Meimage Dance (何曉玫MeimageDance) opens a six-show run of New Paradise of Silent Island (默島新樂園) at the Experimental Theater in the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center tonight, giving dance audiences a rare chance not only to watch the work of the nation’s more innovative female choreographers, but to become part of the performance themselves.
As a choreographer, company founder and dance professor Ho Hsiao-mei (何曉玫) has often focused on the exploration of gender roles, social transformations and Taiwanese cultural identity in her works.
Her troupe made its debut at what is now called the National Experimental Theater in Taipei eight years ago with the stunning Woo! Barbie (Woo! 芭比), and she has not disappointed audiences since.
Photo Courtesy of Meimage Dance
For New Paradise of Silent Island, which premiered in Hong Kong on Oct. 26 last year at the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, Ho has taken excerpts and imagery from Woo! Barbie and others that she made between 2000 and 2009 to offer a vision of contemporary Taiwanese society.
In a telephone interview she said that the excerpts have changed, just as she has over the years.
The cast of characters include betel nut beauties, glove puppets, a silt walker and the Eight Generals of Taoist temple rituals and, of course, Barbie.
The 50-minute show is divided into three parts: “New Paradise of Silent Island,” which sees betel nut beauties, swaying back and forth from tiny perches on tall poles, and people gathering together under neon lights.
The poles are meant to invoke an old tradition whereby youngsters were tied by their legs to long poles, which were then hoisted and carried by men through the streets. It was considered an honor for a child to be chosen, but the children themselves it was a scary experience, Ho said.
Part two, “Embrace the Day,” looks at Taiwan’s change from an agrarian economy to urban-focused life, while in part three, “Monologue of Barbie,” centers on the reversal of roles of the observed and the observing.
Ho said she wants audiences to think about what constitutes Taiwanese culture and identity. Is it a mix of East and West, traditional temple rituals and foreign influences? Is it static or constantly evolving?
The show is a free-standing performance, so audience members can stand, sit or move about, becoming part of the show simply by sharing the floor with the eight dancers — just as bystanders watching temple parades become part of the spectacle just by watching.
Photography will be allowed, but only without a flash and no video recording.
This story has been updated since it was first published to correct the Chinese name of Meimage Dance, which now combines the characters and English name of the troupe as one (何曉玫MeimageDance).
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