Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s (雲門舞集) annual free outdoor performance in Taipei’s Liberty Plaza usually draws more than 10,000 fans, but tomorrow night’s show is likely to attract a lot more, as the company and its fans count down the final months to artistic director Lin Hwai-min’s (林懷民) retirement, as well as that of several senior dancers.
The yearly al fresco shows, sponsored by Cathay Financial Holdings for the past 24 years, are a summer highlight, offering people who might never go to a theater a chance to see the nation’s premiere dance troupe and national icon.
The company will be performing its 45th Anniversary Gala Program, which opened at the National Theater in November last year, and is a collection of excerpts from Lin’s work over the past two decades.
Photo courtesy of Liu Chen-hsiang
Lin said he had asked the dancers who are going to be retiring what they wanted to perform, and came up with the program based on their wishes.
The program opens with Chou Chang-ning’s (周章佞) solo on the character for eternal (永), from 2001’s Cursive (行草), and ends with the finale of 2003’s Pine Smoke (松煙), the second part of Lin’s Cursive trilogy and what he has said is his favorite of the three.
Among the highlights are the Autumn Path duet from 2001’s Bamboo Dream (竹夢), wonderfully danced by Huang Mei-ya (黃媺雅) and Huang Li-chieh (黃立捷), and the Pollen duet from 2013’s Rice (稻禾), danced by Tsai Ming-yuan (蔡銘元) and Huang Pei-hua (黃珮華).
Photo courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Other excerpts come from 1997’s Portrait of the Families (家族合唱), 1998’s Moon Water (水月), 2014’s White Water (白水), 2011’s How Can I Live On Without You (如果沒有你) and the Black Angel sequence from 2006’s Wind Shadow (風.影).
While the first audience members for the Liberty Plaza shows have been known to turn up at noon to get a front row spot, the square does not begin to fill until after 5pm.
Scores of Cloud Gate and Cathay volunteers ensure that pathways are kept clear, walkers are kept moving and that the elderly or physically challenged are steered to sections with stools so everyone can see the stage and the two massive screens flanking it.
Bring a groundsheet or something to sit on, a paper fan to keep the heat at bay and water to stay hydrated.
While Cloud Gate is drawing most of the attention in Taipei this weekend, there are several other dance and theater productions worth investigating, including the Chiayi New Choreography (嘉義新舞風) project at the Taipei Cultural Center, Wenshan Branch.
Now in its ninth year, the project, organized by the Chiayi County Government and the Wen Shyang Dance Company (雯翔舞團), offers a platform for freelancers to create works.
This year’s program, entitled Since time immemorial (亙古), premiered at the Chiayi Performing Arts Center on June 15, made stops at the Tainan Cultural Center and National Taichung Theater and will be at the Wenshan theater tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon.
The three choreographers invited to create pieces for the program are Chien Lin-yi (簡麟懿), Tien Hsiao-tzu (田孝慈) and Lee Tai-chi (李泰棋).
Chien, who danced with the Japanese company Noism and Lai Hung-chung’s (賴翃中) Hung Dance (翃舞製作), has been creating works for programs such as Meimage Dance Company’s New Choreographer Project and Kaohsiung City Ballet (KCB, 高雄城市芭蕾舞團). His piece is entitle Still tomorrow (阿黛爾的行板).
Tien Hsiao-tzu (田孝慈), a former member of the Century Contemporary Dance Company (世紀當代舞團), began choreographing in 2008, and has created works for small troupes as well as the National Theater Concert Hall’s “Young Star, New Vision” programs and the Next Choreography Project (下一個編舞計畫). Tien’s work is titled Within that vanishing moment of time (在那消逝的時間裡)
Lee, the most novice of the trio, has created a work about friendship, entitled Three [colloquial, pronounced “sa” rather than the conventional “san (仨).
■ Cloud Gate Dance Theatre annual outdoor performance, tomorrow at 7:30pm at Liberty Plaza, 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei City (台北市中山南路21-1號)
■ Admission is free
■ Chiayi New Choreography, tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm at the Taipei Cultural Center, Wenshan Branch (台北市立社會教育館文山分館), 32 Jingwen St, Taipei City (台北市景文街32號). Use Exit 1 of MRT Jingmei Station (捷運景美站1號出口).
■ Tickets are NT$600; available at the NTCH and Eslite ticket booths, online at www.artsticket.com and at convenience store ticket kiosks
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