While LAFA offers great promise as a company, what it can't offer its dancers right now is full-time work. Besides Sheu, there are just three dancers, young men who are still students at National Taiwan University of the Arts. The limited budget rules out fancy costumes, although Sheu raved about the big white T-shirt she wears in 37 Arts.
"It's a huge, huge shirt. We cut it a little bit, and we did change it to fit the body a little more, but we are using the costume completely - we use the outside of the shape and we also use the material as part of the choreography. This is not just a costume to cover your body; it is something that is really part of the choreography ... I thought it was really worth it, worth the US$6," she said with a laugh.
Sheu said she often thinks about the questions Mikhail Baryshnikov asked her about being a dancer - and how they apply to a company: "What is the best program, what is the best stage, what is the audience you are looking for, what kind of dance market are you looking for."
"I don't want just quantity, I care about the quality very much," Sheu said.
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