Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist 

YANG Nai-Hsuan’s Worn Yet Unfolding, compared to the deconstructive, cool-toned approach that emphasizes the physical development of dancers, is rooted in personal life experiences and transformed into a warm, relatable work of empathy. The work focuses on the choreographer’s midlife anxieties and delves deeply into the physical and mental traumas from her youth as she developed her skills. Worn Yet Unfolding avoids self-pity and blame, instead converting the affective power of the dancing body into a critique of the field’s ecology, becoming a passionate embrace that is “worn yet unfolding” over time. The dancer moves repeatedly on and off stage, appearing to regress yet progress, with sound design shifting between near and distant, emphasizing the temporal aspect of being “worn yet unfolding”: without repeatedly bending, folding, falling, and wearing down, the light of warmth and strength may never shine through. (Commentator / FAN Xiang-Jun)

Artwork Introduction  

Worn Yet Unfolding centers on the imagery of fermentation and transformation inherent in the Taiwanese term “àu” (漚, meaning “steeping”), reflecting the weariness and anxiety of midlife as one navigates the space between reality and expectation. This work features five emerging dancers and an improvisational musician, starting from constraints and employing improvisation alongside a cycle of “proposition, destruction, and reconstruction” to challenge performers’ habitual patterns and limits in the face of the unknown. Through this collaborative process, the work shifts from being solely an expression of personal internal struggles to a microscopic social laboratory, investigating how invisible class influences the interconnected relationships between individuals and groups as well as across generations—relationships characterized by “competition and conflict, yet profound mutual support.”

About the Artist 

YANG Nai-Hsuan (Sunny) has long studied the body as a vessel for perception and cultural experience, examining how it can be choreographed and interpreted across various contexts. Rooted in personal experience, her work features an open, fluid physical language that extends into collective relationships and social structures. In 2014, she established Les Petites Choses Production as a platform for her creative approach and vision. The company operates as a performing arts cooperative, bringing together creators from diverse fields. Through open, participatory art, they conduct creative experiments in unconventional spaces, collaborating with civil society to foster a more sustainable network that supports art.

Production Team

Choreography and Concept｜Yang Nai-Hsuan (Sunny)

Movement and Creative Development｜Yang Nai-Hsuan and all participants

Performer｜Chen Yi-Ju, Chang Yu-Chia (Diao), Kuo Chueh-Kai, Hsu Li-En, Chen Yu-Chi

Rehearsal Director & Special Appearance｜Lin Su-Lien

Producer｜Chen Hsin-Ning

Executive Producer｜Liu Yi-Chun

Stage Manager｜Sun Wei-Chen

Set Designer｜Cheng Hsuan-Hsun

Lighting Designer｜Wu Hsia-Ning (Nick)

Music Designer｜Sonic Deadhorse

Live Sound Engineer｜Wen Cheng-Han

Costume & Graphic Designer｜Jamo Chen

Costume Maker｜Jerry Hsieh

Assistant Costume Maker｜Laura Yang

Technical Director｜Chou Kuan-Chih

Master Electrician｜Tsai Cheng-Lin

Stage Technician｜Li Yi-Ying, Huang Ching-Chuan, Hsieh Wei-Chen, Shih Wei-Hsiang

Lighting Technician｜Liu Tsung-Po, Wang Tsai-Fei, Shen Chen-Jhih, Liang Hung-Yue

Sound Technician｜Li Pin-Man, Wu Ang-Lin

Photographer｜Huang Yu-Min

Key Visual Makeup Artist｜Hung Chi-Ni

Cinematographer｜Good Things Happening Film Studio