LNELecture Notes in Education, Arts, Management and Social Science3083-10912705-053XBio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/LNE.v4i7.15939ArticleThe Triple Mirrors of Clowns: A Brief Analysis of Black Humor in the Dance Theater Work Clownshttps://artdesignp.com/journal/LNE/4/7/10.26689/LNE.v4i7.15939HuHaoyuan2026472026-07-26Hofesh Shechter’s dance production Clowns takes black humor as its aesthetic core, weaving a dance allegory that reflects the spiritual alienation of modern humanity. This article interprets the work from three dimensions: first, the clown image maps the spiritual distortion of individuals under industrial conditions, whose mechanized limbs and numb, vacant expressions reproduce the “corporeal discipline” of capitalist society; second, the article deconstructs the circular narrative strategy of “murder—resurrection,” wherein this endlessly cycling violence dissolves the meaning of death itself and illuminates the inescapable predicament of individuals within systems of power; third, the article analyzes the inverted truth of the audience-performance relationship—when spectators applaud the aesthetics of violence, they have unwittingly become accomplices to the logic of alienation.Black humor, Character construction, Circular narrative structure, Audience-performance relationship

[1] Yao YT, 2023, A Flowing Rose—An Analysis of the Dance Elements and Expression Methods in the 3D Film “Pina.” Art Panorama, (9): 79–81. [2] Zheng XY, 2023, An Analysis of the Uniqueness of Pina Bausch’s Movement Forms and Rules. Shangwu, (1): 75–77. [3] Liu ZQ, 2023, An Analysis of Wim Vandekeybus’s Movement Vocabulary—Taking “Sao Hong” as an Example. Shangwu, (19): 78–80. [4] Ren JY, 2024, A Brief Analysis of the Film and Television Adaptation of Chinese Contemporary Dance Drama—Taking the Dance Drama Film “The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting” as an Example. (24): 72–74. [5] Zhang N, 2023, An Analysis of the Body Language and Contemporary Value of the Absurdist Dance Work “May B.” Shangwu, (14): 99–101.