First Amendment: Dancemaking Concept
2020
Consecration
2017
Consecration
2017
Love Letters
2020-2022
CS Modern Luxury
Director: Yuge Zhou
Choreographer: Hannah Santistevan
Performers: Samington Crouchwell (Summer, Spring, Winter), Rebecca Huang, Xavier Núñez
Music: Ori Zur
Editor: Yuge Zhou
Technical Artists: Patrick Steppan, Mary Franck
Advisors: James George, Stephen Farell
Videography: Big Foot Media, Viktor Gerasimovski
Lighting: Parker Nyquist
Filmed at Mainstage Chicago
Premiered at Art on theMART
September 8 - November 18, 2022
Financial Times China
Love Letters is a series of seasonal dance films portraying a courtship between two urban dwellers making the journey towards a union in a labyrinth metropolis. The narrative of searching for a loved one began with the Summer, Spring and Winter episodes featuring performers Samington Crouchwell and Rebecca Diane Huang. Directed by Chinese-born, Chicago-based artist Yuge Zhou and choreographer Hannah Santistevan, Love Letters culminated in a ten-minute lively fall dance film that incorporates colorful architectural shapes with tender gestures that generate magnetic energy. The video was breathtakingly projected onto the facade of the Merchandise Mart on the Chicago Riverwalk downtown. Love Letters premiered from September through November as part of the fall 2022 program celebrating Year of Chicago Dance at Art on theMART, the largest permanent digital art projection in the world.
Recap video of a ten-minute lively film
Love Letters (Summer) is the first episode of the four-part dance film series. Created in the middle of the pandemic, the Summer episode portrays two urban dwellers transcending separation in order to make a connection. The piece features two dancers standing on the east and west banks of the Chicago River, sending messages to one another from afar using gestures, against the industrial backdrop of the city's South Side neighborhood.
Four-minute excerpt of an eight-minute video.
Love Letters (Spring) is the second episode of the dance film series. Two urban dwellers accept closeness and the process of cultivating familiarity. The environment of the film is at a forest reserve and dancers immerse themselves in a shallow river. The rich beauty and colorful nature render a visual representation of the gentle excitement of confiding in someone you are getting to know. This video is a short excerpt.
Love Letters (Winter) is the third episode of the video trilogy. Two urban dwellers overcome obstacles and physical barriers in order to communicate their affection. The scenery and setting is on a multi-axis pier during a snowstorm, which emphasizes difficulties and the rewards of diligently bridging distances.
Two-minute excerpt of a nine-minute video
