Circus as a language of expression hits new heights in this tender duet from Taiwan’s 0471 Acro Physical Theatre. Sun Cheng-Hsueh and Hsia Ling are hand-to-hand acrobats, but the piece feels closer to contemporary dance in its commitment to emotion and storytelling rather than gasp-inducing feats. 

There are plenty of the latter too, but they are embedded in a tale of a relationship in turmoil. It starts with a fight over a pile of laundry. They creatively use clothes as puppets to stand in for themselves; ghostly, faceless, but with the uncanny emotional range of mask theatre. Then Hsia begins to climb around Sun’s body, exploring the push-pull of yearning to be with someone while desperate to flee them at the same time.

Both performers are incredible at making it seem as if the other has disappeared and they are in their own lonely worlds, even as they tangle in the most complex patterns of co-dependent balance. They demonstrate how the trust, intimacy and physical endurance of circus mirrors that within a relationship. It’s a beautiful marriage of technical accomplishment and pure feeling, expanding the boundaries of what both circus and dance can say. 

Duo, Assembly @ Dance Base, until 27 August, 8.15pm.