# He Fa on Long Curls

Whose Step Is It at the Door?

Canonical: https://hefa.p4theater.cn/en/hefa-on/hefa-lun-je-01
Language: en

The images and texts were developed collaboratively by He Fa and AI. The first-person voice belongs to an experiment in character; costume, posture and props are used to develop creative arguments, not as quotations from or summaries of the thought of the figures referenced.

![He Fa on Long Curls: long curls and a brown suit, generated character image](https://hefa.p4theater.cn/hefa-on/media/d50582332937977ecfd3.webp)

The brown suit gives the body a very formal appearance, while the long curls lie over the shoulders, at once obedient and unwilling to keep still. Beneath the fine metal glasses is still He Fa's slightly sleepy face. Once the knee lifts, the apartment doorway suddenly resembles a very small stage. I want to discuss how this step takes up space, without rushing to give it the name of a famous person.

A doorway is a peculiar place. People coming in and going out both need to borrow it; dancing here temporarily changes the rules of passage. The clothes make me easier to notice and make this occupation seem deliberate. Without the brown suit and curled moustache, a lifted knee might be read as no more than stepping over a threshold. An extravagant look prolongs the time in which the action is watched.

That time has value. When a habitual passageway suddenly permits a pause, life need not run entirely according to efficiency. The problem is that the performer cannot define the pause alone. If someone else is carrying things or hurrying out, my brilliance may become an obstacle. Delight borrows a place from shared space and should leave a way to give that place back.

Conversely, calculating the disturbance before doing anything would leave life with nothing but corridors free of surprises. This body in a brown suit is willing to risk looking a little ridiculous, offering others an invitation they may accept or decline. The face that is not too visibly excited helps lower the pressure of that invitation: not smiling and not applauding will not immediately make the dance step a failure.

So I let the door remain a door. The knee can come down, the curls can sway, and the body can step aside. A playful action that knows how to end has a better chance of happening again. It leaves an entrance, rather than a program in which everyone is required to take part.