HUNG
DANCE
Introduction of Hung Dance
Hung Dance is a Taiwanese contemporary dance company founded on May 5, 2017.Choreographer Lai Hung Chung serves as the artistic director, and the troupe's name comes from the Chinese character 翃 , meaning to fly. The company has adopted four core elements in its development: Annual productions, the International Collaboration Project (ICP) , International Tours, and the Stray Birds Dance Platform.
Currently, at the core of our annual productions are the works of Artistic Director, Lai Hung-Chung. His dances are inspired by daily life matters, taking internal emotions and physical states and putting them into dance movement. He is perceptive to the subtle relationship between people and nature, and extends elements of Tai Chi to integrate with contemporary thinking and cultivate a new dance vocabulary. In 2018, the short piece, Birdy, was developed into the dance company's first feature-length work, Boundless, which was invited to premiere in Madrid, Spain at the "Made in Taiwan-Taiwan en el C rculo", co-hosted by the Taiwan Embassy in Spain and the C rculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid. After premiering, the work then returned to Taiwan, to tour in Kaohsiung, Taipei and New Taipei City, and also toured in the Ivory Coast. The company's second feature-length work was 2020's See You, which premiered at Taipei's Wellspring Theater and was nominated for the 19th Taishin Arts Award.
The international tours began at the founding of Hung Dance. Lai Hung-Chung's short pieces, Watcher and Birdy, were submitted to international choreography competitions and art festivals, winning 13 international awards. Following this success, the company embarked on an international tour that saw them perform in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa, with a total of 70 performances.
The development of the ICP began as, from its establishment, the company has had the opportunity to meet many like-minded and unique dancers while touring in different countries. The ICP invites international choreographers to Taiwan to tailor-make new works for Hung Dance, allowing the dancers the opportunity to work with international choreographers and learn dance vocabulary from different cultural backgrounds. The first international collaboration project was Out of Elegant, a work co-produced with Spanish choreographer Mario Bermudez Gil and performed at the Experimental Theater of the National Theatre in 2020. This collaboration also opened up a different network for international tour opportunities.
The Stray Birds Dance Platform (Stray Birds) project was proposed in 2018, in hopes of creating a bridge and providing opportunities for young choreographers to publish works on the platform. Furthermore, Lai Hung-Chung hoped to utilize the international network of contacts accumulated in recent years to invite international choreography competitions and art festivals to present awards, select dance works by youth talents to compete, and create opportunities to connect with the world.With a platform that connects the like-minded, we can establish connections between young choreographers and the international market. It is hoped that in the future, Stray Birds will become a large-scale international dance platform. Starting in 2022, we will be pleased to open applications to international works, deepening our international connections and fostering a positive, competitive environment.
Awards
2022
Lai Hung Chung's “See You” selected by the Ministry of Culture to participate in Taiwan Avignon Off at the Festival OFF d'Avignon and the Taiwan Season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Kroea | Seoul International Choreography Festival | Finland International Dance Galas Cultural Exchange | Slovenija Fornt Art Festival
2020
Lai Hung Chung's “See You”nominated for the 19th Taishin Arts AwardLai Hung Chung's “Boundless” selected by the Ministry of Culture to participate in Taiwan Avignon Off at the Festival OFF d'Avignon and the Taiwan Season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2019
New York | Dance Gallery Festival | Audience Award Best ChoreographySeoul | Seoul International Choreography Festival 5 perdormance-invited Awards「1000 CRANES FESTIVAL」、「American Dance Festival(ADF)」、「OPEN LOOK, International Dance Festival」、「Pori Dance Company Triple Bill- series 2020」、「Contemporary Ballet of Asia(Co.B.A)」
2018
Germany | 32nd International Choreographic Competition Hanover | 3rd Prize
Tanzplattform Bern | Audience Award Best Choreography
2017
Germany | 31st International Choreographic Competition Hanover | 3rd Prize and Critics AwardSpain | Burgos & New York International Choreography Contest | 1st prizeSpain | Masdanza International Dance Festival | Audience Award Best Choreography Japan | Odoru Akita International Dance Festival | Audience Award Best ChoreographySwitzerland |
