This is one of those crazy weekends when there is far too much dance going on in Taipei, even discounting the Royal Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet at the National Theater, which was sold out a month ago. Local contemporary dance troupes have taken over almost all the remaining performance spaces in the city.
There is not enough space to cover every one of the dance performances, but here are the top three.
Starting off with the newest of companies, the Tussock Dance Theater is performing on familiar ground for founder Wu Chien-wei (吳建緯) — the dance theater at his alma mater out in Guandu, the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA, 國立臺北藝術大學).
photo Courtesy of Dancecology
Wu made an impressive debut at the end of November last year with his inaugural piece, Two Bodies /邢亮 X 吳建緯, for which he teamed up with Chinese dancer/choreographer Xing Liang (邢亮). This time Wu chose to work with Li Tzong-hsuan (李宗軒), another TNUA graduate whom he danced with years ago with the Taipei Crossover Dance Company (台北越界舞團).
The piece, entitled The Time (我們選擇的告別), was inspired by British journalist Mark Sanderson’s 2002 memoir Wrong Rooms, which was translated into Chinese under the title We Chose Farewell (我們選擇的告別). It is a story of love and loss, for within two years of meeting the love of his life, Sanderson helped his partner die after a three-month battle with an aggressive form of skin cancer.
Wu said he wanted to explore a Western text from Eastern logic, to question what it takes to love in the face of death and whether the power of love can overcome death.
photo Courtesy of Dancecology
Do not expect flashy emotionalism or heavy drama from The Time; that is not Wu’s style. He favors slow, subtle and layered movements that gradually build to tell a story.
Downtown at the Experimental Theater is another mixing of East and West hosted by a company founded by TNUA graduate Peng Hsiao-yin (彭筱茵).
Peng’s five-year-old troupe Dancecology (舞蹈生態系創意團隊) has spent the past year collaborating with Australian dance icon Elizabeth Cameron Dalman and Wong Jyh-Syhonh (黃志雄), artistic director of Malaysia’s Damansara Performing Arts Centre Dance Company, to create Mirror Image (境╱鏡), which premiered in Canberra in April and will be performed in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, next month.
photo Courtesy of Dancecology
The 80-year-old Dalman’s ties with Taiwan’s dance world go back more than 40 years, when she first met Taiwanese modern dance pioneer Tsai Jui-yueh (蔡瑞月). Since then she has formed strong connections with the Tsai Jui-yueh Foundation, TNUA and many local dancers.
Wong’s ties with Taiwan’s dance community are not quite as long as Dalman’s, but he is no stranger to Taipei audiences, having been a member of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) for four years and having just received his master of fine arts degree from TNUA’s Graduate Institute of Choreography last year.
Given Peng and Dancecology’s focus on the environment, it is no surprise that the nature-human connection is the focus of Mirror Image. The program, which consists of nine segments — including Old Tree, Root & Earth, New Life and Human Footprint — stresses the importance of recognizing and restoring this connection.
Dalman says the inspiration came from several workshops that were conducted at the Mirramu Creative Arts Centre at Lake George in New South Wales, where her Mirramu Dance Company is based, and the landscape there.
Just a few blocks away from the Experimental, 8213 Physical Dance Theater (8213肢體舞蹈劇場) has taken over the Guling Street Avant-garde Theater for its latest production, Flourish (獨綻系列-當女人).
Company founder Sun Chuo-tai (孫梲泰) has turned the reins for this show over to four women — his frequent collaborator Yogi (Chan Tien-chen, 詹天甄) as well as Mo Lan-lan (莫嵐蘭), Cheng Yi-wen (鄭伊雯) and Tsai Ching-cheng (蔡晴丞) — to explore what it means to be a “woman” and an artist today.
Their works examine their memories, experiences and choices as they try to decipher the boundaries between oneself and others, reality and make-believe, female and male, dance and life.
We have run out of room to mention the other programs, but if you want even more dance, wander down to Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, where the Mauvais Chausson Dance Theatre (壞鞋子舞蹈劇場) is performing Story of the Earth (泥土的故事) at the Taipei City Shuiyuan Theater (台北市水源劇場) this afternoon and tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Admission is NT$600.
This story has been corrected since it was first published.
Performance Notes
WHAT: The Time
WHEN: Today at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, tomorrow at 2:30pm
WHERE: Taipei National University of the Arts Theater (國立臺北藝術大學展演藝術中心戲劇廳), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號).
ADMISSION: NT$400 and NT$600; available at NTCH box office, online at www.artsticket.com and at 7-Eleven ibon and other convenience store ticket kiosks and at the door
WHAT: Mirror Image
WHEN: Today at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, tomorrow at 2:30pm
WHERE: Experimental Theater (國家實驗劇場), 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei City (台北市中山南路21-1號)
ADMISSION: Tickets are NT$600, available at NTCH box office, online at www.artsticket.com and at 7-Eleven ibon and other convenience store ticket kiosks. Tonight’s show is sold out.
WHAT: Flourish
WHEN: Today and tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
WHERE: Guling Street Avant-garde Theater, 2, Ln 5, Guling St, Taipei City (台北市牯嶺街5巷2號)
ADMISSION: NT$450; available at NTCH box office, online at www.artsticket.com and at 7-Eleven ibon and other convenience store ticket kiosks and at the door
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