Winnie Huang

• Winnie Huang gestural performer

Now this is a marathon! Over three days, “artiste étoile” Winnie Huang will perform more than 70 times — but only for a single guest each time. The Australian composer Charlie Sdraulig developed the short performance tend especially for her. “I entered her box, which is curtained with black cloths. A spotlight focused on her hands, her fingers slowly began to move. I followed her delicate movements, her wandering gaze, perceiving every detail with a heightened clarity,” Sibylle Ehrismann wrote, describing the intense one-on-one encounter in the Swiss Music Magazine. And the NZZ am Sonntag was amazed: “Rarely has a performance been more intimate.” Winnie Huang’s movements respond to the gaze, facial expressions, and body language of her counterpart, but she also picks up on what they both perceive together: noises coming from outside. Gradually, individual gestures seem to repeat themselves. Or do they only seem familiar because they reflect our own attitude as listeners back to us? In this way, a playful exchange develops through nothing but sounds and gestures — a profound reflection on listening.