Having wrapped up The Trilogy of Silent Island for her Meimage Dance (何曉玫MeimageDance) troupe with last year’s New Paradise of Silent Island (默島新樂園), choreographer Ho Hsiao-mei (何曉玫) began a new project, renaissance of its ashes — An Experimental Work (極相林), which is a departure from her previous works.
She gave an initial viewing of the work-in-progress in June, when it opened the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA, 國立臺北藝術大學) School of Dance’s annual summer concert, and its sensual and hypnotic movements blew audiences away.
Set to extracts of Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (Symphony No.3, Op. 36) and Terra Tremuit The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ Templar Chants, renaissance of its ashes was a test of the eight dancers’ physical abilities and their musicality.
Photo courtesy of Chia Hao-chang
This weekend Ho is showing an expanded version of the work, which is still in progress and headed for the National Theater in Taipei in the spring, as part of the Kuandu Arts Festival (關渡藝術節邁) at the university’s Experimental Theater, still using dance students from the school, but now expanded to a 15-member cast.
The almost nude dancers and a crystal-clear stage design and multi-media effects are meant to portray the true hearts of mankind through the struggle of life.
At times ritualistic, the piece combines sensuality and divinity as it seeks to connect performance with life.
Photo courtesy of Liu Chen-hsiang
Across the courtyard from the Experimental Theater, the Hong Kong-based all-male troupe Unlock Dancing Plaza brings their Chopin VS Ca (蕭邦 VS Ca幫) to the school’s Dance Theater for two shows this weekend.
Choreographed by artistic director Ong Yong Lock (王榮祿), the piece blends Chopin’s passionate music with a break-neck performance of contemporary dance, designed to reflect the hectic, often discordant pace of life in Hong Kong.
Pianist Phoebus Chan (陳雋騫) performs onstage with the four dancers, who are meant to represent all those who strive against the relentless humdrumness of city life and create a world they can call their own.
Photo courtesy of Unlock Dancing Plaza
The 16-year-old Unlock Dancing Plaza has built a reputation for collaborating with artists from different genres and disciplines and exploring dance beyond the confines of traditional stages.
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