REVIEW: Vulture and Eve by Ching-Ying Chien - Life, Death, and Desire in Motion

©️ Vulture /Eve by Ching-Ying Chien. Photo by Chai Yeh Lee

A captivating double bill from internationally acclaimed Taiwanese choreographer, movement director, and performer Ching-Ying Chien brings together her seminal 2018 solo Vulture with a new work, Eve, co-created and performed with Alessandro Ottaviani. These two contrasting pieces take shape as an evocative journey through mythology, mortality, desire and identity, held together by Chien’s signature physical intensity and choreographic clarity.

The evening begins with Vulture, a solo that has become one of Chien’s most recognisable works. Inspired by a Tibetan myth in which a vulture, sensing its impending death, flies directly into the sun to be consumed, the piece draws thematic parallels with the Greek myth of Icarus. Yet rather than a cautionary tale of overreaching ambition, Vulture becomes a poetic exploration of agency in the face of death, shaped by Chien’s personal experiences of loss and grief.

As a performer, Chien demonstrates exceptional control, navigating the space with a grounded intensity. Her ability to shift weight suddenly and move with instinctual, almost animalistic articulation allows her to oscillate between states of being. One moment she is recognisably human, the next she appears transformed into something avian, elemental, almost otherworldly. The way she manipulates her centre of gravity, along with a dynamic interplay of tension and release, reveals a dancer entirely attuned to both the internal and external forces acting upon the body.

The lighting design accentuates these transformations. Shadows fracture and multiply her image, creating the illusion of multiple bodies in motion, like echoes of memory or the remnants of a life passing through time. The visual effect is both haunting and beautiful, reinforcing the work’s central theme: that life is fleeting, and yet marked by profound presence. The live score, composed by Soumik Datta and performed with Giuliano Modarelli, merges traditional instrumentation with electronic textures and sampled sound. Breathing, sudden static and distorted rhythms create a visceral soundscape that mirrors the body’s own rhythms of struggle and surrender. In the final moments, the emergence of urban noise such as traffic, distant voices and the hum of city life grounds the work back in reality, prompting a contemplative shift as the performance fades.

The second piece, Eve, moves into a different realm altogether. This duet reimagines the Genesis narrative in a post-technological landscape, where Adam and Eve are reborn after the collapse of civilisation. Rather than a fall from grace, Eve explores a rebirth into desire, uncertainty, and rediscovery of the self and the other. The result is an ambitious, layered work that blends conceptual rigour with inventive theatricality.

The stage opens with an arresting visual: the entire floor covered in silver foil, subtly inflated and undulating. This ever-shifting surface evokes landscapes both physical and emotional - mountains, oceans, the folds and craters of desire itself. As the performers move across this unstable ground, they must constantly adapt, suggesting the vulnerability of navigating a world newly formed or perhaps long-forgotten.

One particularly striking sequence features Chien performing nude while holding a mirror. This evokes theories of the gaze and self-recognition, as the mirror becomes both a tool of self-confrontation and a symbol of desire reflected and refracted. The use of nudity here heightens the vulnerability and honesty of the performance, allowing the audience to see the human form stripped of narrative pretence.

The dynamic between the two performers evolves throughout the piece. At one point, their interaction escalates into a stylised confrontation involving gestures of blame, rejection and longing. A moment of comic tension arises with the sharing and biting of an apple, playfully recalling the mythic origins of temptation. These moments are bold and expressive, balancing gravity with humour in a way that feels deeply human.

Props and visual elements are used thoughtfully throughout. The choreography incorporates not just movement, but texture, material, and visual metaphor. Lighting, designed by Lara Davidson and Chien-Hao Kuo, plays a crucial role in shaping the atmosphere.

While Eve is more expansive and fragmented than Vulture, its intentions come through clearly. At times, its structure feels looser, and some transitions between scenes could benefit from greater cohesion. Yet this looseness also speaks to the uncertainty at the core of the work, asking how we reconstruct meaning from ruins. Together, this double bill offers a powerful reminder of dance’s ability to explore the most fundamental aspects of human experience with grace, courage and originality.

★★★★

For more information, please visit: https://theplace.org.uk/events/autumn-25-ching-ying-chien-eve-vulture-double-bill

Credits

Eve

Choreographer: Ching-Ying Chien
Co-creator: Alessandro Ottaviani, IssuePark (2024 version)
Performer: Ching-Ying Chien, Alessandro Ottaviani
Lighting design and operator: Lara Davidson, Chien-Hao Kuo (2024 version)
Sound and operator: Lara Davidson, Wei-Yu Huang (2024 version)
Props and scenography: Ching-Ying Chien
Copywriter: Nung Lin

R&D residency supported by L’Obrador and Sala Beckett Theater. Creation supported by Taiwan Dance Platform-National Kaohsiung Center for Arts in partnership with The Place

Vulture

Choreography and Performance: Ching-Ying Chien
Music composition: Soumik Datta
Music performance: Giuliano Modarelli
Lighting design and operation: Lara (Lars) Davidson
Costume Design: Marie Cantenys

The development of Vulture’s first 30 minute version was produced by Akram Khan Company as part of their Portraits in Otherness initiative, and premiered on 7 June 2018 at Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells. A 40-minute version of was commissioned by National Performing Arts Center – National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Taiwan.

Sponsored by the National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan. Made possible by a grant from the Lo Man-Fei Dance Fund, Cloud Gate Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan.

Special thanks: Man-Ching Hsia, Ronald YU, Marianne Unger, Yen-Ching Lin, Ben Sünkel-Laing, Project Zero, Akram Khan Company