Taiwanese dancer-choreographers Tung I-fen (董怡芬) and Sun Chuo-tai (孫梲泰) are old colleagues. However, next weekend will find them at opposite ends of Taipei, vying for attention with shows that center on similar questions, but from very different directions.
Tung’s Play Me will be performed at the Experimental Theater for four shows starting on Friday as part of the National Theater Concert Hall’s Innovation Series-Dance program, while Sun’s 8213 Physical Dance Theater (8213肢體舞蹈劇場) will be at the Wenshan Theater for four shows, with Flourish 2.
After getting a bachelor’s degree from the Queensland University of Technology, Tung danced with Dance ForumTaipei (舞蹈空間) for three years and earned a masters’ degree from Taipei National University of the Arts’ (TNUA, 國立臺北藝術大學) Graduate Institute of Choreography and Performance, before striking out on her own as freelance dancer/choreographer/teacher. She has created works for Dance Forum and 8213, among others, as well holding residencies in Paris, Colorado College and Taipei Artists Village, and won the 2013 Taishin Art Award for Dear John (凱吉一歲).
Photo courtesy of 8213 Physical Dance Theater
Play Me is the third installment in Tung’s “Sound X Bodies Series,” which she has taken to Spain, Malaysia, New York City and Singapore, and which explore the relationships between an individual and society at large. Role-playing and games form the basis for movement as Tung attempts to break down the boundaries between the ordinary and dramatic, public and private, artifice and accident.
Tung will be one of the five dancers in Play Me, along with actor/dancer Daniel Wang (王靖惇), Huang Peng-ray (黃芃睿), Lu Ming-yao (呂名堯) and Liu Chun-te (劉俊德), who, like Tung, was part of Anarchy Dance Theatre’s (安娜琪舞蹈劇場) Women (We, 我們) at Huashan 1914 Creative Park last weekend.
Sun is another Dance Forum Taipei veteran. However, unlike Tung, he will not be dancing next weekend, his role in Flourish 2 has been more of that of a curator. Sun has been doing a lot of traveling of late and is keen on cross-cultural collaborations. In November last year, 8213 performed Boundless traveling; unlimited soul (視域無度), featuring Fijian dancer Ratu Rusiate Rokilibau. The previous June, he presented Flourish (獨綻系列-當女人), which showcased four women: his frequent collaborator Yogi (Chan Tien-chen, 詹天甄), Mo Lan-lan (莫嵐蘭), Cheng Yi-wen (鄭伊雯) and Tsai Ching-cheng (蔡晴丞).
Photo courtesy of Wang Wun-lin
He has invited Yogi and Tsai back to create dances for Flourish 2, along with Wally Hsu (許程崴) and several choreographer/dancers from Hong Kong and Macau: Chan Chi-cheng (陳智青), Kenny Leung Kim-fung (梁儉豐), Cheng Ya-wei (張雅為) and Andy Wong Ting-lam (王廷琳).
Taipei, Hong Kong and Macau are all dynamic, yet each has its own circadian rhythm — Hong Kong is famed as a fast-paced financial hub, Macau as a a sleepy backwater that comes alive when its casinos’ neon signs light up at night, while Taipei see-saws in between.
Sun’s challenge to the seven was to examine the relationship between movement and stillness and between cities and individuals.
While Yogi and Tsai are the most familiar faces, Hsu made an impression in December 2013, while still a TNUA graduate student, with A Wonder Place at the Dance Round Table/New Asian Inspiration at Huashan. Chan is from Macau, but went to school in Taiwan, while Wong is well-known from his work as both a dancer and a choreographer with Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Dance Company (城市當代舞蹈團).
Performance notes:
WHAT: Play Me
WHEN: Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6 at 7:30pm and Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7 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 offices, online at www.artsticket.com and convenience store ticketing kiosks. The only seats left are for the June 6 matinee.
WHAT: Flourish 2
WHEN: Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6 at 7:30pm and Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7 at 2:30pm
WHERE: Wenshan Theater (文山劇場), 32 Jingwen St, Taipei City (台北市景文街32號)
ADMISSION: Tickets are NT$450, available at NTCH box offices, online at www.artsticket.com and convenience store ticketing kiosks.
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