A MILLION MILES AWAY
by HUANG YI
A MILLION MILES AWAY
If you could journey back to any chapter of your history—which one would you choose?
Renowned Taiwanese choreographer, dancer, and inventor Huang Yi spent ten years contemplating this question, and in 2019 answered it with a revolving stage and mesmerizing stories in A MILLION MILES AWAY. Using his signature tapestry of artistry and blending technology into an invisible presence, Huang invites audiences to continue with him on his exploration of the nexus of humans, technology, and dance.
The canvas onto which the stories of A MILLION MILES AWAY are painted is a 9 meter (30 feet) diameter revolving stage, custom designed for the work and built to break down into easily transported wedges. An exquisitely constructed symbol for the perpetual advancement of time, the stage is modeled after a cross section of a tree trunk, symbolizing nature’s rings of time as the foundation of the performance. Dancers illuminate stories revolving around the fabric of time and the bonds of family, rivals, partners, and self—at moments they advance easily in sync with the rotation; others depict movement in situ, stumbling backward, and soaring above with the precision of digital rigging. The dancers' interactions and resolutions draw back the curtain on goals, values, and the greater design of our own moments within life’s cyclical patterns.
A MILLION MILES AWAY premiered to critical acclaim at Taipei’s National Theater for the 11th annual Taiwan International Festival of Arts in February 2019, and was the first joint commission in history from the National Theater & Concert Hall, National Taichung Theater, and National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying).
ABOUT HUANG YI
Taiwanese dancer, choreographer, inventor, and videographer Huang Yi’s pioneering work is steeped in his fascination with the partnership between humans and robots. He interweaves continuous movement with mechanical and multimedia elements to create a form of dance which corresponds with the flow of data, effectively making the performer a dancing instrument. Named by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 to Watch,” Huang was immersed in the arts at a young age, spending much of his childhood in his parents’ studio watching them teach tango and learning to paint alongside his father. Huang has been Artist-in-Residence of the National Theater & Concert Hall, the National Performing Arts Center, Taiwan, and is widely considered one of Asia’s most prolific choreographers.
Huang’s groundbreaking and award-winning work, HUANG YI & KUKA, in which he and his dancers perform alongside an industrial robot he programmed, has opened the Ars Electronica Festival (Austria), TED Conference (Vancouver), and toured globally since 2015 including in Australia, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the UAE.
Huang Yi premiered Under the Horizon, a hybrid opera, in collaboration with Berlin-based Ryoichi Kurokawa and the Netherlands Chamber Choir, in Holland and Taiwan in 2018. In February 2019 he premiered A Million Miles Away at Taiwan's celebrated National Theater. His latest work, Ink, premiered at the National Taichung Theater and the National Theater in Taipei in June 2023.
“Heartbreakingly beautiful and a major accomplishment for Huang.”