THEATER
Kaohsiung City Ballet (高雄城市芭蕾
舞團) presents the seventh installment of its Dance Shoe series, which was initiated in 2004 to provide young choreographers with a platform perform in public. Dance Shoe 2010 (2010點子鞋) comprises works by five choreographers, including Wang Kuo-chuan (王國權), Huang Huai-te (黃懷德) and Hsu Cheng-wei (許程崴). [See story on Page 14.]
■ Experimental Theater, Taipei City
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday
at 2:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$400, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Hanlin Folk Arts Theater (漢霖民俗說唱藝術團) revisits classical Chinese stand-up comedy in its newest show, which stars comedic legend Wang Chen-chuan (王振全), whose career has spanned four decades.
■ Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段25號)
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday
at 2:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$250 to NT$1,300, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
Comedy Greats, Comedy Club’s year-end program, reprises some of the venue’s most popular shows from
over the past 12 months. Performers include NG Improv Club (新激梗社劇團), MC Birdy, Terry the Magician,
Rifat and Yubon (魚蹦興業). For
the complete schedule, visit
www.comedy.com.tw/node/389
■ Comedy Club, B1, 24 Taishun St, Taipei City (台北市泰順街24號B1)
■ Tonight and tomorrow at 8pm, Sunday at 7:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$270 in advance or NT$300 at the door, and available online at tickets.books.com.tw
National Guoguang Opera Company (國立國光劇團) presents The Best Scholar’s Matchmaking (狀元媒), a Beijing opera romantic comedy piece taken from the popular story of the Yang Family Generals (楊家將).
■ Guoguang Theater (國光劇場), 8-1, Ln 66, Muzha Rd Sec 3, Taipei City
(台北市木柵路三段66巷8-1號)
■ Tomorrow at 2:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$200 and NT$300, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
Dog & Dog (雙面狗) by Ark Theatre (方舟劇場) is a comedy about an actor who, on the day of a big audition, finds his whole face has gone missing. His mission is to discover exactly why his eyes, nose, mouth and ears vamoosed and retrieve them.
■ Taipei City Government Family Theater (台北市政府親子劇場), 2F, Taipei City Hall, 1 Shifu Rd, Taipei City (台北市市府路1號2樓)
■ Tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$600, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
CONTEMPORARY
Located in a former warehouse at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Legacy Taipei hosts top Taiwanese bands and international acts. Tonight folk-pop singer Europa Huang (黃建為) takes to the stage. As of press time, no shows are scheduled for tomorrow.
■ Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Center Five Hall (中五館), 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市八德路一段1號)
■ Shows start at 8pm
■ Entrance is NT$500 at the door. Prices include one drink. Tickets available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw or
www.legacy.com.tw or at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
Metal-core/emo band 831 (八三夭) and upbeat punk rockers Punkhoo (胖虎) play tonight at the The Wall (這牆). Tomorrow night’s show with indie rock band Tizzy Bac is sold out. On Sunday it’s a group of up-and-coming rockers including The Pixels, 3.D.B. and Live Machine.
■ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1).
Tel: (02) 2930-0162. On the Net:
www.thewall.com.tw
■ Music shows start at 8pm
■ Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight, tomorrow’s show is sold out, NT$250 on Sunday (no advance tickets).
Tickets can be purchased
online at www.thewall.com.tw or
tickets.books.com.tw
Sirius Sharp (天狼星口琴樂團), a trio of harmonica virtuosos, performs tonight at Witch House (女巫店). Tomorrow the venue hosts several a cappella groups, including Oops of Germany, and Taiwanese singers Jigsaw. Every Planet (美味星球樂團) and acoustic indie rockers Silverbus (銀巴士) appear on Thursday.
■ 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號).
Tel: (02) 2362-5494. On the Net:
www.witchhouse.org
■ Performances start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays; 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
■ Admission for music shows is NT$300
Tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言) it’s the Ray Band (雷樂隊), a trio of veteran session musicians who play power rock originals and covers. Tomorrow lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Suming (姜聖明) of indie-rock band Totem (圖騰) takes the stage. On Sunday it’s pop pianist Josh Chen (陳熙) and singer Chris Lee (李立威). Monday is the venue’s weekly open jam. Popular nu-metal/funk band Coach (教練樂團) appears on Tuesday.
■ B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building
(台電大樓). Tel: (02) 2368-7310. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 9:30pm tonight and 9pm tomorrow, Sunday and Tuesday. Monday’s open jam starts at 9pm. For a list of standard songs and ground rules, visit the venue’s Web site
■ Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 Sunday and Tuesday and NT$150 on Monday
Riverside Live House (西門紅樓展演館) hosts Mando-pop boy band Magic Power (魔幻力量) tonight and pop singer Alien Huang (黃鴻升) tomorrow. Rap trio the TriPoets (參劈) perform on Sunday [see story on Page 13].
■ 177 Xining S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路177號). Tel: (02) 2370-8805. On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 8pm tonight and 8:30pm tomorrow and Sunday
■ Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets can purchased online through
www.riverside.com.tw/livehouse or tickets.books.com.tw.
Tonight Underworld (地下社會) hosts reggae and dub band Down in Air (盪在空中) and veteran underground rockers Celluloid (賽璐璐). Tomorrow it’s Killing Zoe and noise band Shebang-a (死蚊子). On Wednesday it’s low-key indie-rock duo Zag Lope (柴可洛噗) and one-man electro-rock band Sonic Deadhorse.
■ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Tel: (02) 2369-0103. On the Net: www.upsaid.com/underworld
■ Music shows run from 9:30pm to 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 9pm to 11pm on Wednesdays. Underworld is open daily from
9pm, closed on Mondays. Happy
Hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays before midnight
■ Entrance is NT$300, which includes one drink; NT$100 on Wednesday
The Earl Hines II Jazztet appears tonight at Sappho de Base. Tomorrow it’s the London Shamisen Club, which combines ballads from Turkey and the Balkans with an Asian twist. The Edamame Jazz Trio (毛豆) plays on Tuesday. Flaneur Daguerre, a jazz quartet that plays everything Bach to Bjork and Ornette Coleman to the Ramones, appears on Wednesday. DD Quartet plays fusion on Thursday.
■ B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Tel: (02) 2700-5411. On the Net:
www.sappho102.biz
■ Music shows begin at 10:30pm on Friday and Saturday and 9:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday and 10pm Wednesday. Closed on Sundays
and Mondays
■ Entrance is NT$100 tonight and tomorrow, free on other nights
Roxy Roots celebrates Bob Marley’s birthday tonight with reggae band High Tide [see story on Page 14]. Performing tomorrow is pop rock group Oliband. Wednesday night is the venue’s special musical showcase, and this week features German expat jazz bassist Klaus Bru, who leads a trio in performing a musical interpretation of the Tao Te Ching (道德經). Come ready to dance on Thursday for Salsaton and Reggaeton night.
■ 90 Songren Rd, Taipei City (台北市松仁路90號). Tel: (02) 2725-3932.
On the Net: www.roxy.com.tw
■ Shows start at 10pm
■ Entrance is free
The Mercury (水星酒館) in Kaohsiung features indie bands every week. Appearing tomorrow is punk rock from Broken Flowers (碎紙花).
■ 46 Liwen Rd, Zuoying Dist, Kaohsiung City (高雄市左營區立文路46號).
Tel: (07) 550-8617. On the Net: mercurybar.blogspot.com
■ Show starts at 8:30pm
■ Entrance is NT$200
Tomorrow night Taichung’s 89k hosts Swing Black, a group that combines R ‘n’ B and jazz sounds.
■ 21 Daguan Rd, Nantun Dist, Taichung City (台中市南屯區大觀路21號)
■ Shows start at 10pm
■ Entrance is NT$300
CLASSICAL
When Classical Meets Jazz (古典vs爵士雙鋼琴音樂會) brings together two classical pianists, Chan Yu-rung (詹育蓉) and Wang Pin-hsin (王品心), in a program of jazz-inspired works including Gershwin’s Preludes, Anton Arensky Suite No. 1, Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche (Suite for Two Pianos) and Claude Bolling’s Sonata for Two Pianists No. 1.
■ Today at 7:30pm
■ Kaohsiung’s Chih-Teh Hall (高雄市文化中心至德堂), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號)
■ Tickets are NT$100 and NT$200, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
Baby Soldiers March into
the Concert Hall (娃娃兵進音樂廳) is part of the Taipei Civic Symphony Orchestra’s (台北市民交響樂團) Children’s Concert Series, a
musical program designed to appeal to children. The music, drawn from
folk songs, cartoons and children’s songs, are linked together in a narrative structure by host Ho
Kang-ting (何康婷). The orchestra
will be conducted by Lin Tien-ji
(林天吉).
■ Today at 7:30pm
■ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$600, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
The Flowing Water (音畫-流水), a concert by the Little Giant
Chinese Chamber Orchestra (小巨人絲竹樂團), features work by
emerging artists working in the Chinese orchestral tradition. The orchestra will be conducted by Chen Chih-sheng (陳志昇), with soloists Wang Tsi-ching (王梓靜) on pipa (琵琶) and Wu Meng-shan (吳孟珊) on erhu (二胡).
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm
■ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,200, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s