Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s (雲門舞集) performance of Moon Water at the National Theater last Monday night with Russian cellist Mischa Maisky can be summed up in just one word: sublime.
It was a fascinating show, even for those who had seen Moon Water many times before, because Maisky’s playing took the whole production to a higher level. I know that the dancers were apprehensive because they had never performed the piece to live music before and had only had a brief run-through on Sunday evening with him. But it wasn’t a case of Maisky accompanying the dancers; he and the dancers became one. He obviously enjoyed playing for and watching the dancers, just as they clearly delighted in having him on stage.
Moon Water calls for incredible fluidity on the part of the dancers and the dancers appeared to be water themselves, bending, curving and twisting their bodies so easily it was hard to believe they were human. One can only hope that the company’s two performances last week with Maisky will not be the last.
On Saturday afternoon, the five-man Horse Dance Theater (驫舞劇場) delivered a never-less-than-interesting but uneven performance of Bones before a packed house in the Experimental Theater.
The five men who make up Horse have very different personalities as well as dancing and choreographic styles. This means there is no single style, no single voice, which can be a plus in terms of creativity; the downside is that democracy is a difficult ideal to achieve in a company.
As in previous Horse productions, the solos and duets were wonderful, especially Chou Shu-yi’s (周書毅) solo to the what sounded like crackling sounds of ice breaking up on a river. Chou is a beautiful dancer who always leaves you wanting to see more of him. The harpsichord music for Cheng Tsung-lung’s (鄭宗龍) solo provided the perfect counterpoint to his very cerebral, architectural-style of dance. You can almost measure the exact degree of each hand movement, each angle of a leg or arm. Cheng’s earlier duet with Yang Yu-min (楊育鳴) was another highlight.
As an all-male troupe, Horse has a unique dynamic, but there has always been an element of slapstick, which in Bones ranges from trading slaps and a “bone-naming game” to a well executed “puppet master” showdown between Yang, on Cheng’s shoulders, and Chen Wu-kang (陳武康) perched atop Su Wei-chia (蘇威嘉).
With a blazingly all-white set, great lighting and a subtle though incredibly varied sound score from Frenchman Yannick Dauby, the focus in Bones was solely on the dancers. This was a plus in that neither the dancers nor the audience was distracted by props. But it also make it clear that Bones is a production that is still evolving. Small companies like Horse, however, can’t afford long runs of any one show. It’s a pity because Bones has great potential and a few more performances would give Horse the time to refine the production.
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
Perched on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, Arunothai is a dusty crossroads town, a nowheresville that could be the setting of some Southeast Asian spaghetti Western. Its main street is the final, dead-end section of the two-lane highway from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city 120kms south, and the heart of the kingdom’s mountainous north. At the town boundary, a Chinese-style arch capped with dragons also bears Thai script declaring fealty to Bangkok’s royal family: “Long live the King!” Further on, Chinese lanterns line the main street, and on the hillsides, courtyard homes sit among warrens of narrow, winding alleyways and
RSS