Creative collaborations, especially in the field of dance, have already begun to take root in Taiwan. Most recently, the Crossover Dance Company brought over British choreographer Charlotte Vincent to work with local performers in creating an original work titled After the Party. Now, the Grace Hsiao Dance Theater (
This is Dalman's fourth visit to Taiwan. Her early work such as Sun and Moon, which was created in 1967, drew heavily on Australian Aboriginal mythology and she believes that this kind of work has a special relevance to Taiwan. "This was created in the face of Australia's `cultural cringe,' at a time when Australia was trying hard to find its cultural identity," she said, adding that while she sought inspiration from Aboriginal work, she did not seek in any manner to imitate it.
At a time when Taiwan is also looking to draw on its complex history for artistic inspiration, Dalman's words sound a very resonant note. "Really, Australia and Taiwan have a lot in common. We are both small countries," she said, referring to population and outlook.
PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES
Sun and Moon, a fluid duet in which the female dancer represents the sun, gives the dancers a chance to explore themes that exist in all cultures, but giving them slightly different expression.
Speaking about the uses of cross-cultural dance, Dalman said that the exercise of working with dancers from a different culture required a great deal of mutual understanding. "This in itself is valuable," she said. Based on the common language of dance, working with people from other cultures also generates new tools for creativity.
Cross Tracks II will be performed at Circle 15 Theater located at 3F, 40-1 Chungshan S. Rd., Taipei (
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby