Dancer/choreographer Lin Wen-chung (林文中) likes to shake things up, which is why his six-year-old WCdance (林文中舞團) is returning to its roots next week with its latest production, Fluidity (流．體).
After three big shows in a row — the Taishin Arts Award-winning Long River (長河) at the Wellspring Theater in 2014, Aerodynamics (空氣動力學) at the National Theater last year and Panta Rhei (流變) at the Metropolitan in June — the company is going small and minimalistic with Fluidity, which opens Thursday Dec. 1 at the Nadou Theater.
“It’s good to develop work for eight dancers, big pieces, then every two years encourage company members to create their own pieces,” Lin said yesterday.
Photo courtesy of WCdance
“I’m interested to see how they create their own movements so I have a better idea about them; I get to know them better,” he said. “I still enjoy Bill T Jones’ [his former boss and mentor] way of working with dancers: collaborating, stimulating each other.”
Five dancers each contributed a portion of the show, be it a solo, duet, trio or quartet, as did Lin. However, as of yesterday, Lin was undecided as to whether he would dance in the show.
“The program is already too long, 70 minutes. I probably won’t dance, but I am not sure yet,” he said, staying fluid a week ahead of opening night.
Asked about the score for Fluidity, Lin laughed.
“Each dancer chose their own music; some created their own mix. Quite cool, their choices are quite different from what I would choose,” he said. “Young dancers are not big fans of classical music; I am. That’s how a generation changes.”
Lin was enthusiastic about the venue. The Nadou Theater is part of the Lin Liu-hsin Puppet Theater Museum (林柳新紀念偶戲博物館) in Taipei’s Datong District (大同).
“It’s a historic building, it’s beautiful. I think audiences will get a different view, they will be very close to dancers,” he said. “So you can see every dancer clearer than on a big stage.”
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