Choreographer Jade Hua’s (華碧玉) work for her 22-year old Jade Dance Theatre (肢體音符舞團) have alternated between neo-classical performances drawing on Chinese traditions and contemporary dance inspired by modern Taiwanese society.
Buddhism underlies several of her creations, from 2009’s Vipashyana (觀。自在) to pieces inspired by the Dunhuang (敦煌) cave paintings in China’s Gansu Province.
However, Hua’s latest work was inspired by love poems and songs from a rather unusual source, Tsangyang Gyatso, the 6th Dalai Lama, who was born in 1683 and died just 23 years later in 1706, having mysteriously disappeared while on his way to Beijing.
Photo courtesy of Jade Dance Theatre
His love of wine and women clashed with his monastic vows, so he ended up renouncing the life of a monk, but not his job as Dalai Lama. However, today he is better remembered as a poet than for his religious role, penning more than 300 poems describing the different phrases of falling in love
Wandering in Love — Love and Poetry of Tsangyang Gyatso is an interdisciplinary production, with Hua tapping playwright Lin Li-hsin(林俐馨), theater director Hsu Hao-hsiang (徐灝翔) and musician/composer Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) to create a show that combines dance, song, recitations and acting.
While the poems that inspired the show were written more than 300 years ago, Hua believes the search for love means audiences will find connections between the performance and themselves.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 3pm at Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北中山堂), 98 Yanping S Rd, Taipei City (台北市延平南路98號)
■ Tickets are NT$500, NT$800, NT$1,200 and NT$2,500, and are available at the NTCH and Eslite ticket booths, online at www.artsticket.com and at convenience store ticket kiosks
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