The Dance Forum Taipei’s (舞蹈空間) 20th anniversary program at Novel Hall on Saturday night was a mixed bill, and as it turned out, a mixed achievement.
The program opened with Grace by Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki, a 20-minute work that was a complete departure from his last piece for the company, Ran, which was all pulsating music, loud colors and frenetic energy.
Grace was far quieter, more contemplative and in the end, a far richer work. Shimazaki said he was inspired both by the music, a piano score by fellow Japanese Ryuichi Sakamoto overlaid with electronic crinkles, crackling and pops by German composer Alva Noto, and the art of origami.
Like origami, the movements in Grace were all about touching, folding and the occasional outstretched limb. Instead of sharp angles, there were gentle curves: an arm folded over a leg, a hand lifting an extended leg, a head resting lightly on a stomach before a turn, a light lift and an easy sinking to the floor. Instead of a driving beat, the choreography rode along with the score like a swimmer drifting in the gentle swells of the ocean, rising and falling and rolling. The softness extended to the staging: a simple white floor, black backdrop and a diffused spotlight that created a misty area for the dancers to work in.
Shimazaki created a series of duets and pas de trois that finally folded back into the opening image — a male dancer laying outstretched on the floor, a woman resting on top of him with one leg arching upward. The sheer serenity of the piece masks the craftsmanship and attention to detail that created it.
The second piece on the program, Eastern Wind, Too (東風乍現), by Yang Ming-lung (楊銘隆), was a reworking of the first piece in his Eastern Current trilogy, Eastern Wind, which premiered in 2002. This new work was crisply executed by its nine dancers, but about halfway through the series of tableaux I felt like I had seen everything that Yang had to say, and by the time the first dancer glided across the stage on a pair of black skate shoes, I knew I had.
Clad in simple jumpsuits in muted earth tones, whited faces with a square of light red across their eyes, the blank-faced dancers easily portrayed the stringless puppets Yang envisioned. While there were no strings, some of the women had rope harnesses over their jumpsuits so they could be picked up and moved around.
While Shimazaki’s piece was
all soft curves, Yang’s was all sharp angles. A stiff leg moved another
leg, a straight arm lifted another’s arm, a “puppet” was lifted or spun, the dancers tiptoed jerkily onto
the stage.
Perhaps if I hadn’t already seen the puppet/mannequin metaphor played out so brilliantly the week before in Jo Kanamori’s NINA or seen Bulareyaung Pagarlava’s (布拉瑞揚) Ode to Joy, Chapter I last month, I would have been more content.
Eastern Wind, Too would be a stronger piece if it was whittled down, but judging from the applause, I appeared to be about the only one in the audience who thought so.
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