Wild Cursive
Wild Cursive, the final chapter of Cursive: A Trilogy, is the result of a long journey into the ancient practice of movement and spirituality. This piece is based on calligraphy, an art form very much like painting. It uses Chinese characters to communicate the spiritual world of the artist, and in Chinese culture it’s considered “the most revealing power of a person.” While conforming to the agreed upon structure of each word, great creativity can still be displayed by individual writers. The calligraphy form giving rise to Wild Cursive is called Kuang Chao, or “wild calligraphy.” It’s considered the highest form of Chinese cursive artistic expression, freeing characters from any set form and most fully exposing the spiritual state of the writer. Through the elusive mediums of rice paper, ink, and dancers, Cloud Gate becomes this personally revealing form of expression, creating a profoundly unique, one-of-a-kind performance for each audience.
Wild Cursive utilizes paper as its only set. …Against and between the layers of rice paper, Cloud Gate dancers’ exquisitely liquid movement echoes the serpentine and meandering lines of the ink. Throughout, the dancers’ breath coming from the Dan Tian, the core of their torsos, provides a subtle undercurrent to this constantly shifting feast for the eyes. Their organic vocals and foot stamps further enrich the sounds from the hum of cicadas, gusts of wind, waves breaking on the pebbled beaches, dripping water, rainfall, foghorns and temple bells, creating a natural soundscape.
—Carolina Performing Arts website
You can learn more about calligraphy by visiting the Spencer Museum of Art this fall to see the exhibit, From the Way of Writing to the Weight of Writing.