Electronic music, shouts, stomps, incantations and dance movements mimicking religious rituals are all part of a production titled 13 Tongues (十三聲), which will be presented next year by Cloud Gate 2 to tell the story of Taipei’s earliest settlement.
The show was previewed on Wednesday on the historic Bopiliao block in the city’s Wanhua District (萬華) and is to premiere at the National Theater in March as part of the Taiwan International Festival of Arts.
Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍), a choreographer and artistic director of Cloud Gate 2, said that 13 Tongues was inspired by a tale he heard when he was a child.
Photo: Chen I-chuan, Taipei Times
“My mother once told me a story about a street artist called ‘13 Tongues,’ who performed in Wanhua District,” Cheng told reporters.
“He could play the role of a man, a woman, an elderly person or a child. He could also sing and peddle goods, and whenever he showed up, people would say: ‘Here comes 13 Tongues,’” he said.
For Cheng, the legendary street artist embodied Wanhua District during its peak period, with its bustling and colorful mix of street markets, temple culture, religious processions, traditional puppet theater shows and people from all walks of life.
Growing up in Wanhua selling slippers on the streets, Cheng said he was deeply influenced by the characters he encountered every day — vendors, homeless people, beggars and gangsters — and aimed to capture their expressions, body language and voices in his choreography.
“I hope to stir a feeling of familiarity in the audience and to move them a little,” Cheng said.
Cheng collaborated with award-winning Taiwanese composer Lim Giong (林強) on the music, which combines experimental and electronic music with incantations and ancient melodies from Hengchun in southern Taiwan.
The production is to be staged at the National Theater in Taipei from March 11 to 13, at the Chung Shan Hall in Taichung from March 18 to 19, at the Chiayi Performing Arts Center in Chiayi County on March 25 and 26, and at the Kaohsiung City Dadong Arts Center from April to 3.
Cloud Gate 2, a spinoff of the internationally renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, was established in 1999 by Cloud Gate founder and artistic director Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) to give young choreographers and dancers an opportunity to showcase their original work.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
RSS