NYC /Philadelphia
1994-2003 (NYC), 2004-2007 (Transition)
Spanning five years, the project serves as a rigorous exploration and refinement of Lin's practice during his monumental geographic and artistic transition from New York City to Philadelphia. To date, this evolving body of work has activated outdoor sites, museums, and galleries across the globe, with notable presentations in NYC, Philadelphia, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Mexico.
Crossing
Premiere: 2007. Time: 30 min. Dancers: 6
Music: Andrew Castellano, Kenneth Kirschner and Mum
Costume Design: Abigail Zbikowski
Video Design: Olive Prince
BODY WRITING PROJECT
2004-2010
20-60 min. Dancers: 1-10
This multi-year performance and exhibition project captures the dancing body in the raw immediacy of structured improvisation, guided by Lin’s unique creative method, Chi Awareness Practice.
A work inspired by Lin’s personal "crossing" - from NYC resident to Philadelphia resident. The work explores the significance of "crossings", not just in the geographic sense but also from the perspective of the cultural, emotional and personal developmental implications that transitions bring with them for all people. The work contains six sections: Crossing; Trapped; Escape; Surrender?; Crossroad; and Be
Emptiness of Snow
Premiere: 2005. Time: 23 min. Dancers: 5
Music: Kenneth Kirschner, Tibetan bell music
Costume /Set Design: Agata Olek ( Later Sara McCorriston)
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
“Complex variety of speed, shape, and group configuration—dancers whipped and spun about by imagined wind and thrust to the floor, somehow always very neatly—gave this work a poetic sensibility." - The Village Voice.
“… his gift for moving his dancers fluidly and concisely through sculptural individual body shaped and massed groups.” - New York Times
Dido's Lament
Premiere: 2004. Time: 9 minutes. Dancers: 10
Music: Henry Purcell
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin
Dido’s Lament is a contemporary reimagining of Henry Purcell’s classic opera aria, set on workshop participants from the Limón Institute (José Limón Dance Foundation). The work interprets the historic score through a distinctly contemporary sensibility. Carla Maxwell, Former Artistic Director of the Limón Dance Company, who commended its profound musicality and striking, structurally complex group composition.
“Lin is an artist for the masses. His work, even when indefinable, is Incredibly captivating for audiences and dancers alike." - The Martha's Vineyard Times.
"...his distinctive blend of traditional and Western dance has the dark, bold force of a woodcut print.” - New York Times
Love Song (The Song that Can't be Sung)
Premiere: 2004. Time: 19 minutes. Dancers: 10
Music: Arvo Part
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
" a gut-wrenching duet of forbidden love." - Philadelphia Inquirer
" Beautiful!! Unexpected and inspiring." - Audience
Traces Of Brush
Premiere: 2004. Time: 25 min Dancer: 8
Music: Andy Teirstein
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin, later Jill Peterson
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
Beyond The Bones
Premiere: 2003. Time: 70 min. Dancer: 6 with community singers
Collaboration with Visual artist Sculptor: Juno Cheng
Music: Andy Teirstein, Igram Marshall, Takashi Kako, Jocelyn Pook, Quentin Chiappeta, Tibetabn Bells, Sound sampler
An evening-length, interdisciplinary, dance, theater and performance work. Beyond the Bones is a reflection on the generosity of spirit that springs from the midst of suffering. As the locus of our deepest feelings, the seat of our instincts as well as the armature for our public masks, our bones are thirsty to unite with the universal well that feeds our souls. Beyond technically demanding movement, beyond an inspired soundscape of Eastern and Western music and live vocals; beyond embodied mythologies of diverse cultures, “Beyond the Bones” is an adventure that “transports us back to the beginning of humanity and the wellspring of our beings.” (Backstage Magazine)
Dedication
Premiere: 2002 Time: 6 min. Dancer: 1
Music: Igram Marshall
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
CHI
Premiere: 2002. Time: 9 min. Dancers: 10
Site specific work
Commission work by the Philadelphia Rail Park
Music: live musicians Cory Neal, Daniel Belquer
"The solo is a nuanced distillation of sorrow" - The New York Time
"An extraordinary dancer, whose blend of tautness and buoyancy is not only exciting but also suggestive of clarity and immediacy with which dance can communicate deep, conflicting emotions." -The New York Times
CHI showcases Lin’s clarity of a panorama of Asian dance artistry laced with western balletic vocabulary.” - The Dance Journal
"A buoyant, radiant dance." - The New York Times
"An outstanding dance-theatre work that intelligently reveals the grotesque comedy of need, obsession, and addiction." - Back Stage,
"With his outstanding, tango-inspired Shall We..? His work engaged us into why we dance, and had us laughing as we questioned the logic of all we saw and heard. What more can we ask from a choreographer? " - Back Stage
Butterfly
Premiere: 2000. Time: 5 min. Dancer: 1
Music: Giancomo Puccini “Un Bel Di”from Madame Butterfly.
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
Shall We ...?
Premiere: 2001. Time: 36 min. Dancers: 7
Music: A. Bradi, G. M. Rodriguez, Adam Brett, Martyn Jacques, M. Mores, S. Discepolo, A. Pizzola
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
"A little Isadora Duncan and a little Butoh... this was choreography and performing that was simultaneously both lush and spare." - The New York Times.
"a butterfly with broken wing by fluttering, jittering and trembling within Lin's choreography that seemed to hark back to the days of Isadora Duncan." - The Buffalo New
"one of the fine dances Lin gave us..show what individuals are all about.." - 96.3 WQXR
From The Land of Lost Content
Premiere: 2000. Time: 25 min. Dancers: 7
Music: Philip Glass, Lama Gyurmes, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Kirby Schelstad.
Costume Design: Tamaki Kawano Photography by Harry Beach
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
" One of the most seamlessly and powerfully executed dances I've seen.. A cohesive and powerful work.." - Vineyard Gazett
" Powerful simplicity " - The New York Times
"Brilliantly constructed.. Musical accents are skillfully used. Lin combines a fresh approach to conventional craft with a commitment to contemporary social-consciousness.” - Back Stage
“A post-postmodernist dance.. This New York premiere built and pull one in; it was effective and affective." - Ballet Review.
" Deeply spiritual,..remarkable.." -Dance Magazine
"one-of-a-kind...connected Eastern philosophies and practices with contemporary dance to form something as new and unique as the mythical kylin.” - Broad Street Review
"a spare, mysterious solo, slight but implacable looking. Mr. Lin's torso seemed to sprout limbs that suggested flight." The New York Times
Lin is an interesting talent worth watching." - This Month of Stage
Run Silent, Run Deep...
Premiere: 1994. Time: 13 min. Dancer: 2 and 1 actor
Music: Les Tambours de Bronx
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
Kylin's Garden
Premiere: 1998. Time: 6 min. Dancers: 1
Music: Steve Craig
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin, later Jill Peterson
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
"...highly personal theme... incorporation of his Taiwanese dance heritage." - Attitude
"a wrestling match between two men who were both mortal and angelic." - The New York Times
"Run Silent, Run Deep... ferocious with daring leaps, lifts and catches" - Philadelphia Inquirer
Moon Dance
Premiere: 1994. Time: 7 min. Dancers: 1
Music: Dead Can Dance
Costume Design: Kun-Yang Lin
Lighting Design: Stephen Petrilli
" a powerful solo" - Philadelphia Inquirer
"An energetic use of vertical spaces with fine hand and footwork... an interesting juxtaposition of Western dance and Chinese Opera." - Sunday Start, Malaysia
"It's glamorous, ecstatic and sensual." - Performing Arts Review,
"a coruscating solo... Mr. Lin is a master of form and balance." - Back Stage