Words by Maxine Flasher Duzgunes.
As a follow up from earlier this year, I shared a conversation with Faye Tan on the progression of her work Infinity Duet with sculptor Cecile Johnson Soliz since its January premiere at The Dance House in Cardiff. Performed first in NDCWales’ latest triple bill, SURGE | GWEFR, Infinity Duet will be followed by Waltz by Marcos Morau and Mabon by Osian Meilir. SURGE | GWEFR will complete its UK tour at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on November 6, 2025 and Dance East on November 21-22, 2025
Maxine: How does Infinity Duet fit with other works in the program?
Faye: The sculpture appears as the audience walks in. It’s already there to be able to be viewed, much like one would walk into a room and see a sculpture. I think that’s already quite an unusual way for a dance triple bill to be set up, so I’m quite excited by that. The other difference is that the two other pieces are group pieces with six dancers, and then the duet has two dancers and a sculpture. Especially for an ensemble dance company, it’s quite rare to have a piece with less dancers, so I think the audience are going to appreciate that moment of being able to just focus on two dancers. I think also being in the rehearsal room, like watching the two dancers deal with the attention that they get, it’s quite intense compared to being in a lively room of six other dancers rehearsing an ensemble piece. When there’s just two, it can feel quite like a different kind of attention.
Maxine: How do you see an abstract work faring among more theatrical works?
Faye: I had a bit of fear that abstraction would kind of lose meaning if it were in a bill with works that had a bit more theatricality or even a narrative to them, but based on audience feedback, that hasn’t actually been the case. There’s been a lot of positive feedback about how people were moved by it, and how they were quite mesmerised by it, and I was really happy about that, because I think prior to the piece being premiered, I already had a little bit of worry about – in the context of the British dance scene – where more abstract work is going to sit especially in a country where theatricality and cabaret and musicals are such a big part of its history. And so is abstract art and abstract dance, but with abstraction, sometimes I’m like, I really need to try and sell it alongside other works that are maybe a bit more obvious to explain to people.
Maxine: What has emerged for you from the different casts that perform the piece?
Faye: There’s one dancer going on paternity leave, and then another one replacing that role. So those two dancers have been rehearsing, kind of one after the other, with one dancer never leaving her role, and she’s had to learn how to be in sync with either of the dancers in different ways. Like the piece remains the same, but then both dancers are different people, different bodies, different genders, whole different musculature. So it’s been interesting seeing how the piece stayed the same, but then they’ve had to sync up differently based on the casting. The two roles in the piece aren’t given names, nor do they have identities imposed upon them. Each dancer does it with a different flair, and this interchangeability proposes that the movements, sensations and meanings present in the piece can be felt differently by different people and absorbed differently by audiences depending on who’s watching, and who’s dancing.
Maxine: How do you and the dancers keep the piece alive throughout its UK tour?
Faye: There’s a potential for this piece, especially because there’s moments that are a bit more spontaneous. But then there are some steps, like choreographic steps, and because of how neat it can look, because the dancers are in unison for a lot of the time, we’ve had to really sculpt where they go. There’s a risk of it being too dry if they don’t still maintain a level of aliveness to it. So it’s quite a tall demand, I think, for them to carry both the correct way of doing it, to the point of, yes, we can be in sync, but then also making sure that doesn’t then forego the side of it that’s a bit more experiential and live.
Maxine: Have any dancers expressed their experience of the work to you?
Faye: One of the dancers has shared some thoughts with me about the challenges present in the piece and how they keep her on edge and force her to stay present in the moment. The sculpture is rigged identically in each venue but there is still a level of unpredictability as it swings to its own physics while the dancers negotiate choreographed movements alongside it. The force of it, the weight of it, the sheer size of it is a very real thing to deal with whilst in performance mode, alongside the task of syncing up in unison with the other dancer on stage. “It’s one of those works that (perhaps) evokes a sense of serenity and harmony but is quite technical and precise actually — so then it becomes this thing of focusing on what I know I need to do versus allowing myself to keep playing and be surprised by the elements that are out of my control”.
Maxine: Given the abstract nature of the work, how does it feel to be able to access an emotional centre within your audiences?
Faye: It really feels like a win, because a big part of my practice is actually thinking about my parents and whether they enjoy what I mean. For context, my dad’s a bit artistic, but my parents are not like dance people. They don’t really go to the theatre a lot, and they’re kind of like (without trying to generalise) the general public. And in contrast to that, I love the functions of the body. I love the hidden meanings or the indescribable in dance, and kind of the magic that one can make through dance and theatrical effects. So it feels like a big achievement when I’m able to marry that love of dance as a contemporary art form, as well as an aspect where someone who wants to come and be moved or entertained has actually been moved or entertained by what I make because they felt the swing of their arm, or they really connected to the music, or they really empathise with the dancers’ body language or the effort that they’re using on stage. I think that’s a constant goal of my work.
Book dates here: https://www.ndcwales.co.uk/surge. Header image by Jorge Lizalde.