Le Ballet du Siecle de Taipei (世紀舞匯) is one of the small dance troupes in Taiwan that often operate under the radar of many dance fans, largely because it is a ballet company in a modern-dance mecca. However, the almost seven-year-old troupe, founded by Li Lin Lili (李林莉莉) in 2006, has steadily built a reputation by trying to stage at least two productions of classical ballet a year.
While its ticket prices ensure that it’s family-friendly — usually in the NT$500 to NT$600 range — the company does not shy away from ambitious productions, including Swan Lake.
This weekend the troupe is staging a smallish production of Coppelia — small in the sense that it will not be performed on a traditional stage, but in the second floor performance space of the Fruit Wine Building at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914) in Taipei.
Photo Courtesy of Le Ballet du Siecle de Taipei
Coppelia is a great ballet for youngsters (or non-ballet fans) to see because it’s humourous, and it works well for small companies because it does not require a big cast. The libretto is based upon a story published by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1815, entitled Der Sandmann (The Sandman), set to a score by Leo Delibes.
The ballet was choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon, the ballet master of the Paris Opera, and first performed by that company in 1870. It is Saint-Leon’s most famous work.
In brief, Coppelia tells the story of a mechanical doll created by Doctor Coppelius as a companion for himself. However, the doll Coppelia appears so life-like that a young man, Franz, falls in love with her, even though he is already engaged to a village maiden named Swanhilda. This makes Swanhilda jealous so she, in turn, does things to try and make Franz jealous, like dancing with another man. Franz then retaliates by dancing with another woman.
Photo Courtesy of Le Ballet du Siecle de Taipei
Later, Swanhilda and her friends sneak into Coppelius’ house, where they discover Coppelia and several other mechanical dolls, which they wind-up and set in motion. When Coppelius returns home, the other girls flee, but Swanhilda hides in a closet and puts on Coppelia’s clothes to pretend to be the doll. When Franz arrives and tells Coppelius that he is in love with Coppelia and wants to marry her, the doctor gives him a potion to knock him out. Coppelius then brings out his doll and tries an experiment to bring her to life, unaware it is really Swanhilda in disguise. Swanhilda dances for the doctor, but eventually causes chaos.
In the end, the masquerade is revealed, Franz recognizes that he really loves Swanhilda and the ballet ends with their wedding.
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
Australia’s ABC last week published a piece on the recall campaign. The article emphasized the divisions in Taiwanese society and blamed the recall for worsening them. It quotes a supporter of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) as saying “I’m 43 years old, born and raised here, and I’ve never seen the country this divided in my entire life.” Apparently, as an adult, she slept through the post-election violence in 2000 and 2004 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the veiled coup threats by the military when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became president, the 2006 Red Shirt protests against him ginned up by
As with most of northern Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) settlements, the village of Arunothai was only given a Thai name once the Thai government began in the 1970s to assert control over the border region and initiate a decades-long process of political integration. The village’s original name, bestowed by its Yunnanese founders when they first settled the valley in the late 1960s, was a Chinese name, Dagudi (大谷地), which literally translates as “a place for threshing rice.” At that time, these village founders did not know how permanent their settlement would be. Most of Arunothai’s first generation were soldiers
RSS