2024 - The third bank of the River - Lo Yi Chun The third bank of the River Butoh dance performance

Works

2024 – The third bank of the River

Lo Yi Chun

Nature

I'd like to tell you a story about the Xindian River, where the creatures and the locals meet.

Spirits

This area was once home to otters. They travelled swiftly above and below the surface of the water.

Rituals

They built their nests in the river with twigs and blades of grass. They crossed the boundaries of time and space.

Myths

The Butoh dancers, as incarnations of otters, search for their lost fur in the human world and reconnect with the land environment.

Nature

I'd like to tell you a story about the Xindian River, where the creatures and the locals meet.

Spirits

This area was once home to otters. They travelled swiftly above and below the surface of the water.

Rituals

They built their nests in the river with twigs and blades of grass. They crossed the boundaries of time and space.

Myths

The Butoh dancers, as incarnations of otters, search for their lost fur in the human world and reconnect with the land environment.

Nature

I'd like to tell you a story about the Xindian River, where the creatures and the locals meet.

Spirits

This area was once home to otters. They travelled swiftly above and below the surface of the water.

Rituals

They built their nests in the river with twigs and blades of grass. They crossed the boundaries of time and space.

Myths

The Butoh dancers, as incarnations of otters, search for their lost fur in the human world and reconnect with the land environment.

Introduction

This work presents a reinterpretation of the human and natural history of the Xindian River basin, offering a perspective that encompasses the species and lives that inhabit this region. Utilising otters, which historically populated the area, as a central narrative thread, the work explores the communication and interaction among the diverse aquatic inhabitants of the Gajiuzai (加蚋仔) area.

The exhibition powerfully suggests the crossing of boundaries in time through the otter’s ability to swim and dive, their agility in travelling up and down the water’s surface, and their use of twigs and grass leaves to build nests in the river. The choreography of the dancer serves as a metaphorical embodiment of the otter, metaphorically searching for its lost fur. The exhibition explores the concept of tracing back to the roots of the otter, thereby facilitating a reconnection with the land and the environment.The excavation of the past, when the Aboriginal people of this area lived by fishing and hunting, and traded goods and economic activities with the neighbouring tribes and the Han Chinese, echoes the parallel interactions between people. The integration of live installations and performative creations serves to weave narratives centring upon rivers, plants, and herbs, thereby providing an abstract habitat of spiritual space.The overarching objective of the exhibition is to explore the intricate links that exist between the environment, ecology, economic trade, and the symbiosis between people and the land.

The title of this work pays tribute to the Brazilian writer João Guimarães Rosa.

Commissioned by West-Taipei Life Festival 2024

Installation & Live Performance

Butoh Dancers：Lucy Chou (周依欣)、Kaài Li (李嘉艾)、Janine Kao (高穎琳)

Musicians：Tristan Maximilian Alt, Sayun Chang (張幼欣)、Pablo Liebhaber

Artist: Lo Yi Chun

Works

2024 – The third bank of the River

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