Organizers of the National Theater Concert Hall’s (NTCH) Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA) asked Cloud Gate 2 (雲門 2) artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍) to create something for them for their 2016 program.
The result, the exhuberent 13 Tongues (十三聲), Cheng’s first full-length dance for the troupe, worked out so well that they immediately began talking about another commission.
However, for this year’s TIFA, the Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts and the National Taichung Theater joined in the commission, which meant the new work would not only be performed at all three venues, but increased funding for the production.
Photo: CNA
The organizers also asked Cheng to make a wish: If he could work with anyone on the production, who would it be? The answer was the Icelandic avant-garde band Sigur Ros, whose ethereal soundscapes he had admired for years.
After a lot of e-mails, and some very specific requests from the band, Cheng’s wish came true. The result is 22° Lunar Halo (毛月亮), which is set to a 62-minute soundscape by the band.
The production premieres at Weiwuying on Saturday next week, to be followed the next two weekends by shows in Taipei and then Taichung.
Photo: CNA
Before agreeing to work on the show, Sigur Ros asked Cheng what the storyline of the piece was going to be and to choose his favorite music from the band’s work, be it one piece, a line or segment of music.
He did that and more. In the end, he e-mailed about 100 pages of story ideas, poetry and photographs to help give the band insight into his thinking.
He also visited Iceland last year, spending a week touring the country and then a week following the band on a concert tour.
However, it was not a give-and-take collaborative process. Cheng gave Sigur Ros his ideas and then waited for the band to deliver a score from its Reykjavik studio.
Band members have said that they twisted, bent and broke Cheng’s pick as they worked on the score, for which Kjartan Holm is credited as musical director.
Cheng and Cloud Gate 2 are contractually unable to cut or alter Sigur Ros’ score in any way, so he had to fit his ideas and choreography to the band’s construct.
The idea for 22° Lunar Halo comes from folk beliefs that a lunar halo foretells changes, although a lunar halo is actually caused by the refraction and dispersion of light through the millions of ice particles in the high-level cirrus clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere, and usually means that rain or snow is on the way.
In the piece Cheng explores human anxieties, struggles, desires, love and loneliness in an ever-changing world, the dancers reflected and refracted by an ink-black mirror matting that covers the stage floor.
The show’s visual design and direction is by Jam Wu (吳耿禎), including the line drawings, while video designer Ethan Wang (王奕盛), who has worked with both Cloud Gate companies over the years, once again has come up with some stunning images.
The lighting design is by Shen Po-hung (沈柏宏), who has worked with Cheng for years, including 2017’s Dream Catcher (捕夢) and 13 Tongues for Cloud Gate 2, all the way back to his award-winning On the Road, which premiered in 2012.
For costumes, Cheng turned to Chen Shao-yen (陳劭彥), an Yilan County-born, London-based designer known for his Shao Yen knitware and women’s wear line, and who worked with Cloud Gate 2 on last year’s Spring Riot program.
22° Lunar Halo will have its world premiere on Saturday next week at Weiwuying, followed by three shows at the National Theater in Taipei the following week and then two more at the National Taichung Theater the weekend of April 27 and April 28.
Coincidentally, the premiere coincides with Record Store Day, an international celebration of independent record stores that is now in its 12th year.
Sigur Ros is releasing two exclusive limited-edition vinyl albums: 22° Lunar Halo, the soundtrack of Cheng’s production, and Variations on Darkness, the soundtrack to a series of Iceland Dance Company performances that was originally commissioned for the band’s Nordur Og Nidur festival last year.
Cheng already has a copy of the 22° Lunar Halo album, which he proudly displayed on Monday a news conference at the Cloud Gate Theater.
There are six stores in Taipei and New Taipei City participating in Record Store Day and Sigur Ros fans can check the recordstoreday.com Web site for details.
The premiere and album releases might be a bit of good news for the current and former members of Sigur Ros, who on Thursday last week were charged with tax evasion by Icelandic authorities and had apartments and houses frozen pending trial.
They are accused of filing incorrect tax returns from 2011 to 2014 and evading a total of 151 million Icelandic krona (US$1.3 million).
The band members blame their former accountant for the errors and said they are cooperating with tax officials.
Performance Notes
WHAT: 22° Lunar Halo
WHEN: April 13 at 7:30pm and April 14 at 2:30pm
WHERE: The Opera House at the Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (衛武營國家藝術文化中心) 1, Sanduo 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市三多一路1號)
ADMISSION: NT$300 to NT$1,500, available at Weiwuying box offices, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and at convenience store ticket kiosks
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES: April 19 and April 20 at 7:30, April 21 at 2:30pm at the National Theater (國家戲劇院), 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei City (台北市中山南路21-1號). The only seats left are in the NT$3,500 price range for all three shows. April 27 at 7:30pm and April 28 at 2:30pm at the Grand Theater 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). Tickets are NT$500 to NT$1,800. Tickets for Taipei and Taichung are available at the theaters’ box offices, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and at convenience store ticket kiosks
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