Lübeckische Blätter, December 23, 2000
Arndt Voß
On December 8th and 9th, Hong Kong-trained dancer Mui-Cheuk Yin presented a choreographic work created for the Folkwang Dance Studio. And once more one is filled with wonder at the fascination this stage genre can hold, for Mui-Cheuk Yin knows her craft. Three years ago she created a piece for herself for the Festival of Cultures in Hong Kong which revolved around the relationship between a woman and her umbrella. This seed has now grown into „Whispering Colour”, developed for the Folkwang Dance Studio. How much do we know about the falling of blossoms? This question, the work’s mysterious subtitle, is explored by the choreography in a poetic and aesthetical one-hour piece. She and her ten dancers - five female, five male - have charming things to show us. The spectators’ senses are enveloped in delicate moods when they allow themselves to get involved in the play of bodies and their smooth, light movements, the play of colours, the soft rustling of silk-paper leaves, when they listen to the music and the sounds which are a mixture of natural noises and sounds coming from very different cultures. Traditional Japanese music evokes the world of Asia; „Cathain” evokes an Irish element, the music of Madredeus Portugal. David Darling’s cello cantilenas or the vocal acrobatics of Jazz vocalist Meredith Monk have precisely the delicate lightness that marks this choreography. And the umbrellas are part of it, used not just as props but as media of expression and enchantment, the evocation of tender emotions. These umbrellas provide playful highlights of shape and colour, they are objects important to the plot, become active, for example by rolling noisily across the floor or, being opened and closed, by serving as bellows. All this does not make for a straight plot. Rather, stations resembling the seasons of the year appear before one’s eyes. There are gentle, poetic scenes accompanied by natural processes like breathing and wind, by noise and singing. Human beings are part of this: A perspective which does not deny their Asian origins but does not put them on display either.
NRZ Essen, May 13, 2000
Michael-Georg Müller
„How much do we know about the falling of blossoms?” Mui-Cheuk Yin asks the audience in the new auditorium of the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. The Hong Kong Chinese choreographer’s new piece which the Folkwang Dance Studio helped launch is enchanting, light and full of poetry.
The company, directed by Henrietta Horn and Pina Bausch, showed themselves at the top of their form at this première. There were loud cheers, even from the renowned experts in the audience.
Hong Kong, December 20, 2000
Gung Zheng Bao
The dancers maintained their individuality, too. Starting from their own unique cultures they faced the acid test of blending into a harmonious whole, yet they were successful not only in re-creating a new, albeit richly orient-flavoured style, but also in injecting into the dances their own personalities. The audience can feel the four seasons and „see” snow, waves and flowers, not only as simulation, but as reality too. Beautiful movements and visual poetry indeed.