Bull in a China Closet is a dance film that highlights the artist’s attempts at portraying a deeply layered, queer identity. Combining dance/performance, text, and cinéma vérité, elle demonstrates the tension and confusion of a trans person working to exteriorize their interiority, or, working to create an outward-facing image that more closely resembles the image they envision for/of themself. In Bull in a China Closet , elle attempts to give the full fantasy of her idealized gender archetypes, while leaving space to contemplate the process of creating new genders, and ultimately, new worlds.

In these two excerpts from Bull in a China Closet , elle wears largely thrifted/gifted clothing items with the exception of white gogo boots from Unique Vintage, and a green sock-bustier dress crafted by queer designer YARD666SALE. These garments contribute towards a somatic costuming, or, a technique that relies on how embodiment changes dependent on the costume worn by the dancer.

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###audio descriptions & transcript

A white runway appears on a dance stage. A figure in front of a clothing rack is standing at the back.

They start to strut forward.

Lighting reveals elle hong, a blonde east Asian trans dancer, walks to the front of the screen. She’s wearing a faux fur coat, a black and white striped mod dress and white go-go boots.

They pull the coat down to reveal their shoulders, turn to the back and strut. They turn to the front, strut down the catwalk slowly, then faster.

She stops mid-runway to pose. She claps her hands in time with the beat above her head. She begins to sassy catwalk, vogue hands swirling around her face. She turns her back on us to walk to the back of the runway.

The leg passé’s over with side arch.

Spiral step.

They walk forward and pose with one arm up and one arm to the side. They slowly turn without breaking the pose.

She starts vogue hand performance again, pantomiming a compact and putting on makeup. She goes into tutting type moves,

pointing twirling fingers.

Back it up

Back wrap, back wrap

Parallel passé

Hair flip and spin

Spiral turn

Walk back

Lifting hair up

Duck walk with head flip up to the beat

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic poses

Hand flips up and down

Hip left right

Step side touch

Dramatic reach out and in

Chassé chassé

Double beat sink

Running in place

(Energy builds)

Hand performance

Squat with body roll up

Soutenu turn with opposing spiraling arms

Attitude, kick back

Strut strut fade out

(Outfit change and lighting change)

Pink lighting

Burnt orange and black letterman’s jacket style faux fur coat with a knit green colorblocked dress under

Dramatically remove hood

Turn and discard coat

Start tap dancing to the music

Camera reveals they are wearing beige character tap shoes

Grapevine off the runway

And come back to do the same hands performance pantomiming a compact and doing makeup as before

Chaînès turns and spinning to the end of the runway

Step shuffle hop step turning back to the front

Spin and lose steam

Stoic pause hands on hips

Magically a fabric covered platform slides in.

They sit.

Cut to laying on platform while it spins with one leg crossed over knee.

Cut to pose upside down one leg pointed up into air with left foot scissor kicked forward on spinning platform

Cut to standing posed on spinning platform

Sexy reclined vamping pose on spinning platform

Get up and walk off stage while fades to new look and green lighting

Barefoot dark blue velour with green cast under lights. Oversized hoodie looking menacingly possessed with hair now messy and half put up and distressed rash-like makeup with dirty lips.

Repeat pantomiming vogue hand performance but more intensely

Hair in face

Whipped spiral turn

Flash warning starts

Repeated attitude flailing spiral turns

In wild energetic manner so that the hoodie whips through the air sometimes revealing mint briefs

Down runway

Up and off runway

Walk back to center

Cup back of head, 2 body rolls

And turn to walk back

2 body rolls, pivot

Walk up runway

2 body rolls pivot

Back down runway

2 body rolls pivot step

Pose hand to stomach and face

2 hip beats with contraction

Rhythmically collapsing in phases

Until final slumped position

Fade to back

(Flash warning ends)

Camera follows rick backstage to green room

They sit in front of makeup mirrors with scattered makeup all around.

Pull off false eyelashes

Takes a makeup pad and wipes off makeup

(Speaking)

Stares at self in mirrors

Fade to black

Elle wearing a pink satin spaghetti strap dress laying on a black Marley dance floor

Slow rise to sitting

Turn to pensive sitting position

Looks into the light and rises

Breathes

Pulls skirt of dress up in front of face

While slowly turns

Camera pans around them.

Drop skirt down into chaînès turn

One chaînès circle body arch

Side attitude strike

Jump fall and release

Front attitude

Passé down

Roundhouse kick with jump and turn

Glide step

Chaînès turns with “S”-shaped arms

Arch back to floor

Turn to fall forward to ground

Pull back through child’s pose

Impressive body wave to standing from the floor

Glide steps

Crouching running step with side swoop pushing air

Spiral turn

Back hitchkick

Land

Walk back arm raises and gently falls in response

Jetè spiral turn

Grand battement with opposite arm reaching

Spiral down to the floor

Twisted frog kick turning back

Attitude kick turning back

Arch up to stand

Glide step arms to the sky

Spiral turn

Run diagonal towards center stage

Scoop step

Elbow jab back

Chassé jump turn

Butterfly kick twirl

Chaînès arms bent at side

Collapse down

Breathing heavily collapsed on floor

Crawl towards center stage

Collapse into fetal position

Continue to Crawl

Sustained crawling head down hair brushing ground

Fade to black

vol. 01
summer 2021

about the artist

elle hong (they/she) is an anti-disciplinary artist, writer, and educator from the occupied lands of Kanaka `Ōiwi (Honolulu, HI). Currently based in Cheyenne/Ute/Arapaho Territories (Boulder, CO) , they received their MFA in Choreography from the University of Colorado Boulder with a graduate certificate in Emergent Technologies & Media Arts Practice. Her work spans through dance, media arts, writing, music, and pedagogy - often bricolaging them into performance. elle is invested in the potentials for decolonization, queering, and world reimagining made possible through the container of performing/visual arts. elle has worked with and studied beneath noted dance makers/scholars including Michelle Ellsworth, Rennie Harris, Darrell Jones, Katja Kolcio, Bebe Miller, Eiko Otake, Nicole Stanton, and Helanius Wilkins. Through written and embodied forms of creative research, elle calls for a dismantling of the systems that enforce control over our abilities to liberate our social bodies.