Tango in Silk is a ballroom work that tells a personal story of cultural collision and identity through movement. Drawing from the sharp, grounded rhythm of Argentine tango and the elegance of 1930s Shanghai, the piece follows the silent transformation of an East Asian woman newly arrived in the UK. Her gestures evolve from hesitant and fragile to bold and assertive — a physical metaphor of cultural friction, resistance, and eventual fusion. We sat down with Xi Liu to discuss their upcoming performances.
What inspired you to blend Argentine tango with 1930s Shanghai aesthetics, and how did that fusion come to life in your choreography?
This fusion was born from my personal journey of cultural displacement and reconstruction. I came to the UK as an Eastern woman trained in Chinese and ballroom dance, carrying the visual and emotional codes of my origin — the qipao, the gestures, the sense of restraint. But here, I was surrounded by a Western structure of expression: tango. In my choreography, the qipao represents my heritage; tango, the unfamiliar rhythm I tried to follow. The work physically maps my process — from quiet imitation, to cultural collision, to a more empowered integration where I no longer choose one over the other, but embrace both.
Tango in Silk tells a story of migration and transformation — how much of your own experience informed this narrative?
It’s very personal. The story mirrors my emotional journey as a migrant: arriving in a foreign country, feeling ungrounded, trying to blend in by adopting its movement language. At first, I danced in the way I thought I was expected to — following, copying, being careful not to stand out. Over time, I realized that losing my original cultural self wasn’t necessary to adapt. The most powerful transformation was not assimilation, but synthesis. This piece reflects that realization: that identity doesn’t have to be either/or — it can be both, in tension and in harmony.
The qipao plays a striking role in the finale — what does this costume choice mean to you in the context of the performance?
The qipao is not just a costume — it’s a symbol of home, of origin, and of the expectations I grew up with. It reminds me of how I was taught to move: with elegance, with silence, with control. In the performance, I start dancing in a qipao with Chinese movements, then shift to tango, and finally attempt to merge the two. The qipao becomes a constant — not something I discard, but something I carry into a new language. It represents the part of myself I choose to keep, even while evolving.
What conversations or reflections do you hope Tango in Silk might spark for viewers after they leave the performance?
I hope the piece invites viewers to rethink identity — not as a fixed label, but as something that shifts, stretches, and evolves across time and culture. Especially for anyone navigating between two worlds, it can be tempting to erase one side to survive in the other. But I hope this work suggests that true strength lies in holding both, and allowing them to reshape each other. It’s not about abandoning who you were, but expanding who you can become.
See Xi Liu at the following performances:
• 2 August, 6:45pm – C aurora, C ARTS, Edinburgh Fringe
• 9 August, 6:00pm – The Courtyard Theatre, Camden Fringe, London Tickets & info: https://camdenfringe.com/events/tango-in-silk/
• 31 August, 8:00pm – The Etcetera Theatre, After Fringe Fest, London Tickets & info: https://www.citizenticket.com/events/etcetera-theatre/tango-in-silk/