Among the Tao people, the indigenous community of Pongso no Tao – on Orchid Island off Taiwan’s southeastern coast – there is a saying: “Every big fish has a fisherman’s name written on its back.”
Inspired by these words, Taiwanese dancer-choreographer Wang Yeu-Kwn, who is also a fisherman, set out in 2019 with a fishing rod in hand, travelling to Indonesia in search of that elusive “big fish”.
What he brought back, however, was not a catch, but a dance duet: Islands.
The work will now receive its South-East Asian premiere at the Pentas 1 main stage, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) in May.
Islands, co-commissioned by Taiwan’s National Theatre & Concert Hall and the National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts (Weiwuying), is the second episode of Wang’s A Trilogy – Quest Of Relationships. Its first episode, Beings (2020), received international acclaim and was a Bloom Prize finalist in The Rose International Dance Prize 2025 in England, a global dance competition by London-based performing arts venue Sadler’s Wells.
While Beings explored the interpersonal relationships between people, Islands zooms out, focusing on the relationships between islands, between cultures, between different contexts and traditions, and how they influence and intertwine with one another as they move forward together.
“This is especially relevant within the island chains of Asia. These relationships feel both close and distant at the same time – separated by the ocean, yet both resilient and delicate,” says Wang, 41, co-founder and artistic director of Shimmering Production, a Taiwanese dance company focusing on creating contemporary experimental works.
Similar to Beings, in Islands, Wang makes use of a giant prop or installation that immerses viewers in the work.
In Beings, it was a giant piece of glued-together xuan or rice paper, and in Islands, audiences will be greeted by a huge, black airbag taking over the stage, courtesy of set designer Chen Guan-lin.
“The black plastic installation on stage resembles the ocean – soft and vast, while also evoking the presence of rocks on an island. It transforms the inherent instability of island life, attempting to find balance within it – something essential for those of us who live on islands.
“The installation also connects with the dancers’ bodies, placing them in a constant state between balance and imbalance,” explains Wang.
Kindred spirits
In the upcoming KLPac performance, Wang is joined by Indonesian dancer Danang Pamungkas. The two had previously danced with the world- renowned Cloud Gate 2, and it is through this shared history that they discover an even deeper resonance between them.
In the process of developing Islands, Wang and Danang, 47, uncovered the similarities and differences between their cultures and islands, slowly learning how to communicate and challenge each other.
For example, Danang – who hails from Surakarta, known locally as Solo in Central Java, Indonesia – introduced Wang to the traditional topeng (mask) practice. For Wang, who had never danced with a mask, it proved a difficult form to inhabit, demanding a new way of sensing and moving within the body.
“Through the traditional Indonesian mask, I essentially encountered an entirely new culture. The sensation is much like jumping into the water to swim while wearing a heavy down jacket – your body is restricted, and your vision is almost completely obscured,” says Wang.
“It was an immense physical challenge for me, but at the same time, this sense of sensory confinement forced me to look inward and truly face my own feelings,” he adds.
Through their conversations and research, Danang elaborated the deeper significance of masks in Indonesian court dances beyond mere role-playing.
“This revelation made me completely rethink my relationship with the work and unlocked entirely new layers of meaning for the masks in Islands,” says Wang.
For Danang, working with Wang has been a deeply meaningful experience.
“This collaboration is not only about creating a work, performing, touring, or receiving applause. What is important for me is how real the process has been. It carries Yeu-Kwn’s anxieties about his body and identity, as well as my own anxiety about returning to my traditional body after working in a professional dance company in Taiwan,” says Danang.
“Through this process, our bodies are constantly trying to find answers and navigating the imbalance between who we are as friends outside the studio, and who we are as collaborators inside it,” he adds.
For this performance, the push-and-pull between Wang and Danang unfolds into a deeply felt dialogue of body and movement, one that mirrors the dualities they each carry. Together, they trace the shifting edges between sea and land, balance and imbalance, and ultimately between people and the islands they call home.
Kuala Lumpur also marks the first stop of the show’s Asian tour, after which the performance will travel to the Salihara Arts Centre in Jakarta.
“Since 2023, we have been collaborating with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia to bring shows with strong production values and unique artistic voices across varying art forms to Malaysian audiences,” says Maggie Ong, KLPac assistant general manager and producer of Islands (South-East Asian premiere).
“We’re proud to continue this partnership and bring yet another inspiring work from Taiwan to KLPac – this time Islands, a production that has captivated audiences worldwide as it has evolved across Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan and Britain,” she adds.
For KLPac audiences, the annual Taiwanese presentation in the programme has become something of a yearly highlight. It has ranged from Bulareyaung Dance Company’s award-winning Luna, inspired by the Bunun indigenous community living deep in Taiwan’s mountainous interior, to the traditional grandeur of Peking opera in GuoGuang Opera Company’s Jingju Magic, as well as Apostate by Approaching Theatre and Gang-a Tsui Theatre.
On the Taiwanese side, Wang is glad to be part of this cultural exchange, and looks forward to seeing how Malaysian audiences respond to the Islands performance.
“Rather than dictating what the audience should take away, I am actually much more excited to see what the Malaysian audience will discover within it. I am looking forward to seeing how the work resonates with them,” concludes Wang.
Islands, presented by the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Malaysia, and KLPac, will be staged at Pentas 1, KLPac from May 1-3. More info: cloudjoi.com.
