There are two dance performances in Taipei this weekend that are worth spending a couple of hours on a sunny day inside for. Both are by small companies that are often overlooked except by dance aficionados, which is too bad because they feature some of the best dancers and creative minds working in Taiwan today.
The Wind Dance Theatre (風之舞形舞團) is putting on a show featuring co-founder and artistic director Wu I-fang (吳義芳) 45 Solo, Wu I-Fang (吳義芳45獨舞) at the Wenshan branch of the Taipei Cultural Center. The title says it all, and yet doesn’t begin to encompass what a performance by Wu can be, as anyone who remembers him from his almost two decades with the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) can attest.
Now 46, Wu remains a powerful and charismatic performer, as anyone who was lucky enough to see the company’s previous shows or his guest performances with Cloud Gate last fall and in 2006, when he performed The God of the Clouds segment from Lin Hwai-min’s (林懷民) Nine Songs, (九歌), can attest. The piece was created for Wu, and it is a testament to his strength and agility — and nerves of steel — that he was still able to do it in his mid-40s.
The second production this weekend is 20.30.40’s Dream Fantasy by the eight-year-old Century Contemporary Dance Company (世紀當代舞團) at the Experimental Theater. Founder and chief choreographer Yao Shu-fen (姚淑芬) draws her inspiration from daily life — everything from English football to modern romance — and this latest production looks at how our dreams and realities change as we grow older.
Yao uses dance and poetry to convey the search for one’s dreams in our 20s, the struggle between the subconscious and conscious as we try to achieve our goals in our 30s and how in our 40s we have gained command (hopefully) over our bodies and our language.
Both companies focus on mixing dance, theater and multi-media elements to create visually arresting as well as emotional challenging productions. Their track records bode well for this weekend.
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