《一》 Shian Law

MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL At TEMPERANCE HALL

A stylish rendering of the artist’s autobiography and burning passion for calligraphy

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Pronounced as yī, 一 is the horizontal stroke that represents number one in Chinese Han characters. Simply by adding a second horizontal stroke to the foundational mark, one becomes two: 二 èr.

Ideographically, 一 Yī precedes 人 rén, humankind. Above人 rén, a horizontal stroke forms 天 tīan, heaven; underneath 人 rén, the horizontal stroke forms 土tû, terra.

The Confucianist code that binds two people in all forms of social relations is 仁 rén, the virtue of compassion.

《一》is a new dance work by choreographer-auteur Shian Law. From their resistance to cultural atavism comes a stylish rendering of the artist’s autobiography and burning passion for calligraphy.

Set to a Sofia Coppola-esque soundtrack, from inscribing a singular line 一yī, the artist catapults their poetic musing on the uniqueness of life, Taoist cosmogony, Confucian humanistic philosophy, while deep diving among the cultural planktons of celebrity obsession (Lu Xianren, Balenciaga, etc.).

Experience the epicentre of experimental choreography at Temperance Hall this Melbourne Fringe Festival. If you’re hungry for more cutting-edge dance, we are offering 30% discounts on ticket-bundles. Book to see '《一》’ by Shian Law and ‘Dunes Rolling Down Dunes’ by Benjamin Hurley to receive the promo at the checkout.

PERFORMANCE DATES
Wednesday 11 October, 6.30pm
Thursday 12 October, 6.30pm
Friday 13 October, 6.30pm
Saturday 14 October, 6.30pm

LOCATION
Temperance Hall
199 Napier Street, South Melbourne

DURATION
50 mins, no interval

ACCESSIBILITY
Wheelchair accessible. Thursday 20 Oct will be a Relaxed and Audio Described Performance.

Audience members will be provided with a printed copy of the Narasimha – ManLion poem, this will also be available digitally as a document and audio file.

TICKETS
Full $30
Conc $22
Blak Tix $15
Ticket Bundle $42
See 《一》and Dunes Rolling Down Dunes by Benjamin Hurley – just $42 for both shows!

Please book on the link below or call the Melbourne Fringe Box Office on 03 9660 9666 or have a look at the website for more information: melbournefringe.com.au

Contact: program[at]temperancehall.com.au for more information.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

SHIAN LAW

Shian Law is a rare outlier who broke into the mainstream of contemporary dance in Melbourne. Known for their audacious, rule bending and badass attitude to art making, Shian debuted choreographic works in Melbourne Fringe in 2010, winning Best Dance, and again in 2012, winning Innovation in Dance. Their mass participatory performance ‘Personal Mythologies’ (2014; Next Wave Festival) was nominated for a Greenroom award for Best Experimental Work. The work impressed Sydney Dance Company Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela so much, he commissioned Shian to create a new work, ‘Epic Theatre’, on the company, for New Breed 2017. Shian travelled extensively for international residencies in New York, Berlin, Paris, Chiangmai and Beijing, where they presented a performance lecture in Soil, Seances, Sciences and Politics: a Symposium for Posthumanism alongside contemporary philosophy luminaries at the Goethe Institute. Shian is a proud recipient of Tanja Liedke Scholarship. Most recently, Shian premiered Musica Ricercata, a co-commission by Australia Centre for Contemporary Arts and Chunky Move.

Image credits:
Shian Law, by Peter Rosetzky

Temperance Hall's Melbourne Fringe Festival program has been made possible through the generous support of Gary Charman, our wonderful patrons and Creative Victoria, The Australian Government RISE Fund, The City of Port Phillip, Working Heritage and Heaps Normal.

Temperance Hall acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land in which we dance and create, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and pay our respect to Elders both past and present and, through them, to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.