Taiwan’s iconic night markets are a world unto themselves. Not only can you buy or eat just about anything at them, they are a great place to people watch and have been a source of inspiration for artists for years. Now, three choreographers have tried to capture the flavor, energy and kaleidoscopic craziness of those night markets in Jade & Artists Dance Troupe’s (肢體音符舞團) latest production, Lively Night Market (七里香), which opened at the Experimental Theater in Taipei last night.
The show is a joint effort between choreographers Hsu Wei-ling (許瑋玲), Eddie Lin (林春輝) and Peng Hui-chun (彭惠君), all of whom have worked with the company for more than five years. They will also be dancing in the piece.
The 32-year-old Hsu helped choreograph the company’s An Untold Secret (藏心) last year and 2009’s Vipashyana (觀。自在); Lin, 30, was chosen as Taiwan’s representative at this year’s International Young Choreographer Project; and Peng, 28, had the opportunity to choreograph while getting her masters in dance from Queensland Tech University in Australia.
Photo courtesy of Wang Te-fan
Jane Wei (魏珍), the troupe’s administrator, said Peng came up with the night market theme “because she’s been playing around with the idea of a ‘human pinball board’ for years,” but all three contributed suggestions.
Hsu and Lin talked about all the interesting or absurd things you can see at night markets, Wei said, “including pickpockets, the chases between vendors and policemen, the grilled and fried chicken butts.”
The trio then asked actor and playwright Chen Yen-chuang (陳彥壯) to write a story line. Once Chen came up with an outline, the choreographers decided who would work on which segments.
“Although they each worked individually, they knew what the whole work would be as they were also dancers for the others,” Wei said, adding that Jade Hua (華碧玉), the company’s director, helped re-order the pieces “so the whole work had a good tempo.”
Chen also has a role in the show as the storyteller who links the segments together.
“He plays a young man who’s got a degree in the US and has to decide whether to stay there or return to Taiwan,” Wei said.
Pop musician Kevin Lin (林隆璇), who was the music consultant for An Untold Secret, was asked to put together the score for the 75-minute-long production. He’s chosen a varied mix that ranges from classical music to movie soundtracks, pop hits and some of Wu Bai’s (伍佰) Taiwanese songs.
After this weekend’s performances, the company will take Lively Night Market on the road for three shows — in Greater Kaohsiung and Jhongli later this month and Hsinchu County next month.
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