In a world of rapid political and social change, we are constantly bombarded by loud volumes of opinions and beliefs, many extreme and absolute. Finding one’s personal belief and identity becomes increasingly complicated. Invisible Habitudes, conceived by The Human Expression (T.H.E) Dance Company’s Founding Artistic Director and Main Choreographer, Kuik Swee Boon, in collaboration with Taiwanese musician Wang Yu-jun, Singaporean lighting designer Adrian Tan, costume designer Loo An Ni, and six dance artists from T.H.E, explores these issues through the language of dance—where solidity and fluidity intersect—in a dialogue between the body and its environment.
Commissioned by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay for da:ns festival 2018, Invisible Habitudes has resonated on global stages, including a tour across five different European performing arts festivals in 2019. This season, the production returns to Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia with a fresh infusion of energy—featuring new cast members who bring their unique voices to a narrative rich with memory, childhood, gender, culture, and ethnicity. With each body upholding inclusivity and compassion as antidotes to the relentless pursuit of one’s convictions at the expense of others, this reinvigorated version seeks to untangle the complexities of a fluid identity, searching for an inherent, fundamental sense of belonging.
Invisible Habitudes is developed from T.H.E’s signature HollowBody™ methodology, an approach of training and creation based on improvisation that emphasises on the body as a biological vessel and an extension of a person’s thoughts, emotions, and spirit.