Invisible Cities
看不見的城市
Photo by Hu Yifan
Dance theatre Invisible Cities is a poetic reinterpretation of Italian writer Italo Calvino’s novel Le cittàinvisibili. Recasting Calvino’s storytelling on a retro sci-fi surrealist stage, a reflexive dance theatre journey unfolds between the future and the past of humankind. As the future of humans evolve into cyborgs, and as they immerse themselves in the cosmos of digital memories, where will their butterfly-mind traveling take them?
A boy of our time falls into the transformed world of Italian writer Italo Calvino's novel Le città invisibili, where the fictional dialogues between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan are rechoreographed in a futuristic setting. The boy becomes one of the cybernetic wanderers in the story, immersing in the cosmos of digital data and embarking on a “journey through memory.” In this “butterfly-mind” traveling, the “invisible cities” from the past, of memory and desire, of dream and the dead are recalled, danced, and waiting to be recreated. Reinterpreting Calvino’s novel with a retro sci-fi surrealist edge, this dance theatre transports the audience into a reflexive journey about the future and the past of humankind, in the name of cities.
Commissioned by Shanghai International Dance Center Theatre
with support from Theatre Above
2023 Premier at Shanghai International Dance Center
2024 Upgraded edition with the special support by the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai and Institute of Italian Culture in Shanghai, for the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death
2025 Invited performance for the “Il Teatro Nudo” prize at Spazio Teatro No’hma in Milano, Italy
“The choreography brought forth sculptural moments born from the inverse of gravitational forces, and where the dancers, in complete trust, tossed and caught each other. The soundtrack by the German musician delivered a blend of electronic beats reminiscent of Berlin nightclubs, nostalgic waltzes from a bygone era, utopia and heterotopia or the Peach Blossom Spring, and the juxtaposition of the perfect human body and cyborgs. Onstage, the dancers roamed, paused, and ran off on their own, while we, the audience, in our seats, had long become like reflections in a lake, lost within.”
“Using the body to write literary classic, guiding the audience towards a poetic journey.”
“It was a sincere and profound enjoyment. Dance is like thought with only one pair of wings: imagination!”
Producers: Jess Chiayi Seetoo, Zhong Guan
Artistic Concept and Direction: Jess Chiayi Seetoo
Music Composition and Sound Design: Johann Niegl
Multimedia Design: Ethan Wang
Stage Design: Ao Li
Lighting Design: Chien-Hsiung Cheng
Dancers and Choreographic Collaboration: Chen Shanshan, Peng Chunlan, Qu Yang, Wu Yuetao, Zheng Lingmin
Actors: Alessandro Martini, Zhang Xuechen
Dancers Involved in Different Editions: Li Pianpian, Huang Yanlin, Tang Chen
Photos by Hu Yifan and Wang Li
