The image is a close-up of a bright red tomato nestled between the bare skin of an unknown figure. The tomato's green stem and sepals are visible, forming a star-like shape. We see the elbow push into the tummy, and the hair at the very top of the pubic area.

Image Credit: 58kg

The image is a close-up of a bright red tomato nestled between the bare skin of an unknown figure. The tomato's green stem and sepals are visible, forming a star-like shape. We see the elbow push into the tummy, and the hair at the very top of the pubic area.
  • Presented by: Melbourne Fringe and Dancehouse

  • Choreographed by: CHOU Kuan Jou

  • Performed by: CHOU Kuan Jou, NG Chi Wai and Zito Tseng

Created by the gifted dancer-choreographer Chou Kuan-Jou for herself and two other performers, not to mention a few ripe and shapely red fruits, TOMATO is a cultural experience both playful and provocative.

Lust and desire take center stage in a canny, capricious combination of live performance and live-camera documentation. This enticingly tasty work is an absurdly funny expression of Chou’s ongoing interest in the sexualized body from a feminist perspective. Here private manifestations of sexuality receive a rib-ticklingly public spin.

什麼是情慾?如果情慾不是色情,不是受精行為,那是什麼?

準備好衛生紙
噴湧汁液不怕髒只怕你擦不乾淨
帶著踰越的心 愉悅的身體

可窺探可凝視也可以遮眼睛
《TOMATO》從不同的性別身體出發,去探索各種情慾的方式。
鮮紅果實作為情慾、性別身體、性別認知等象徵,藉由身體與之時而倒置、時而抗衡的權力關係,與其動態所產生的想像去探問「情慾為何」的同時,也梳理我們的性/性別如何在我們所處的社會被建構。舞作從此認知出發,或許延續其發展、或許打破,甚至反其道而行,將肉身與物的性實踐舞蹈化,試圖抽象的打破「人與物」既有的身體符號。


TOMATO is a part of Fringe Focus Taiwan, a program that shines a spotlight on the innovative art coming out of one of Asia’s most creatively inspired centres. In 2024, Fringe Focus Taiwan will explore the boundaries of gender and the changing shape of feminism at the intersection of private and public spaces.

Fringe Focus Taiwan is supported by The Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan), and Cultural Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney.

About Chou Kuan-Jou

Chou Kuan-Jou is an artist based in Taiwan. As a multi-dimensional performing energy and sensitivity carrier, she is a theatre performer, choreographer, action designer, and dance instructor. In recent years, she has devoted herself to the artistic practice of the "Lust Body" employing the fluidity of sexuality as a strategy to loosen boundaries. Through tactile perception, she expands into a dance-based dialogical space, concentrating on the manifestation of bodily politics. Her practical methods include but are not limited to body practices, workshops, and performances.
She has been invited to international events such as CND Camping 2019, Tanzmesse 2022, Tjimur Arts Festival Residency 2022, and da:ns lab 2023 at Dance Nucleus. In 2021, she co-created the "Nyu Shu Movement" project with artist Chen Yi-Chin. This project was showcased at the SEA: Residency in the CLOUD in Taiwan, Loei Art Festival in Thailand, and the BUoY Art Festival in Tokyo. In 2022, her work "TOMATO" was selected for the Taiwan Season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, receiving several awards, including The Bobby Award.

choukuanjou.art

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