The Formosa International Arts Festival draws to a close with the
presentation of Les Veilleurs (The Watchmen) by Hungarian dancer and
choreographer Josef Nadj of the Centre Choregraphique National d'Orleans.
The work, inspired by the writings of Franz Kafka and imbued with a darkly
humorous mood, is a combination of mime, circus, drama and dance. "Words are
not important," Nadj said, "The movements speak for themselves."
In creating his own style of dance theater, Nadj, a Hungarian born in
Yugoslavia but now based in France, said that he intentionally put language
to one side in order to speak to an international audience. And Nadj doesn't
balk at addressing the most complex issues: identity, individuality, man's
situation in relation to the world. It is a kind of existential dance, with
the philosophy embedded in movement rather than words.
Nadj said he didn't really mind what he included in his dance theater
performances as long as it added to the overall effect that he sought to
achieve. Clowning of a lugubrious eastern European sort - seemingly
impossible balancing acts and highly choreographed movements that may or may
not be described as dance, all come together to create a physical expression
of the existential malaise of Kafka's works.
Although Taipei has been treated to a heavy dose of physical theater in
recent months, Les Veilleurs promises to offer something very different, a
show in which the dark forces of chaos, that lurk in the background of much
of this type of work, does not resolve itself into hearty laughter, but
keeps the unsettling questions hanging in the air.
Les Veilleurs will be showing at the National Concert Hall tonight at 7:30pm
and at 2:30pm on Sunday. Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,000 and are available
through ERA ticketing.
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