Mature Subject Matter: a Brief Review of Kuan-Hsiang's 'Kids'

What is it that makes a work seem disturbing?  It may be the way in which the performer addresses the audience or perhaps the environment created by the set.  Upon arrival to the contemporary dance performance on the evening of January 24th, the audience is asked to take out our cell phones and find a picture of a loved one.  I presume this is to personalize the coming events.  In the set’s case, immense pieces of white fabric drape throughout the space and a single light fixture is traded through the hands of the three performers; the light gives the dancers the power to expose each other at one’s will.  Whatever the root of my discomfort, it persists throughout Liu Kuan-Hsiang’s Kids.

   The performers are exposed in the most unforgiving manner. The female dancers often lay on their backs with their legs spread wide whilst being handled by Kuan-Hsiang, the only male performer.  The manipulative partnerwork sometimes consists of blatant gestures of violence.  Despite the brief near nudity of Kuan-Hsiang himself, the violence towards and exposure of the female performers could be considered the most uncomfortable element.   In addition, there is a recording of a male voice at one point telling the mother, “I’m here to protect you…”which seems somewhat ironic considering the previous events.

   I attempt to think back to the theme of the piece: a tribute to the male choreographer’s late mother.  I attempt to dismiss the wide-legged women as an allusion to childbirth; perhaps Kuan-Hsiang is reminiscing on some deep-rooted guilt he may feel for the described pain he has caused his mother throughout pregnancy.  Despite this possibility, I have trouble moving past this display of female-directed violence.  Artists should always be conscious of how violence may be read by an audience.   Both these actions of violence and the mention of protection may imply weakness.  I wonder if it is Kuan-Hsiang’s intention to portray his mother as weak.