Catch Wind Shadow tonight at the Esplanade as part of the Singapore Art Festival. It is a mesmerizing performance (albeit a bit slow and repetitive at time) bringing together Taiwan’s venerated choreographer Lin Hwai-Min and his troupe, Cloud Gate, with Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, who’s known for his gunpowder paintings and the fireworks at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lin had told Cai he had complete freedom to decide what they should do ("I wanted to see what he saw in his head") and Cai told him "No dance!" The result is a breathtaking visual performance of light and shadows, billowing silks, and tumbling confetti, as if Cai was painting one "tableau" after the other. My favourite parts were the simple, long fall of a silk from the ceiling with the delicate swishhhhh sound; a slide show of Cai's works on moving white flags, a riot of explosions, and the dancers "painting" their own firework painting on the floor. I only wish some of the slow, very repetitive movements would be cut down a bit...
