Never say never.
There have been rumors for the past two year that Kaohsiung City Ballet (KCB, 高雄城市芭蕾舞團) founder Chang Hsiu-ru (張秀如) was going to scrap the annual Dance Shoe (點子鞋) programs that had showcased both her senior dancers and young Taiwanese choreographers since 2004.
The shows have always been an eclectic mix of duets, quartets and small group pieces, classically inclined technique and more contemporary efforts, some with toes shoes and others danced in bare feet, but there have always been more hits than misses, keeping the programs interesting for both the dancers and those watching.
Courtesy of Kaohsiung City Ballet
It is not easy giving up a winning formula, especially when ballet is always playing second-fiddle to modern dance’s domination in Taiwan, and so, despite the odds, the KCB is returning to the Experimental Theater in Taipei this weekend for three performances of Dance Shoe 2014. Chang is nothing if not determined to ensure there is a regular supply of Taiwanese ballet projects to keep the art form in front of local audiences and remind them that there are alternatives to swan flocks regularly imported by foreign troupes.
This year’s program features works by six choreographers, with the usual mix of several familiar names and one or two newcomers: Lin Yin-li (林怡利), Wang Wei-ming (王維銘), Wang Kuo-chuen (王國權), Chang Chung-an (張忠安), Tsai Po-chen (蔡博丞) and Dai Ting-ru (戴鼎如).
Old favorite Wang Kuo-chuan, who has lots of experience dancing and choreographing for companies in Europe, and Tsai are marking their fifth appearances on the creative team’s roster, while Chang and former Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) dancer Wang Wei-ming were each asked back for a second time. An upbeat piece by Wang Wei-ming capped off last year’s show, leaving this reviewer eager to see more of her work.
Lin and Dai are the newbies in this year’s production.
The six choreographers have diverse backgrounds and interests, which is reflected in their choice of subject matter and music for their pieces, each of which is very different from the others. Dance Shoe 2014 appears certain to raise the bar for ballet lovers once again.
Taiwan’s politics is mystifying to many foreign observers. Gosh, that is strange, considering just how logical and straightforward it all is. Let us take a step back and review. Thanks to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), starting this year people will once again have Christmas Day off work. In 2002, the Scrooges in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said “bah, humbug” to that. The holiday is not actually Christmas, but rather Constitution Day, celebrating the enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of China (ROC) on December 25, 1947. The DPP and the then pan-blue dominated legislature
War in the Taiwan Strait is currently a sexy topic, but it is not the only potential Chinese target. Taking the Russian Far East would alleviate or even solve a lot of China’s problems, including critical dependencies on fuel, key minerals, food, and most crucially, water. In a previous column (“Targeting Russian Asia,” Dec. 28, 2024, page 12) I noted that having following this topic for years, I consistently came to this conclusion: “It would simply be easier to buy what they need from the Russians, who also are nuclear-armed and useful partners in helping destabilize the American-led world order.
If you’ve lately been feeling that the “Jurassic Park” franchise has jumped an even more ancient creature — the shark — hold off any thoughts of extinction. Judging from the latest entry, there’s still life in this old dino series. Jurassic World Rebirth captures the awe and majesty of the overgrown lizards that’s been lacking for so many of the movies, which became just an endless cat-and-mouse in the dark between scared humans against T-Rexes or raptors. Jurassic World Rebirth lets in the daylight. Credit goes to screenwriter David Koepp, who penned the original Jurassic Park, and director Gareth Edwards, who knows
July 7 to July 13 Even though the Japanese colonizers declared Taiwan “pacified” on Nov. 18, 1895, unrest was still brewing in Pingtung County. The Japanese had completed their march of conquest down the west coast of Taiwan, stamping out local resistance. But in their haste to conquer the Republic of Formosa’s last stronghold of Tainan, they largely ignored the highly-militarized Liudui (六堆, six garrisons) Hakka living by the foothills in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. They were organized as their name suggested, and commanders such as Chiu Feng-hsiang (邱鳳祥) and Chung Fa-chun (鍾發春) still wanted to fight. Clashes broke out in today’s
RSS