This is the story of groundbreaking Taiwanese choreographer Chou Shu-yi. Chou began his creative career in the early 2000s as a modern dancer who pushes the boundaries of dance. In his popular performance “Bolero,” Chou chooses diverse dancers who perform in unlikely venues, such as art museums, temple squares, and village street corners. His goal is to expand audiences’ conceptions of modern dance. After an injury caused Chou to put his dance career on hold, he met Taiwanese modern dancer and choreographer Luo Man-fei, who encouraged Chou to return to his art. When Luo passed away, Chou performed in her place in dance troupe Cloud Gate 2’s show, which served as a memorial to Luo’s memory. In recent years, Chou has expanded beyond performance art into the realm of visual art, earning him recognition at the Busan International Film Festival in 2018 and the 79th Venice Film Festival in 2022. Chou has also traveled outside of Taiwan to create dance films in China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In these films, Chou uses his body to record images of Asian landscapes that are disappearing under the shadow of globalization. Chou’s cumulative work led him to be selected as a resident artist at Taiwan’s National Performing Arts Center before reaching the age of 40. Thanks to Chou’s unceasing need to create, his influential works propel the field of modern dance forward. Today, Chou’s performances continue to open the minds of audiences while spreading the spirit of Taiwan across the globe.

• Asia