The Experimental Theater was packed on Saturday night for French choreographer Thierry Bae's Journal d'Inquietude (Diary of Worries), mostly it seemed, to see the not-so-short film that was the centerpiece of the play. And Journal d'Inquietude was definitely more of a play that a dance performance.
Act One was a solo by Bae that has half dance, half monologue, as he described his movements, directed his movements, berated himself and bemoaned the fate of an independent choreographer just trying to survive. Or at least that was what I got out of it, since Bae was speaking French and while Chinese subtitles were projected at the top of screen on the back wall behind him, my reading comprehension is not very good.
Act Two was the video (shot by Francois Lejault), which opens with Bae lying on a floor, talking on his cellphone. His conversations are the main thrust of the video, which supposedly follows him over a 20-day period as he tries to find both a place to put on his dance and someone to perform it.
In the beginning there is a little local flavor added as Bae meets a French friend at a night market food stall for some Taiwan Beer, followed in quick succession by his visits to Chinese medicine doctors for a cupping treatment (with a quick pan of the camera down his much-bruised back at the end of the session) and moxibustion treatment to treat his chronic lung illness. But much of the film is spent in featureless corridors or rooms that could be in any city, any country.
Among those making cameo appearances were dancer Sheu Fang-yi (許芳宜), dancer/choreographers Chou Shu-yi (周書毅) and Lin Wen-chung (林文中) and choreographer Yau Shi-fen (姚淑芬). Bae gets so desperate he even tries to convince film director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) to join him. The sly in-jokes about Taiwan's dance world and the life of an artist were much appreciated by the audience. The film ends with Bae getting ready for the performance - apparently on his own - after reassuring the promoter that he does have a local star.
When the lights came back up on Saturday night for Act Three, Bae was directing Lin, late of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, in a solo.
In the film, the two men never met, as Bae runs all over Taipei trying to find the coffee shop where Lin is waiting. The deadpan expression on Lin's face as he waits for hours before giving up (the passage of time shown by the parade of couples at the table next to Lin's) was priceless - and a wonderful counterpoint to the fluidity of his body in the solo later on.
Many in the audience (including some members of the Cloud Gate family) knew that Chou had been the uncredited "special guest" on Friday night and there was speculation as to who would dance the Sunday matinee. Several were sure it would Sheu since Yau doesn't even dance in her own troupe's (Century Contemporary Dance Company, 世紀當代舞團) shows - but the theater staff were keeping mum.
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110