Cloud Gate 2 (雲門２) is celebrating its 15th birthday this year and to mark the occasion, it is staging its most ambitious “Spring Riot” ever, featuring new works by three young(ish) choreographers and the revival of beloved favorite.
The shows at Taipei’s Novel Hall also herald a new chapter for the company, as they are the first under new artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍).
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門) founder and artistic director Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) had two goals when he established CG2 — it was to serve as a platform for young choreographers and it would promote dance nationwide through an outreach program. After the troupe’s original artistic director Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲) died of cancer in 2006, Lin took over running the troupe until he could find — or develop — a successor to Lo.
Cheng said yesterday that he wants to maintain the tradition of working with young choreographers and the outreach program, while gradually opening the door to collaborations with artists from different milieus.
“Spring Riot 2014” opens tonight with Cheng’s Dorian Gray (杜連魁), Bulareyaung Pagarlava’s Yaangad (椏幹) and Huang Yi’s Floating Domain (浮動的房間). At three hours, including two intermissions, it is the longest program the company has ever staged.
Dorian Gray is the first time Cheng has used a text — Oscar Wilde’s book — as inspiration.
“In the beginning [listening to the audiobook] I heard a voice in my mind, I saw dancing, some movements and it made me want to try a piece. I read it again and saw a different angle… But music is about feeling, emotions, so it was so difficult to combine these two together,” he said.
Bula said he also faced difficulties in trying to combine two genres for Yaangad, only in his case it was singing and dancing, Aboriginal traditions and Western choreography.
“Choreography is very Western, I know how to do this, but to add singing — it is very difficult,” Bula said.
He asked Pinuyumayan Aborigine singer/songwriter Sangpuy Katetepan to work with him and Sangpuy will be singing for each performance.
“I want to tell people: ‘Please come listen to my dance,’” Bula said.
Huang Yi has reworked Floating Domain, which he created for the company in 2010, building it up to 50 minutes.
“I don’t want to keep developing new ideas, to always have new ideas, like McDonald’s. I think maybe I should slow down … concentrate on a few topics,” he said.
For the second part of “Spring Riot,” which begins on Friday next week, the company is reviving Taiwanese choreographer Wu Kuo-chu’s (伍國柱) Oculus (斷章).
It is an incredibly moving piece, but hard to watch and not think of what might have been. Wu died of leukemia in 2006 at age 36, just two years after he became artistic director of Germany’s Staatstheater Kassel Dance Company. It is a tribute to his genius that Lin feels it is so important to keep this work alive.
Performance notes:
WHAT: Spring Riot 2014
WHEN: Tonight to Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30pm
WHERE: Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3號)
ADMISSION: NT$300 to NT$1,500; available at Novel Hall box office, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES: May 2 at 7:30pm and May 3 at 2:30pm at the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu County (新竹縣文化局演藝廳), 146 Hsiancheng 9th Rd, Chupei City, Hsinchu County (新竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號); May 9 at 7:30pm and May 10 at 2:30pm at Chungshan Hall (台中市文化局中山堂), 98 Syueshih Rd, Greater Taichung (台中市學士路98號); May 16 and 17 at 7:30, May 18 at 2:30pm at Da-Dong Cultural Center (大東文化藝術中心), 161 Guangyuan Rd, Greater Kaohsiung (高雄市光遠路161號); ticket prices same as Taipei shows
WHAT: Spring Riot 2014: Fragment
WHEN: April 25 and 26 at 7:30pm, April 27 at 2:30pm
WHERE: Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3號)
ADMISSION: NT$300 to NT$1,500; available at Novel Hall box office, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
This story has been corrected since it was first published.
Cheng Ching-hsiang (鄭青祥) turned a small triangle of concrete jammed between two old shops into a cool little bar called 9dimension. In front of the shop, a steampunk-like structure was welded by himself to serve as a booth where he prepares cocktails. “Yancheng used to be just old people,” he says, “but now young people are coming and creating the New Yancheng.” Around the corner, Yu Hsiu-jao (饒毓琇), opened Tiny Cafe. True to its name, it is the size of a cupboard and serves cold-brewed coffee. “Small shops are so special and have personality,” she says, “people come to Yancheng to find such treasures.” She
Late last month Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro told the Philippine Senate that the nation has sufficient funds to evacuate the nearly 170,000 Filipino residents in Taiwan, 84 percent of whom are migrant workers, in the event of war. Agencies have been exploring evacuation scenarios since early this year, she said. She also observed that since the Philippines has only limited ships, the government is consulting security agencies for alternatives. Filipinos are a distant third in overall migrant worker population. Indonesia has over 248,000 workers, followed by roughly 240,000 Vietnamese. It should be noted that there are another 170,000
Hannah Liao (廖宸萱) recalls the harassment she experienced on dating apps, an experience that left her frightened and disgusted. “I’ve tried some voice-based dating apps,” the 30-year-old says. “Right away, some guys would say things like, ‘Wanna talk dirty?’ or ‘Wanna suck my d**k?’” she says. Liao’s story is not unique. Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics show a more than 50 percent rise in sexual assault cases related to online encounters over the past five years. In 2023 alone, women comprised 7,698 of the 9,413 reported victims. Faced with a dating landscape that can feel more predatory than promising, many in
“This is one of those rare bits of TikTok fitness advice with a lot of truth behind it,” says Bethan Crouse, performance nutritionist at Loughborough University. “Sometimes it’s taken a bit too literally, though! You see people chugging protein drinks as they’re scanning out of their gym.” Crouse recommends the athletes she works with consume 20-30g of protein within 30-60 minutes of finishing a resistance training session. “The act of exercising our muscles increases the breakdown of muscle proteins,” she says. “In order to restore, or hopefully improve them — and get gains such as increased muscle mass or strength —
RSS