Artistic Statement
I firmly believe that the life of art and the art of life are one. Artistic practice and research are inseparable, as both are driven by inquiries into humanity and probing how we, interconnected with everyone and everything, shape the world with its gifts and traumas from history.
Educational Background
PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne
MFA (Dance), Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
MA (Dance Education), Steinhardt, New York University
BFA (Dance), Victorian College of the Arts
BA (Philosophy), Fudan University
Practitioner Qualifications
Certified Movement
Analyst(CMA)
Registered Somatic Movement Educator(RSME/T)
GYROTONIC®️ & GYROKINESIS®️ Pre-trainer
Franklin Method Educator
RYT-500 (Yoga Alliance)
Email
weichencui19@gmail.com
Instagram
weichen_cui
RedNote
金刚未尘Weichen
Adelaide premiere of a groundbreaking immersive performance combining dance, sound, and visual arts.
Awarded the Adelaide Fringe Fund Grant, this work returns after its highly acclaimed Melbourne debut.
“Shan Gao Shui Chang is a fascinating piece of modern theatre that is sure to evoke many questions and leaves the viewer in awe of the performer’s control!”
— Barry Hill OAM, Stage Whispers
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Adelaide Fringe Festival,
Adelaide College of The Arts,
Adelaide,
Australia,
March 2025.
Shan Gao Shui Chang 山高水长 explores the transformation of movement into paint, paper and sound through
the use of conductive paint, contact mics, machine learning and electronic circuits. By exploiting the body's
natural conductive ability and the sonic potential of everyday objects, we’re creating landscapes that are full of both visual and sonic textures, inviting people into an immersive and visceral experience. The work comes
from our nomadic experience through different countries and cultures, and feelings of nostalgia and
displacement.
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New Music Studio,
Martyn Myer Arena,
Melbourne,
Australia,
Aug 2024.
Co-exist is a contemporary dance work I created for the Fudan University Student Dance Troupe, commissioned by the Art Education Center of Fudan University. Premiering in Shanghai in 2023, it won First Prize
and later claimed the First Prize in Dance Performance and the Excellence Award for Choreography at the 2024
National University Arts Festival in Hubei.
Co-exist invites audiences to experience the beauty of unity in diversity and the profound connections
that emerge when people come together to share their stories through movement.
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National University Students’ Art Showcase，
Shanghai & Hubei,
China,
Nov 2023 - Jun 2024.
Greetings to the loss of cells and memories in my body, leaves in fall, and the moon yesterday.
HEY is the first dance work Weichen created after returning to Melbourne. Originally from China, Weichen
has spent over a decade navigating a nomadic life, dancing across Australia and the United States. This piece
emerges from the intersections of personal transformation and the passing of time, drawing on her reflections about the human body’s continual renewal—its metabolism—and its connection to nature, culture, and society.
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Melbourne Fringe Festival,
Melbourne,
Australia,
Oct 2023.
Roots was inspired by a humble lucky bamboo I kept beside the sink in the Long Island City apartment I was staying. The bamboo floated quietly in the water, showing no sign of growth, as if frozen in time. Yet,
every time I changed its water and pulled it from the vase, I could feel its silent progress. I vividly remember how the kitchen light that evening passed through the glass vase, casting the shadow of its submerged roots onto the table—dappled, swaying. In that patch of light and shadow, I felt as if I could truly see something growing.
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Tisch Dance: A Goodbye Performance,
Jack Crystal Theater,
New York,
U.S.,
May 2022.
At its core, Everything asks: What makes a movement functional? What imbues it with expressive power?
And how do these two aspects intertwine and transform in a performance context? Drawing on Laban and Bartenieff’s theories, Everything explores the duality of Function and Expression through the lenses of Body, Shape, Effort, and Space, delving into the nuanced transitions between them.
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Tisch
Dance: A Goodbye Performance,
Jack Crystal Theater,
New York,
U.S.,
May 2022.
A Goodbye Trio marked the culmination of my MFA journey at Tisch and was the final dance for me, Chiemi, and
Morgan at Tisch Dance. Created as a response to the 2011 Re:Rosas! project, it was built around the
second section, “Come Out,” from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s iconic 1982 work, Fase, Four Movements
to the Music of Steve Reich.
My gratitude for this camaraderie—was woven into the playfulness and humor of the choreography, turning our final dance into a heartfelt thank-you and a joyful celebration of our time together.
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Tisch Dance: A Goodbye Performance,
Jack Crystal Theater,
New
York,
U.S.,
May 2022.
May You Live Long and Happy is both a continuation of and a response to
Chiemi Ip’s earlier works, as well as a farewell gift to her. Privately, we named it “The Doggie Piece” because
its inspiration came from a short film, Dog Duet (1975), by William Wegman, shared by our Professor Wendy
Perron during a seminar. I was deeply captivated by the seemingly random yet oddly synchronized head movements
of the two Weimaraners sitting side by side in the film. Together with Chiemi, I explored and extended this idea
of connection—at once accidental and predestined—in the choreography.
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more
Fertile Ground,
Green Space,
New York,
U.S.,
Jun 2022.
I often
think of my body as a double bass—resonant and grounded when in harmony with others, yet unconventional and
unpredictable when brought to the forefront. In this work, Adrienne explored a variety of extended double bass
techniques, such as one note, tremolo, pizzicato, double stop, percussive effects, and bow pressure variations, among others. Meanwhile, I interpreted these sounds through movement, translating the textures, contours, and
even colors they evoked into embodied expression.
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Marlene Meyerson
JCC Manhattan,
The Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas,
New York,
U.S.,
Dec 2021.