To open its autumn season, Taipei Crossover Dance Company will premiere two new works, the first by company founder Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲) and the second a collaboration with UK choreographer Charlotte Vincent, who has recently returned to Taipei to fine-tune the work for performance.
Lo's work, titled Reed Field, is her first production after a two year absence from the stage due to serious illness. This dance, which Lo said is about "life and memory" is highly allegorical. The "reed field" of the title refers to the Ilan of Lo's childhood, and the dance looks at relationships through time, and how we deal with love and loss -- all with a kind of narrative structure that may for some detract from the dance itself.
While Reed Field adds to the list of Lo's own creative work, with the second she has put herself and her dancers under the direction of Charlotte Vincent in a relatively new format of collaboration. Vincent has never worked in Asia, and along with her reputation as one of the UK's most dynamic young choreographers, she brings a style of dance very different from Taiwan's mainstream.
"I feel it is important that I bring my own style of work over here, so the result is a different product," Vincent said of After the Party, the work she will be presenting.
Although Vincent worked closely with Lo, the two works are markedly different, with Vincent focusing heavily on duet dance, which uses the dancers in ways they are still unaccustomed to.
Vincent's style, with its humor and the extensive physical interaction between dancers, differs from the more solo-oriented dance favored by Taiwanese choreographers, which is the hallmark of such groups as Cloud Gate, from which many members of Crossover are drawn.
Lo pointed out that while Crossover has worked with many guest choreographers, this is the first time they have worked with a Western one. "It has been a very satisfying experience," she said, although the demands placed on the dancers had many of them suffering from injuries in the lead-up to this weekend's performance. "It brings out the dancer's potential," she said, in reference to having to adapt to a new style of dance.
After the Party is also a dance performance about relationships and centers around the somewhat drunken aftermath of a wedding. There is plenty of narrative sub-text here as well, but Vincent takes a more humorous tack that contrasts with Lo's own more earnest treatment. Vincent has brought in some elements of what she has found in this unfamiliar environment, most notably a section of tai chi-inspired dance played for comic effect which is remarkably refreshing.
While After the Party has been created in a very short time -- about one month of actual contact between choreographers and dancers -- the result of the cultural and stylistic frisson is, in this instance, remarkably enjoyable.
The double bill of Field and After the Party will be performed at Novel Hall in Taipei tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30pm. Tickets cost between NT$300 to NT$1,500 and are available through Acer ticketing and bookstore outlets. The performance will also tour Hsinchu on Nov. 16 and Ilan on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
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