to disappoint a god. uses the chinese creation deity Nuwa as a vessel to call for personal reflection and accountability amid the global breakdown of climate, culture and communication. Nuwa embodies the dichotomy of our existence; our grief, agony, guilt and anger encased in the gentle, desperate fight to hold onto hope.

Drawing from a smorgasbord of training across Chinese folk dance, Contemporary dance-theatre, Krump, and W_acking, to disappoint a god. physically and conceptually contorts the archetypal ‘asian diasporic femme body’; blending human and non-human, comfort and discomfort, strength and vulnerability.

The premiere presentation of to disappoint a god. was commissioned by Dancehouse for Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2025. 

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A lone figure sits at the plinth, hands busily moulding and carving each curve, angle, limb of the human figure – their creation. Their hands soiled with layers of yellow clay, toiling above the pristine folds of their silk qīng Ruqun.

qīng – the blue-green of the mended heavens, celadon, deep as wet soil, blue as a clear sky.

In the dim blue light, their arms blur into tendrils, Mamianqun into layers of molting skin – for a brief moment they find your eyes. Enigmatic, poised, questioning.

You wonder if they are proud of you.