Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers presents Luna (月): Dance, Myth, and Nature

Luna (月)’s three world premieres and two repertory works took the audience on a journey through the physical to the spiritual and celestial. The first, CHI (2001), seemed to invite viewers to connect with their bodies and each other. Inspired by its namesake life source, the dance captures its power and mystery. Dancers’ breathing accompanied music by Glen Velez for a soundscape as dynamic as the movement.

Repertory works remain fresh

CHI and Moon Dance (1993), both choreographed by Lin, felt as fresh as the program’s newer dances. Though I saw these works back in 2019, Moon Dance was a different experience when performed by another dancer. This time, Weiwei Ma radiated a magnetic energy that kept my eyes glued to her throughout the highly technical solo. Ma alternated between movement and stillness, eyes open or closed, as Stephen Petrilli’s lighting played along her shoulder blades and skirt.

Premieres by Weiwei Ma and Evalina Carbonell

Ma’s Moon ● Tide, a world premiere, draws from the moon’s symbolism in Chinese culture. Keila Pérez-Vega, Takashi Kanai, Kendall Niblett, Abby Donnenfeld, Angelica Nieves-Merced, Justin Viernes, and Karen Kao moved to the sound of waves. Their bodies’ shifting formations flowed and receded like the tide. In pale belted robes designed by Jill Peterson, the dancers evoked sea foam tossing on the waves. Niblett shone in a solo, creating striking visuals and kinetic shapes out of transparent fabric.

Fabric and layers were important in Stihia, a world premiere by Evalina Carbonell. A company alum and KYL/D’s 2024-2025 season honoree, she focused on the relationship between the moon and the feminine. This is fruitful territory for Carbonell, whose work—like 2023’s Fruit of Her Lips—often explores the divine feminine. Stihia reminds us that myths and religions portray women as both creators and destroyers, alternately beautiful and terrible. Drawing from a range of influences, Carbonell’s solo homed in on Medusa and the concept of the monstrous feminine. She rotated the mask she wore so that its eyes remained on the viewer, and her costume’s “rope-like extremities” resembled tassels, tendrils, snakes, and entrails. Richer in concept than execution, Stihia nonetheless brought the dark side of the moon to the program.

Galaxies of paradox

Luna (月) concluded with the premiere of work Lin developed during a 2024 residency at Dance Ensemble Singapore. Based loosely on the Chinese tale of the moon goddess, Black Moon is “an ode to invisible forces” both traditional and contemporary. The dancers wore full-length black bodysuits with gold trim, with additional ornate trim on Pérez-Vega’s that identified her as the Moon Goddess. She moved to a different tempo than the others, who lifted, moved, and carried her. Turning her back to the audience to face the group of dancers, Pérez-Vega seemed to control them. Back-to-back, Kao and Ma spun hypnotically as the tree of immortal life. They seemed to defy physics as they appeared motionless while moving constantly. My eyes went to the stage floor to catch the dancers’ feet shifting slightly to create the illusion.

This is one of two ways Black Moon conveys the theme of paradoxes. In the first, Kao’s and Ma’s endlessly revolving bodies conjured conceptions of life, death, consciousness, and the universe across human history and cultures. But a confrontation between the Moon Goddess and the Hero (Niblett) suggested more recent approaches to conflict. Rather than accepting a paradox, the Moon Goddess and the Hero vie for control. Pérez-Vega and Niblett were excellent in their roles, and Niblett, a newer KYL/D dancer, showed impressive range. Meanwhile, Black Moon’s high-energy synchronous section with drums and red lighting recalled the work of Roni Koresh, the Philly choreographer known for distinctively masculine work. But the similarity was brief: Lin’s dance culminates not in battle but transformation. Black Moon unites Lin’s distinctive style and ethos with topical yet timeless concerns, and KYL/D’s talented dancers ensured they landed with a punch.

Power and peace

“Go outside” is one of my favorite coping strategies, and Luna (月) captured the enduring power and peace of the night sky. KYL/D’s dancing inspires, and Black Moon serves as a reminder of Kun-Yang Lin’s singular choreographic and creative approaches. Often transcending boundaries in ways that build connection, Lin and KYL/D are Philadelphia treasures.