Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, Black Box Theatre Friday 20-Sunday 22

Keep in Touch, a new modern dance presented by Biuguk, is not a simple dance piece. As a performance that promises to provoke contemplation and reflection, it explores concepts of cycles, repetition and the habitual actions that dictate our everyday life; hence a Chinese title that translates as The Restless One. Yet another layer of the dance is an exploration of how our ingrained habits, which we take for granted and rarely question, affect our relationships with the people around us; hence the English title.

Despite the complicated conception behind the choreography, one doesn’t need to be bilingual to appreciate the dance. In fact, the three choreographers – Max Lee, Bruce Wong and Lai Tak-wai, all HKAPA graduates – believe that dance is a fitting art form to break down the need for language and narration. “Language can be a handicap – it’s limiting,” says Lee. “But dance can touch people in indescribable ways, beyond language.”

Keep in Touch aims to leave its audience in a self-reflective mood. “When we’re busy, we follow our routines blindly,” Lee explains. “If
it’s time to eat, we eat. If it’s time to shop, we shop. If it’s time to work, we work. We don’t stop to think.” Wong agrees: “I want the audience to reflect and to ask: do I accept all the habits and routine actions that dictate my life?”

This all might sound a bit too thoughtful for the casual audience member, but the choreographers believe that the dance will resonate with everyone in different ways. To those who think that modern dance is incomprehensible, they encourage an open mind. “Don’t worry too much about understanding,” says Lai. “Just open yourself up, and feel the dance.”

Caroline Chen

Tickets: 2734 9009; www.urbtix.hk.