2024 TPAC Circus Festival: Six Centimeters Before Landing

Six centimeters before landing is the last opportunity to adjust one’s body. If done properly, the landing will be perfect. If not, the result is a fall.
Six centimeters also refers to the distance the body can perceive this world.

The inspiration for this work is the desire for the infinite extension of life in the second before landing, staunchly resistant and striving for balance, while close to losing control. If life is filled with uncontrollable and random external influences, the most beautiful moment is that of ultimate collapse while refusing to admit defeat, which is both absurd and wonderful.

Circus performers and dancers move among large machines, industrial fans, tennis ball launchers, and ropes that create strong physical interference to present the beauty of chaos and near loss of control. There is an attempt to break through the precision and control of dancers and circus performers to present a most authentic existence as revealed in the ugliest pre-landing facial expressions.

Man is a rope connecting the animal and the Overman—a rope over an abyss.
A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.
What is great about man is that he is a bridge and not a goal. What is lovable about man is that he is over-going and down-going.
—— Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

【About Director 】
Hung Wei-Yao

Hung Wei-Yao graduated from the Department of Drama, National Taipei University of Arts. Hung Wei-Yao is a theater director, performer, and core member of “KINGKONG WAVE Production”. In 2023, he founded a team specializing in "immersive theater", called "Rogue Wave". He emphasizes space“Live” in his productions, such as Immersive Theater, Participatory Theater and Lecture Performance. He loves to challenge himself in different venues and various forms of relationships between audience and performers. He regards every creation as an experiment, and it must have new perspectives. Recent works include 2024 NTT Arts NOVA Sucks in the Middle. He has co-produced large-scale 5G performances with National Theater & National Concert Hall in Autumn festival, such as Operation 1 '71701'/ M and Lunatic Town. This work combines new media and technology applications. He also collaborated on many lecture performances with his sister, such as the Three Produced All Things, Grandmother Paradox and Family Romance in Taipei Arts Festival. This project attempts to explore / create new family relationships. Other directing works include: immersive theaters, such as MIND THE GAP, The Great Tipsy: 1980’s and CLUB Tomorrow both produced by Surprise Lab; online curating work, such as Garbage Time on Gather Town. Also, theater productions include: Time Diff é rence in National Taichung Theater 2018, Human Party in New Points on Stage- SongYan Creative LAB 2017, and Wet Dream Remix in 2016.