Jodie Judy Lu YingChu
Jodie Judy Lu YingChu is a dance artist from Taiwan. She holds a master’s degree in creative practice (dance professional practice) from Independent Dance, Siobhan Davies Dance & Trinity Laban, London, UK, and another in brand marketing from the Institute of Creative Industries Design (ICID) at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. The artist has toured in Taipei (Taiwan), Beijing (China), London (UK), Copenhagen (Denmark), Berlin and Düsseldorf (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Trondheim (Norway), and Prague (Czech Republic). Lu has been selected for the danceWEB Scholarship Programme at ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival (Austria, 2019), the International Choreographers Residency (ICR) at the American Dance Festival (USA, 2023), and Tanzrecherche NRW (Germany, 2024).
- Location USA / Durham
- Year of the Grant 2023
- Residency American Dance Festival
- Work ∞ infinity
- Personal Website Jodie Judy Lu YingChu's Personal Website
“The circle” and its extensions and transformations have been the core of my creative practice over the past few years. My current residency project, ∞ infinity, draws inspiration from Belgian sculptor Jacques Vanroose’s artwork “The Swing”, which depicts a man and a woman leaping on their feet, back to back. Together they form a complete life, embodying the origin of everything and the infinite possibilities of the universe.
This contemporary dance piece is rooted in my years of dance practice, including release techniques and somatic approaches. The rehearsal process begins with warm-up explorations focusing on the head-tail connection along the spine, followed by duet improvisations to develop movement vocabulary. During the first rehearsal, both duos - 2 dancers and 2 understudies - already generated beautiful, striking improvisational moments. All these authentic improvising moments became valuable archives for future choreographic development in the time of looking for more organic compositions and images.
My kinaesthetic drawing practice, which refers to treating the body as a brush that moves through 3-dimensional space, has been a recurring thread in my past works. In this dance piece, how we work with space evolves from 2 overlapping circles into a figure-8 pattern, resonating with both the title ∞ infinity and the 8-minute time limit of the ICR showcase. Before learning the title, Abigail Yager (former Trisha Brown dancer and mentor to myself and dancer Blake) watched the work and remarked that the figure 8 spacing made the entire stage space seem twisting on its own. Upon reading the programme and learning the title was ∞ infinity, she felt it made complete sense.
The work’s visibility began early in the rehearsal phase through social media exposure, including site visits and professional photography, which helped build audience anticipation. After the performance, the dance piece received enthusiastic praise and became one of the most talked-about works of the whole showcase.
Author: Jodie Judy Lu YingChu
Edited: Brix