By: Belle Alvarez 

On January 24th, KYL/D hosted a free Open Dialogue at its CHI Movement Arts Center, following a Story Circle with community members. The event was an invitation to see the development of of the piece and to speak with the dance artists and collaborators Cory Neale (composer) and David O’Connor (dramaturg). Kun-Yang Lin shared insight into the process of creating HOME, including collaborative movement generation with the dance artists.

A key symbol in HOME is a simple white folding chair. In HOME, the chair is an extension of the body and it allows for dynamic actions of stacking, sliding, folding, and unfolding. Visually, fragmentation represents an important theme in the work. Chairs become constructs of obstacles and depict geographical borders. Lin works with the imagery of being inside and outside of a box. These actions and the images created by the chairs allow for a wide range of imagery throughout the work.

During the talkback, an audience member shared a story of how her mother lived in a house for almost 50 years. She spoke candidly of a 1950s kitchen chair and its sentimental value. While watching the piece and reflecting on the meaning of the chair, she realized that chairs were charged with significance. Chairs were places for meals, conversations, debates, and they represent having a place to belong to. Perhaps there is something inherently intimate about the act of sitting down with others in a home.

Second Open Dialogue Event: April 18, 2015 4pm-5pm.  FREE