In ancient Taoist Chinese philosophy, there was a sage, Zhan Zi, who had a dream that he had become a butterfly and derived pleasure from flying. After he awakened, he asked whether he dreamed he was a butterfly, or if the butterfly was dreaming that he was a man. I would like to invite the audience to embrace and explore this ambiguity of self and create their own reality through Dream of Land.

The inspiration for the show came after my recent trip back to China. There, the young generation of Chinese, like many Americans today, dream of overnight fame and success, and their ambition led me to question myself and my own journey. When I was living in China 20 years ago, I had neither any self perception nor an artistic identity. Now, I have a voice and am free to pursue my dreams as an artist. Yet, I was never truly satisfied with my works and kept pushing myself. I felt tired and frustrated, but the voice inside was ever critical and demanding. Then, I started to wonder: How much is enough? What is the true meaning of success? I have come to conclude that the Self is a mysterious entity. And much of Dream of Land is about elucidating that mystery because just maybe, the answer to finding true happiness has been within us all along. - Hua Hua Zhang