D_Antidote Production: Palingenesis

★★★★ “The thrill of this piece is witnessing something that looks as if it’s arrived from another world.” (The Stage) ★★★★ “Life in its barest, most oozing, alien form.” (The List UK) ★★★★ “An astonishing dance performance.” (Broadway Baby) What binds us together when everything else is pulling us apart? Inspired by the Rat King – the rare, uncanny phenomenon where creatures become so entangled they can never separate – Palingenesis takes its name from something older still: the idea, woven through biology, theology, philosophy and politics for centuries, that something can be reborn as fundamentally more than it was. Three lithe, masked bodies emerge and begin to morph, through each other, around each other, as each other. Are they individuals, a single organism, or something that lives in the space between? Taiwanese choreographer Chuang Po-Hsiang – hailed as his generation’s most promising choreographer – has spent four years making that question breathtakingly, impossibly physical. This is dance as an extreme expression of intimacy, trust and transformation. Dream-like audio enhances the cast’s extraordinary kaleidoscopic control, and the net effect is intense, strangely arresting, and possibly ecstatic. A reminder that what the body can do, and what connection can feel like, might well be limitless. Founded in 2022, D_Antidote Production is led by a new star in Taiwanese contemporary dance – Chuang Po-Hsiang – who explores the body as a medium, drawing inspiration from both social realities and imagined worlds. Blending movement, imagery and emotion through a range of artistic forms, the company creates work that uncovers the subtleties of human experience through a striking visual aesthetic. Using the body and movement, the company opens a space between reality and illusion, inviting audiences to reflect, engage and search for their own “antidote” to life.