French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj loves fairy tales, especially their dark sides, and stories about the supernatural. He also believes that one can fall in love with works of art.
He brought his contemporary dance company, Ballet Preljocaj, which is based in Aix-en-Provence, France, to the National Theater in Taipei in 2010 to perform a very unusual take on Snow White as part of the Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA).
This weekend the company is back in Taiwan to perform a piece inspired by a Chinese fairy tale for the National Taichung Theater’s (NTT) portion of this year’s TIFA.
Photo Courtesy of Jean-Claude Carbonne
La Fresque (The Painting on the Wall), created in 2016, was coproduced by four French theaters and the NTT.
It tells the story of two travelers who are guided by an old hermit to seek refuge in a temple during a storm. On one of the temple walls is a fresco of a group of young virgins, who appear to be dancing. One of the men falls in love with a melancholy image of a girl and steps through the painting to pursue her.
The 80-minute piece is set on 10 dancers and features an electro-fusion score by Nicolas Godin, with sets and video projects created by Constance Guisset and lighting by Eric Soyer.
As he often does, Preljocaj turned to a famous fashion designer for the costumes for La Fresque, choosing French-Tunisian Azzedine Alaia. Snow White’s were by Jean Paul Gaultier. Judging by video clips of La Fresque, the late, great Alaia’s designs are much more flattering on the dancers.
Like many of the shows on this year’s NTT-TIFA program, La Fresque was originally designed to appeal to younger audiences, though it is not considered suitable for children under 12.
■ Tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm at the Playhouse at the National Taichung Theater (台中國家歌劇院) 101, Huilai Rd Sec 2, Taichung City (台中市惠來路二段101號)
■ Remaining tickets are NT$900 to NT$2,000; available at the theater’s box office, online at www.artsticket.com.tw or at convenience store ticketing kiosks
■ More information on the shows can be found in English and Chinese on National Taichung Theater’s festival site (www.npac-ntt.org/2018TIFA)
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