Sao Taiwan
When Tong Yang-tze’s (董陽孜) SAO (騷) was first performed as part of the Taipei International Festival for the Arts in 2014 — a collaboration with choreographers Bulareyaung Pagarlava and Scarecrow Contemporary Dance Company (稻草人現代舞蹈團) artistic director Luo Wen-jinn (羅文瑾), critics praised the production for its seamless ability to combine elements of calligraphy from 100 works with contemporary dance, video and live jazz.
“Calligraphic art is a performance of lines, as well as music phrases and bodily motions of a dancer,” Tong said.
Photo courtesy of At Ease Studio
Last year, Tong joined forces with Horse (驫舞劇場) cofounder Su Wei-chia (蘇威嘉) for SAO PLUS (騷+).
For SAO 2016 (騷2016), to be performed tomorrow and Sunday at New Taipei City Performance Hall, Tong has teamed up with choreographer Chang Chien-hao (張堅豪) and video designer Chen Yan-ren (陳彥任), who helps transform the visual effects from 2D images into 3D wonders.
The score has once again been composed by the original trio: Kunter Chang (張坤德), Stacey Wei (魏廣皓) and Yohei Yamada, along with Guras Vadu, who joined last year’s production.
Photo courtesy of At Ease Studio
“Hopefully the sensations of the audience will be stimulated as soon as the performance begins, and they’ll be eager to rush the stage to join the dance and music,” Tong said.
■ New Taipei City Arts Center (新北市藝文中心演藝廳), 62 Jhuangjing Rd, New Taipei City (新北市莊敬路62號)
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are from NT$300 to NT$1,200, available through www.artsticket.com.tw. Only NT$600 and NT$800 tickets available as of Wednesday. On the Net: www.saotaiwan.com.
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