Hung Dance | November 5-7, 2026

Birdy

U.S. Premiere June 2024, at the American Dance Festival

Choreography by Lai Hung-Chung

Music by HSU Chia-Wei

Costume Design by Summer LIN

Technical Coordinator WU Yi-Ju

The images of a cage, a supporter, and a dream are present in this piece. In this piece Hung Dance integrates the use of “Rattan Pole”, and "Ling Zi”, a long pheasant tail feather headpiece resembles the extension of the human spine, portraying the imagery of a bird, and the inner sense of the desire to escape reality. The rattan pole's strong but flexible nature turns the stage into a labyrinth as the dancer traverses through it, representing the distance and space of surviving in a constrained life.

Hung Dance is an up-and-coming Taiwanese dance company heavily influenced by Hung Dance Artistic Director Lai Hung-Chung. Lai trained extensively in popping (a street dance style characterized by quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to create a sudden "popping" effect), contemporary dance, and classical Chinese techniques such as Peking Opera, and so his company's unique style is a unique combination of the fluidity of contemporary dance, the staccato rhythm of popping, and the precise coordination of Peking Opera. Wearing dark grey costumes that emphasize the movement of their heads and hands, the dancers move between sections that illustrate Birdy's themes of individualism and conformity. Birdy makes use of pheasant feathers and bamboo poles as props - references to Lai Hung-Chung's training in classical Chinese arts.

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Hung Dance is known for pieces inspired by daily life matters, taking internal emotions and physical states and putting them into dance movement. Hung Dance seeks to portray the subtle relationship between people and nature and extends elements of Tai Chi to integrate with contemporary thinking and cultivate a new dance vocabulary. Hung Dance has been touring internationally since its foundation in 2018, and their original works have won 13 international awards. Hung Dance’s Stray Birds Dance Platform began in 2022 with the goal of establishing connections between young choreographers and the international market, fostering a positive, competitive environment for new choreographers.

Lai Hung-Chung, Artistic Director and Choreographer for Hung Dance, places emphasis on cultivating dancers' abilities and developing inspirations for dance pieces. He devised innovative ways to train the company based on the creative concept and needs, as well
as searched for a balance between contemporary thinking and dance. In addition, he has devoted himself to a wide range of international collaborations and new talent development programs in the hope of expanding the diverse dance scene in Taiwan. He believes that Taiwan’s social and political environment gives many artists a strong desire to share our stories with the world. That desire creates the sense of vitality and momentum that people notice internationally.

• Street dance styles like popping

• Companies such as

  • RUBBERBAND

  • LED

  • Radical System Art

  • Lali Ayguade Company

• Shows like Black Mirror or films with a minimalist, surreal edge

• Contemporary art installations and slow-burn storytelling

• East-meets-West aesthetics

• Thoughtful moods and quiet intensity