Theater
EC Productions' (野墨坊) latest theatrical work Monolg, Page 37 - Struggling Puppet (獨白，第三十七頁－玩偶的怒吼) contemplates the meaning of existence through the life of a puppet.
▲ Experimental Theater (實驗劇場), 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei City (台北市中山南路21-1號)
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TAIPEI SALSA ASSOCIATION
▲ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm and tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$450 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Heart of Ocean (海洋之心) is a diabolo dance performance by Diabolo Dance Theater (舞鈴劇場) that recreates for audiences the experience of life underwater.
▲ Chungli Arts Center (中壢藝術館音樂廳), 16, Chungmei Rd, Chungli City (中壢市中美路16號)
▲ Tonight at 7:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$200 to NT$900 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
P.I.G by Morning Star Theater (晨星劇團) tells the story of a how the inhabitants of a quiet village in the middle of a forest encounter a natural disaster and manage to pull through by pooling their resources.
▲ Yuanlin Performance Hall, Changhua County (員林演藝廳), 99, Ln 2, Chungcheng Rd, Yuanlin Township, Changhua County (彰化縣員林鎮中正路2巷99號)
▲ Tonight at 7:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$200 to NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
GO, Assassination (暗殺Q3) is a whodunit mystery complete with a detective who excels in criminal psychology and the methods of interrogation, an informant and murder witness. As this is a play in the tradition of experimental theater, so expect the production to veer off from the detective story and comment on contemporary theatrical practices.
▲ National Cheng Kung University's Cheng Shing Hall (國立成功大學成杏廳), 1 University Rd, Tainan City (台南市大學路1號)
▲ Tonight at 7:30pm and tomorrow at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$400 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Long-term Taipei residents often remember with fondness the exotic China Plaza (中華商場) before it was torn down in the 1980s. The market has now become part of the setting for Ping Fong Acting Troupe's (屏風表演班) play Apocalypse of Beijing Theater (京戲啟傺?. The work combines writer/director Hugh Lee's (李國修) childhood experiences with the market as a backdrop, his relationship with his father and the day-to-day reality of running a theater group. Li's father was a famous haberdasher for Beijing opera companies, which allowed the writer free reign to explore the operatic tradition throughout the 20th century.
▲ Taichung Chungshan Hall (台中市中山堂), 98 Hsuehshi Rd, Taichung City (台中市學士路98號)
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Classical music
Endless Love 2007 (不了情2007蔡琴台北演唱會), a concert of golden oldies by the queen of the genre, Tsai Chin (蔡琴), will follow the songstress' career from Shanghai, through Hong Kong to Taipei.
▲ Today and tomorrow 7:30pm
▲ Taipei International Convention Center (台北國際會議中心大會堂), 1, Xinyi Rd Sec 5, Taipei City (台北市信義路五段1號)
▲ Tickets are NT$1,000 to NT$2,000 and are available through ERA ticketing
Za Ondekoza (鬼太鼓座) will bring its much imitated percussion performance on tour around Taiwan once again. The tour that started in Hsinchu on Wednesday, will see the Japanese percussion ensemble, which has superficial similarities to Taiwan's own U-Theater, rock the Chung Hsing University Huisun Auditorium (台中中興大學惠蓀堂) tonight, before continuing to Kaohsiung (tomorrow), Hualien (Tuesday), Taitung (Wednesday) and Chiayi (Thursday) before finishing up in Taipei on Dec. 8. The group tours internationally and has been recognized as one of the truly great and innovative percussion acts that has successfully brought ancient tradition into the modern world.
▲ Tonight 7:30pm (Taichung), tomorrow 7:30pm (Kaohsiung)
▲ Chung Hsing University Huisun Auditorium at 250 Kuokuang Rd, Taichung City (台中市國光路250號) and Kaohsiung's Chih-Teh Hall (高雄至德堂) at 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號)
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 for the Taichung and Kaohsiung concerts and are available through ERA ticketing
Glorious Taiwan (風采臺灣), a concert by the Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra (高雄市國樂團), will feature a selection of music inspired by Taiwan's unique cultural heritage, including a number of pieces derived from Aboriginal music, under conductor Kuo Che-cheng (郭哲誠).
▲ Tonight 7:30pm
▲ Kaohsiung's Chih-Teh Hall (高雄市文化中心至德堂) at 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號)
▲ Tickets are NT$200 and NT$300 and are available through ERA ticketing
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Wanhai Charity Foundation Concert (萬海慈善音樂饗宴－捷克愛樂管弦樂團), will see the "Pride of Prague" perform under its conductor Zdenek Macel. The program will feature a performance of Smetana's symphonic poems Ma Vlast, My Homeland, among other works. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the following day featuring pianist Andrei Korobeinikov, in a program that will include Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
▲ Sunday and Monday at 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ NT$3,600 and are available through ERA ticketing; NT$8,000 charity tickets are available directly from The Management of New Arts (牛耳藝術), call (02) 8712-1986
Hu Nai-yuan and Li Chieh-chi with the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra (絲絲入扣－胡乃元，李捷琦與高市交聯手呈現弦琴藝緻) will see two violin virtuoso Hu Nai-yuan (胡乃元) join forces with viola performer Li Chieh-chi (李捷琦), also known as Scott Lee, and the KCSO to perform a program including Mozart's Six German Dances, K.571 and Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, K.364, Schubert's Rondo in A Major for Violin and String Orchestra, D.438 and Spohr's Violin Concerto No. 8 in A Minor, Op. 47 "Gesangsszene."
▲ Sunday 7:30pm
▲ Kaohsiung's Chih-Teh Hall (高雄市文化中心至德堂) at 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號)
▲ Tickets are NT$300 and NT$1,500 and are available through ERA ticketing
2007 NTSO International Music Festival Series X - 62nd Anniversary Concerts (2007 NTSO 國際音樂節系列10－國臺交62週年團慶音樂會) see the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra performing together with the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus (台北愛樂室內合唱團) under the baton of Chiu Chun-Chiang (邱君強) and with soprano Chen Mei-lin (陳美玲), mezzo-soprano Chen Pei-chi (陳珮琪), tenor Hsieh Ying-tung (薛映東) and bass Liau Chong-boon (廖聰文) in a presentation of Beethoven's Symphony No.9 "Choral," Op.125.
▲ Today and tomorrow 7:30pm
▲ Today at Taichung County Culture Center (台中縣立文化中心演奏廳) at 782 Yuanhuan E Rd, Fengyuan City, Taichung County (台中縣豐原市圓環東路782號) and tomorrow at the NTSO Concert Hall at 738-2 Chungcheng Rd, Wufeng Township, Taichung County (台中縣霧峰鄉中正路738-2號)
▲ Tickets are NT$200 to NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing
Miraculous Mozart (完全莫札特) will see the NSO performing under the baton of guest conductor Gunter Pichler. On this occasion, the featured soloist is young local violinist Wu Tien-hsin (吳天心), who recently won the first prize at the Stulberg International String Competition. The program will include Mozart's Overture from Don Giovanni, Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major K. 219 and Symphony No. 41 in C Major "Jupiter" K. 551.
▲ Tonight 7:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei
▲ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,000 and are available through NTCH ticketing
An Evening of Waltz - Concert of Viennese Music (維也納音樂會－華爾滋之夜) is a performance by the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (長榮交響樂團) under conductor Gernot Schmalfuss of a selection of compositions from Strauss, Brahms and others. This event is part of the National Palance Museum's Vienna Art Festival (維也納藝術季) that is being held in coordination with the exhibition Splendor of the Baroque and Beyond: Great Hapsburg Collectors in its Second Exhibition Hall.
▲ Tomorrow 6pm (the concert will run for two hours with an intermission)
▲ National Palace Museum plaza (國立故宮博物院廣場) located at 221, Zhishan Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市士林區至善路二段221號)
▲ Admission is free
Contemporary
The Xue Xue Institute (學學文創志業) presents French electronica/rock act The Penelopes on Sunday. Then it's indie-electonica act Digihai and Brit-pop group 1976, in two shows on Wednesday and Friday.
▲ Sunday and Wednesday, 7pm to 9pm, and Friday, 7:30pm to 9:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500
▲ 207 Tiding Blvd, Sec 2, Neihu Dist, Taipei City (台北市內湖區堤頂大道二段207號). Log on at www.xuexue.tw/events/pm/opening.html for information on these and upcoming performances and links to the online ticket vendor
One of Taiwan's finest underground bands, post-rock group Sugar Plum Fairy (甜梅號) takes to the stage tonight at The Wall (這牆). Tomorrow, it's emo act The Hindsight (光景涓逝), metal core/emo band 831 (八三夭) and Overdose. Hong Kong singer/songwriter and multinstrumentalist Chet Lam (林一峰) plays two sets on Sunday. Funk-rock band Da Bones (骨頭), indie-rock band Braces (牙套) and Han Kao-tzu (漢高祖) perform on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, it's alt-rock band Respect and indie-rock band Red Flower (紅花).
Entrance is NT400 tonight and Sunday, and NT$300 Wednesday Thursday. Admission includes one free drink
The music starts at 8pm
B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Call (02) 2930-0162 or log on at www.the-wall.com.tw for more information
Tonight at Underworld (地下社會), it's indie-electronica band Space Cake (太空蛋糕) and Alluvial (沖積扇). Alt-rock band Johnny & Eeyore and punks Random (隨性) play Wednesday.
Bands start playing at around 9pm. The bar is open from 8pm to 4am on weekdays, 8pm to and 5am on weekends, and is closed on Mondays
Entrance for shows is NT$300 and includes one free drink
B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369 0103 or visit www.upsaid.com/underworld for more information
JEG jazz orchestra performs tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言) with keyboardist Lu Sheng-fei (呂聖斐) and Chiang Li-pin (江力平) on bass. Tomorrow, it's veteran underground rockers Champion (強辯). Monday is open-jam night.
Shows start at 9:30pm
Entrance tonight and tomorrow is NT$400 and includes one free drink. On Monday there is a one-drink minimum
B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1). Call (02) 2368-7310, or visit www.riverside.com.tw
Jazz drummer Pietro Valente and saxaphonist Pete Jeffryes join bass player Martijn Vanbuel tonight at Living Room (小客廳). Tomorrow, it's Longplaying 52 (黑膠52) and singer No Name. Neo-folk guitarist Shotetsu performs on Wednesday.
Performances start at 9pm tonight and 8pm tomorrow
There is a minimum charge of NT$300, with suggested donations for each act
3F, 8 Nanjing E Rd Sec 5, Taipei City (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓). Call (02) 8787-4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com
Neo-folk/indie-rock band Open Eyes (歐噴愛) play tonight at Witch House (女巫店).
Entrance is NT$300 and includes one drink
Tonight and tomorrow at 9:30pm
7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). Call (02) 2362 5494 or visit www.witchhouse.org
Tonight is Salsa Night at Grooveyard in Taichung, a non-smoking event with professional instructors who teach salsa and merengue to the tune of Cuban music. After the salsa, it's pop-folk group Black Lung Inner City Choir. On Wednesday, which is ladies night, Russel Rogers plays flamenco guitar and bouzouki. Thursday is acoustic jam and open-mic night.
Tonight's salsa runs from 8pm to 10pm. Black Lung Inner City Choir plays at 10pm. Sunday's jam is from 7pm to 11pm. Russel Rogers plays from 10pm to midnight. Thursday's open mic starts at 9pm
Cover is NT$300 for Black Lung Inner City Choir. There's no cover for the other events
Grooveyard is located at 2F, 105 Huamei W Rd, Taichung City (台中市華美西街105號2樓). Visit www.grooveyardtaiwan.com or call 0939-574-737 for more information
Exhibition
A Writer's Vision: The Poetry and Paintings of Gunter Grass (一位文學家眼中的世界:鈞特葛拉斯的詩與畫). Winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize for Literature, Grass is revered as an icon of contemporary German literature but fewer people know him as a versatile artist who received formal art training at the Duesseldorf Academy of Arts. In celebration of his 80th birthday, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum presents 116 watercolor paintings and 12 sculptures by Grass on loan from the Wurth Museum in Germany and private collectors. With spontaneous brushstrokes and bright colors, Grass portrays the natural landscape and human-made objects in the German countryside and expresses the resonance the imagery strikes deeply in his heart with poems.
Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Call (02) 2595-7656
Until Feb. 24, 2008
Legend of the Snow Land - Epic of King Gesar 2007 (雪域傳奇－2007格薩爾史詩特展). Often called the "Oriental Homeric Epic" in academia, the Tibetan epic of King Gesar originated in the fifth or sixth century as a record of the history of the Tufan Dynasty and ancient wisdom and tradition of the Tibetan people. A collection of fairy tales, legends, poems and proverbs, the epic is listed as an intangible culture heritage by UNESCO. Centering on the characters and stories in the epic, the exhibition shows rare items such as gold-embossed and embroidered Thangkas from Nepal, Tibetan artifacts as well as photographs of Bhutan.
National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Call (02) 2361-0270
Until Dec. 16
The Art of Mortal Apparatus - Huang Hsin-chien Solo Exhibition (人間機關術－黃心健2007創作個展). The exhibition shows a series of interactive installation works that employ mechanical principals to simulate natural beings. The art works further raise a philosophical concern when drawing attention on the reversed process whereby humans attempt to mimic simulacra.
Galerie Grand Siecle (新苑藝術), 17, Alley 51, Ln 12, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段12巷51弄17號). Open Tuesday to Saturday from 1pm to 6pm. Call (02) 2577-1676
Until Dec. 7
Living Room Project (客廳計畫). Every Saturday from 1:30pm to 6pm, the museum staff takes turns hosting a gathering with visitors to share with them their personal collections that are transformed to exhibits. The ongoing activities are part of artist Li Ming-wei's (李明維) society-interactive project.
Museum of Contemporary Art (台北當代藝術館), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Call (02) 2552-3721
Until Dec. 15
Citylogue (城市對話). Six artists and groups from Taiwan, Germany, Japan, Australia and the UK delve into the relationship between themselves and the cities they have lived in or visited to create city-dialogues between cultures and people.
Taipei Artist Village (台北國際藝術村), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號). Open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 6pm. Call (02) 3393-7377
Until Dec. 30
Comedy
The Stonely Planet comedy opens tonight, for the first of four shows at the Comedy Club, near National Taiwan Normal University (師大) in Taipei. Headliner Dan "Gonzo" Machanik is back with all new material gleaned from his tour of the Americas that will feature insights on his favorite South American country - Miami. Also scheduled to perform are Chris Wang, Huanger and special guest Hartley Pool. All shows are in English and are not suitable for the easily offended. No smoking. Ages 18 and over only.
Admission is NT$350 an includes one free drink. NT$80 beer specials at every show
10pm tonight, 8:30pm and 11pm tomorrow, and 8:30pm Sunday
Comedy Club, at B1, 24 Taishun St, Taipei City (台北市泰順街24號B1). Visit english.comedy.com.tw for more information. For reservations, call (02) 2369-3730 or e-mail social@comedyclub.tw
Upcoming
Distinguished performers and professional instructors from eight countries will lend Caribbean spice and charm to the Taipei Salsa Festival for the next two weekends.
Local salsa artists will lead the way with two warm-up parties tonight and Sunday night at Plan B and Brown Sugar, respectively.
Next Saturday and Sunday, international guests will hold 10 workshops on different types of salsa at Soochow University's (東吳大學) downtown campus from 10am to 5pm.
After the workshops will be performances by big-name salsa artists, including world champions, Oliver Pineda and Luda Kroitor from Australia, Lius Vazquez, who is credited with developing the LA style of salsa, and Knzo of Senegal at Tien Educational Center (耕莘文教院) from 8pm to 10pm.
Four types of festival passes are available and single performances cost NT$1,600 at the door.
For more information, visit www.taipeisalsafest.com.
Plan B, 29-1, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段29號之1) and Brown Sugar, 101 Songren Rd, Taipei City (台北市松仁路101號)
Nothing like the spectacular, dramatic unraveling of a political party in Taiwan has unfolded before as has hit the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over recent weeks. The meltdown of the New Power Party (NPP) and the self-implosion of the New Party (NP) were nothing compared to the drama playing out now involving the TPP. This ongoing saga is so interesting, this is the fifth straight column on the subject. To catch up on this train wreck of a story up to Aug. 20, search for “Donovan’s Deep Dives Ko Wen-je” in a search engine. ANN KAO SENTENCED TO PRISON YET AGAIN,
Despite her well-paying tech job, Li Daijing didn’t hesitate when her cousin asked for help running a restaurant in Mexico City. She packed up and left China for the Mexican capital last year, with dreams of a new adventure. The 30-year-old woman from Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, hopes one day to start an online business importing furniture from her home country. “I want more,” Li said. “I want to be a strong woman. I want independence.” Li is among a new wave of Chinese migrants who are leaving their country in search of opportunities, more freedom or better financial prospects at a
During her final years of high school, Chinese teenager Xu Yunting found an unusual way to make some pocket money: transforming herself into male video game characters and taking their female devotees on dates. The trend, called “cos commissioning,” has gained traction in China recently, with social media posts garnering millions of views as an increasing number of young women use their purchasing power to engineer a meeting with their dream man in real life. One early morning in Shanghai last month, Xu carefully inserted contacts to enlarge her irises and adjusted a tangerine wig to transform into “Jesse,” a character from
When the Dutch began interacting with the indigenous people of Taiwan, they found that their hunters classified deer hide quality for trade using the Portuguese terms for “head,” “belly,” and “foot.” The Portuguese must have stopped here more than once to trade, but those visits have all been lost to history. They already had a colony on Macao, and did not need Taiwan to gain access to southern China or to the trade corridor that connected Japan with Manila. They were, however, the last to look at Taiwan that way. The geostrategic relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines was established
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