Day 14

Today was our third public encounter in Shanghai. It took place in the spectacular Power Station of Art. Housed in a former power station, the museum is China’s first state run contemporary art museum and was established in 2012. The museum is huge to say the least, which meant that the dancers had to explode out of their skins and dance beyond their extremities to fill the expansive spaces.

Similar to the Long Museum, a tour for the dancers through the various art areas and rooms were done before anything else took place. A long queue of eager art lovers gathered outside mid morning, trying to escape to warm rain, falling with gushes of enthusiasm to the earth. The same enthusiasm filled the museum’s theatre where the dancers warmed up before they took their specific space to improvise with in the exhibition.

“Body Media II,” the current exhibition at the museum has incorporated the cold industrial architecture with its artworks. The intension is for the audience to move through dimly light rooms, as warm blood flows through veins and dark chambers of the body. The gloomy rooms give a mysterious atmosphere, a great platform to discover this curious exhibition. Adding another layer of creativity, the heated bodies of the dancers winded in and around thick, hot air.

The first run concluded with a work in progress presentation in the museum’s very own theatre. This was to show audience members snippets of what is to come on 8 and 9 August, two (already sold out!) performances at Shanghai International Dance Centre’s Theatre. The dancers had a marvellous time - invigorated and excited to be part of some of China’s most important art and cultural spaces. A powerful day at the Power Station of Art.

(Pictures by Johnatan Molina)