Dialogue with Hou Ying: A Dance Artist’s Reflections on the Crisis of Human Civilization

Abstract

In March 2019, Hou Ying presented a site-specific dance performance called “Immanent fall” as part of the “Civilization: The Way We Live Now” series to an audience in the labyrinth-like exhibition hall in the Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Her creation seems to have had an amazing predictive function which was almost identical to what is happening in the world today, the outbreak of COVID-19. In an in-depth interview with Hou Ying and Aimee T. Liu, Hou shared her inspiration for creating the work “Immanent Fall”, and explored her reflections on the crisis that hit human civilization on 23 February, 2020.

Keywords

• covid-19
• crisis
• dance
• hou ying
• human civilization