This year’s International Ballet Star Gala truly lives up to its billing
By Diane Baker
Capitalizing on the success of their inaugural gala program last July, Taiwanese ballerina Wang Tzer-shing (王澤馨) and ballet impresario Paul Seaquist began planning the 2008 International Ballet Star Gala almost before the ovations finished last year.

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Compiled by Noah Buchan
It looks as though it’s not just Next (壹週刊) magazine that is cashing in on last week’s revelations by the notorious “Joanna” that model and actor Ethan Ruan (阮經天) is wild in bed and fond of penetratio per anum.

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By Ian Bartholomew
She may be the least known of the Shankar musical family, though her name is entering the mainstream with the critical success of her two recent “contemporary” albums, Rise (2005) and Breathing Under Water (2007). Still, as a sitar player, she continues to live somewhat under the shadow of her father, the great Ravi Shankar, and her half-sister, Geethali Shankar, better known as the singer Norah Jones.

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By Alita Rickards
While live music festivals (like last weekend’s Peacefest) are usually a great way to see live bands, the combination of ankle-deep mud and the after-effects of blaring techno from midnight on Friday to 10am on Saturday somewhat hindered the experience.

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Home is where the heart is

By Noah Buchan
The fire that destroyed Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s (雲門舞集) rehearsal studio and warehouse complex earlier this year was a tragedy for Taiwan’s dance scene. Fortunately, however, the Taipei City Government stepped in and offered the dance troupe one of its many vacant properties throughout Taipei City until the group got back on its feet.

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By David Chen
Many guitarists tend to get carried away during solos — but Ken Ohtake (大竹研) knows when to play, and more importantly, when not to play. During a gig I did with him earlier this month, the Japanese guitarist displayed a knack for adding his own touch to a song without being overpowering.

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By Tom Leeming
Like a healthy dose of cod liver oil, most people know funk is good for them, though not many regularly partake. It’s a fine thing, therefore, to see reasonably new boy to the scene David Clabaugh, aka DJ Soto, laying down his own brand of funky world music on Thursdays at Center Stage with his own night, Sagittarius Rising.

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By Ian Bartholomew
There is a distinctly homemade quality about KGB, a new burger joint that has set up in a tiny alley off Shida Road near the Guting MRT station, across from the Wellcome (頂好超市) supermarket. This goes not just for food, but for the decor as well. The stripped down interior has a couple of nice touches — a small corner sofa is remarkably popular, and the two outdoor tables are likely to be in considerable demand.

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By Noah Buchan
The recently opened Meet Fresh (鮮芋仙) franchise specializes in shaved iced, jelly and tofu desserts and drinks that it claims follow Sinetic medical ideas of “hot” and “cold” foods.

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‘Sex and the City’ is probably just the movie die-hard fans of the HBO series are hoping for: the continuing stories of the four consumerist gal pals
By Manohla Dargis
A little Botox goes a long way in Sex and the City, but a little decent writing would have gone even further.

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By Ty Burr
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Taipei Film Festival focuses on non-mainstream cinema as a way to encourage emerging local talents
By Ho Yi
was 1998 and audiences were deserting the cinemas. The movie industry slump had prompted the Golden Horse Film Festival (金馬影展) to focus on Chinese-language productions to maintain its global competitiveness. The time didn’t bode well for founding Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節, TFF), which focused on younger generations of local filmmakers. [ FULL STORY ]

Adapting hit TV shows into hit movies is harder than it sounds, as ‘Get Smart’ neatly shows
By David Carr
So, the old turn-a-beloved-TV-show-into-a-hit-movie trick, eh?

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ith splendid timing, Filmfest Munich opens today with French director Laurent Cantet’s film Entre les murs (The Class) a surprise winner of the Golden Palm at this year’s Cannes festival. [ FULL STORY ]

City cinema weekend box office takings
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▲Compiled by Martin Williams

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Jazz blossoms in Taipei

The Taipei International Jazz Festival, now in its fifth year, has expanded with a month-long program of gigs all over the city
By David Chen
At last year’s Taipei International Jazz Festival, the audience witnessed firsthand the essence of jazz.

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