Yu-ting Fang, Zoe Chan

“Collision” symbolises the mutual influence and interweaving of cultures.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger is a solo choreographic performance by Joseph Lee that interlaces storytelling, rope skipping and erotic dance. It attempts to unpack the complex relationships between the image of male body, gay culture and affective economy.

Lee uses his body to transform a daily fitness routine into a performative ritual, reliving his experience as a gay man in Asia in pursuit of the mainstream ideal figure in the community. The works reveals how fitness and performing arts industries make use of this image to sexualise, glorify and discipline the male body and its expression.

The performance, nevertheless, also questions how Lee, as a performance-maker, might queer the gaze of desire through constant shapeshifting from one image to another — practicing a mode of being that is fluid, uncertain and unnamed.

Come closer, go deeper!
Through bodily postures, Come closer, go deeper! explores the female bodily experience and the gaze. The work invites audiences to experience pain, pleasure, tension and ease through the flow and transformation of movement, while participating in a bodily journey propelled by the gaze. Presented as a performative workshop, it guides audiences to reanimate their awareness and imagination of the body through stretching and movement exercises. This interactive experience interweaves participation and observation, creating a dynamic akin to the power play of the gaze within an intimate performance setting — where self-reflection intertwines with the observation of others. The work presented at the Queer East Festival in  London in  2026, continuing its exploration of embodied intimacy and collective presence across cultural contexts.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Choreographer and Performer: Joseph Lee
Lighting Designer: Le Dinh Dat
Costume Designer: Trista Ma

Come closer, go deeper
Choreographer and Performer: Paula Wong
Lighting and Set Designer: Le Dinh Dat
Costume Designer: Trista Ma
Sound Designer: Larry Shuen