Hung Dance’s BIRDY Takes Flight in New York with a Powerful Meditation on Freedom and Identity

Against a minimalist stage where movement and light carried as much meaning as words, eight dancers from Taiwan’s Hung Dance transformed long pheasant feathers into extensions of their bodies, creating an unforgettable visual meditation on freedom, identity, and transformation. The company’s acclaimed contemporary dance work, BIRDY, opened at NYU Skirball on July 17 as part of the 35th anniversary celebration of the Taipei Cultural Center in New York.

“It’s a really special opportunity that we can be here,” said Lai Hung-Chung, choreographer and artistic director of Hung Dance. “We’re very grateful that Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture brought us here, and it’s the first time we’ve presented BIRDY in New York.”

Blending contemporary dance with tai chi, traditional Peking opera, martial arts, and elements of street dance, BIRDY presents a distinctly Taiwanese artistic voice while exploring universal themes of freedom, limitation, and identity.

A Personal Journey Becomes a Universal Story

For Lai, BIRDY grew from his own struggle to become an internationally recognized choreographer after beginning his career as a high school dance teacher. At the same time, he says the work reflects Taiwan’s ongoing search for identity and freedom. “It’s actually like my portrait,” he explained. “When I wanted to become a choreographer internationally, there were so many limitations and struggles. I wanted to break through those limitations.”

The production also draws inspiration from Alan Parker’s 1984 film Birdy, about a young man whose dream of becoming a bird allows him to transcend reality. Lai connected that story with his own artistic ambitions, seeing the desire to fly as a metaphor for pursuing seemingly impossible dreams.

From an Intimate Duet to an International Production

The piece has evolved considerably since Hung Dance was founded in 2017. According to Operations Director Wei-Ping Chen, BIRDY began as an intimate duet — the company’s very first creation. “The duet was much more personal,” Chen said. As the work matured, it expanded into the current eight-dancer version that has toured internationally while preserving its emotional core.

While the ensemble version has become Hung Dance’s signature production, the original duet is still performed at select venues. The company returns to the United States and Canada this fall for a nine city tour.

The Feather That Becomes Part of the Body

One of BIRDY’s most unforgettable visual elements is the long pheasant-tail feather worn by each dancer. In traditional Peking opera, paired feathers attached to a performer’s headdress symbolize rank and are often associated with military generals and heroic characters. Lai reimagines the centuries-old prop, transforming it from a symbol of status into an extension of the dancer’s body. At roughly five feet long, each feather ripples through the air, making invisible forces visible and adding another dimension to the choreography.

“We actually travel with many feathers,” Chen said. “They’re very delicate, so we transport them inside long protective pipes.” The feathers are also among the production’s greatest technical challenges. Because even the slightest movement causes them to sway, dancers must develop extraordinary control over their necks, posture, and timing. Fast movements create dramatic motion, while slow movements produce a sense of stillness and emotional balance.

“The dancers have to control not only their bodies but also the direction and emotion of the feather,” Lai said. “Every performance, their necks are really sore.”

The audience’s fascination with the feathers has become one of the company’s most common experiences on tour. “The question we get most often is whether they’re real feathers,” Chen said. “People can’t imagine how the dancers wear them and make them feel like part of their bodies.”

A Distinctive Taiwanese Movement Language

That seamless integration reflects Hung Dance’s distinctive movement vocabulary. Taiwan’s dance education emphasizes versatility, with students studying ballet, contemporary dance, tai chi dao yin, martial arts, and movements derived from traditional opera. Lai’s dancers absorb these disciplines from an early age, allowing them to merge traditions naturally rather than treating them as separate styles.

“Tai chi is already part of the dancers’ bodies,” Chen explained. “Even when they’re dancing contemporary choreography, that spirit and those techniques naturally come out.”

Lai’s own path was equally unconventional. He began as a middle school street dancer, learning popping before a teacher encouraged him to pursue formal dance training in ballet and contemporary dance, influences he later fused into his own choreographic language.

Traditional opera continues to shape BIRDY beyond the feathers. The production incorporates rattan poles inspired by Chinese opera props, while gestures and movement vocabulary drawn from opera are transformed into abstract contemporary imagery. Rather than recreating tradition, Lai uses familiar cultural symbols to invite audiences to discover new meanings.

Poetry Before Choreography

Lai’s creative process begins not with movement, but with language. “Before I go into the studio, I write paragraphs,” he explained. “Each paragraph is an idea, almost like poetry. The words are more important to me than the choreography at first.”

Movement and music emerge afterward. Composer and choreographer developed the score collaboratively, blending traditional Chinese instrumental colors with deep bass and contemporary textures into a soundscape that feels both ancient and modern.

For Lai, leaving space for interpretation is essential. “When people hear the music, they might feel something traditional, but it’s actually something new,” he said. “We want to give the audience space to think.”

An Invitation to Reflect

That openness ultimately defines BIRDY. While rooted in Taiwanese culture, the work speaks to experiences shared across borders: confronting limitations, pursuing aspirations, and discovering one’s identity through continual transformation. As Hung Dance made its New York debut, BIRDY offered not only an impressive display of physical artistry but also a poetic reminder that freedom is rarely a destination — it is an ongoing journey.

https://villageview.nyc/2026/08/07/hung-dances-birdy-takes-flight-in-new-york-with-a-powerful-meditation-on-freedom-and-identity/ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Kaju Roberto is an accomplished musician, singer-songwriter, journalist, award-winning producer, and recording artist Rad Jet.