to disappoint a god. — Carmen Yih

— Disappointing the divine

to disappoint a god. is a hybrid Asian-futurist dance-theatre work starring Nuwa (女媧) – a Chinese mythological creation deity. Nuwa embodies the dichotomy of our existence; our grief, agony, guilt and anger encased in the gentle, desperate fight to hold onto hope.

to disappoint a god. uses Nuwa as a vessel to call for personal reflection and accountability amid the global breakdown of climate, culture and communication.

Drawing from a smorgasbord of training across Chinese folk dance, Contemporary dance-theatre, Krump, and W_acking, to disappoint a god. physically and conceptually contorts the archetypal ‘asian diasporic femme body’; blending human and non-human, comfort and discomfort, strength and vulnerability.

 —

A lone figure sits at the plinth, hands busily moulding and carving each curve, angle, limb of the human figure – their creation. Their hands soiled with layers of yellow clay, toiling above the pristine folds of their silk qīng Ruqun.

qīng – the blue-green of the mended heavens, celadon, deep as wet soil, blue as a clear sky.

In the dim blue light, their arms blur into tendrils, Mamianqun into layers of molting skin – for a brief moment they find your eyes. Enigmatic, poised, questioning.

You wonder if they are proud of you.

Choreographer / Performer: Carmen Yih
LX Design: Giovanna Yate Gonzalez
Sound Design: Amelia Jean O’Leary, Damon Shearer
Producer: Insite Arts

to disappoint a god. is supported by Dancehouse, The Patagorang Foundation, founded by Roger Allen AM and Maggie Gray, and Abbotsford Convent and the Fringe Fund.