, leading the hunter to, following his return home, spread the wisdom. Gender is moved outside of the binary Western conception and allowed to live in a multifaceted space of the Gaya living principles of the Truku people.
The impact of Shu Lea Cheang’s and Dondon Hounwn’s collaboration in Hagay Dreaming reaches far beyond its impressive concept. The ‘techno-fantasia guided theatre of revival’ embraces Tate’s cavernous, concrete space that well and truly transports audiences to what feels like another land. The performance is both riveting and meditative, creating an atmosphere both enchanting and excitable. The music of the piece, produced by Sayun Chang and sung by Shan Shan Chen, combines chant and other traditional singing styles and electronic music with such deftness that one’s ears are consistently surprised and enthralled by what they are hearing. For a moment you may feel tempted to hit the club, the next you are in a transitive state, lulled by haunting vocals. Visually, the piece is incredibly intricate and layered. Choreographer Dahu (Wei Yao Chiu) creates a distinct narrative through movement with impressive complexity that consistently compliments the music as well as the myriad of other visual stimuli at play. Shu Lea Cheang’s futuristic media-driven art drives home the juxtaposition of tradition and future, compelling the audience to understand that moving forward does not mean abandoning one’s ancestors, that modern conventions can and do exist in the same reality as tradition. A cacophony of choreographed lasers, projections, light and colour, Shu Lea Cheang’s work is a true feast for the eyes.
Words cannot truly describe the experience offered by Hagay Dreaming. If you have the chance to go, you would be remiss to miss it. Part of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpel at the Tate Modern.