Two very different dance programs at the National Theater this weekend encapsulate the diversity of the modern dance world in Taipei, not only in terms of size and structure but in approach and focus. M Dans, a five-man troupe, will be performing a mixed program, Stairs (樓梯) in the Experimental Theater, while in the main theater the Legend Lin Dance Theater (無垢舞蹈劇場) is staging a revival of its visually stunning, internationally acclaimed Mirrors de Vie (Mirrors of Life).
Chen Wu-kang (陳武康), the founder of M Dans, is a prime example of the kind of talented young dancer that Taiwan has been producing for the last two decades or so. Having received his basic training here, he went abroad to study more — and gain fame with a New York-based company.
Chen has garnered excellent reviews dancing with Eliot Feld’s companies in New York, both with Ballet Tech and the Mandance Project. He has been bouncing back and forth between Taipei and his work with Feld in New York for about five years.
M Dans was founded about two years ago because Chen and a former schoolmate wanted to work together — with the lofty ambition of changing the dance environment in Taiwan. He said he didn’t set out to create an all-male troupe, they just came up with a list of dancers that they wanted to work with.
“We wanted to do something completely different. We didn’t want to have just men but we couldn’t find any women in Taiwan that we like [to dance with] right now,” Chen said in a telephone interview.
Each of the dancers has also choreographed a piece for this weekend’s show, beginning with Chen’s 10-minute piece Ritual Memory, a stark, melancholy dance to a haunting piano score, where the action on stage is mirrored from three different angles in a black and white film projected onto three large screens overhead.
The other dances on the program are Object, A Journey, Spiral, Vision and then, as Chen said “for dessert there is Feld’s A Stair Dance.
When asked why they chose A Stair Dance, Chen said it encapsulates what he likes about dance and about Feld’s choreography.
“It’s so pure, so basic, the elements, the rhythm, the shape. It’s just five men stepping up and down the stairs,” he said.
It’s a little more complex than that. The American choreographer is known for his passion for music and fascination with creating shapes using time and space.
For A Stair Dance, which was created as a tribute to the late tap dancer and actor Gregory Hines, Feld turned to one of his favorite composers, Steve Reich and his composition Tokyo, Vermont Counterpoint.
It’s fun, its lighthearted and it’s liberating. It also takes a lot of skill, and a lot of sweat.
M Dans has obviously struck a chord with Taipei dance fans. If you don’t already have a ticket, you are out of luck.
“It’s great,” Chen said. “We sold out about two weeks ago. People have been asking us to add another performance but we decided not too — we’re too tired.”
It’s going to be a good weekend for the much larger company upstairs in the main theater as well. The 11-year old Legend Lin troupe has almost sold out its run as well.
Legend Lin, founded and directed by choreographer Lin Li-chen (林麗珍), is a modern-dance troupe that has gained international acclaim for works based upon or inspired by Taiwanese folk traditions. It is staging a revival of the work that first brought it fame, the beautiful Mirrors de Vie, which examines Taoist rituals, especially the sacrificial feasts of the Ghost Festival, and the relations between both man and his environment and between men and women. The goddess Matsu leads the spirits of the past and present as the doorway opens between this world and the world of the dead.
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