“All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?” – The Beatles

Today we are living in the age of loneliness. Despite the world being more interconnected and globalised than ever before, the number of lonely people continues to grow. Even before the pandemic started, loneliness was already a widespread problem: according to studies, one in ten people living in Germany felt lonely frequently or all the time. The pandemic has only made it worse. Social media, technology, capitalism, hedonistic consumer culture, neoliberal work ethics and urban way of living are contributing to the rise in loneliness and benefiting from it at the same time. Together they form a system that exposes us to loneliness on a daily basis and on a global scale. It not only affects our personal well-being, but is also aggravating the social isolation and political polarization that we are currently seeing.

The Intervention of Loneliness is a collaborative dance performance that looks at the issue of loneliness and human disconnection. Developed from an earlier public intervention (Dance with me) – in which I traveled to different cities asking strangers on the street to slow dance with me – this performance invites the audience on stage to slow dance with each other. Slow dance becomes a gesture of resistance against social isolation, as our bodies reach out, make contact and hold each other. How can we reclaim loneliness, rather than letting it own us? What has the pandemic taught us about it? How can we transform loneliness from a place of separation and isolation into a tool for connection and collective action? 

Video trailer
Reviews
Dramaturgical notes

Premiere : 6th & 7th December 2019
Venue.     : Uferstudios (Berlin, Germany)

An online format was presented at the da:ns festival (Singapore) 2020 on the 16th & 17th October 2020.
This is reworked and presented at English Theatre Berlin on 3rd & 4th March 2023, funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste.

Artistic Team
Concept & choreography    : Ming Poon
Dramaturge                        : Dandan Liu
Music                                  : Le-Thanh Ho
Voiceover                            : AngieM
Light design                       : Martin Pilz/Christian Maith
Technical direction.            : Haesoo Jung
Production management.  : MIFRUSH Production