It has been 10 years since France’s acclaimed Compagnie Maguy Marin has performed in Taipei, but it is back this weekend with the work that made Marin famous on the world stage: May B.
The 1981 dance-theater production delves right into the frequently bleak world of avant-garde Irish author and playwright Samuel Beckett, who spent most of his adult life in Paris.
While Beckett’s characters are referenced in Marin’s tribute — including Lucky and Pozzo from Waiting for Godot — they are filtered through her own imagination, while the title refers to his frequent use of the word “perhaps.”
Credit: Courtesy of Capital Ballet Taipei
Marin is one of France’s most celebrated choreographers and her work is structured, intense and multi-layered, with the dancer/performers repeating scenes or motifs over and over as if they are trapped in an endless cycle.
Like Beckett, Marin is interested in the surrealness and absurdities of life, and while both seem often focused on the sufferings of daily existence, in her shows there is still a spark of optimism.
However, the beginning of May B appears to be an escape from hell, as the 10 dancers, wearing nightclothes and covered from head to foot in gray-white chalk dust, shift from slow group movements into paroxysms of individualistic self-discovery, with guttural grunts and fragments of sound.
Credit: Courtesy of Herve Deroo
Marin used pieces by composer Franz Schubert for the score, as well as music by English composer and musician Gavin Bryars.
May B runs 90 minutes without an intermission and is unsuitable for children under the age of 12. There will be a pre-show talk in the National Theater lobby before each performance about the Marin and the show, starting 30 minutes before curtain time, and a post-show talk with company members after Sunday’s matinee.
FOUR WORKS, FOUR SEASONS
For those looking for a lighter fare, or who prefer contemporary ballet to European modern dance, the Capital Ballet Taipei will be at Metropolitan Hall on Saturday and Sunday to perform Scenery in Four Colors 2015.
The 25-year-old troupe was founded by Hsu Chin-feng (徐進豐) and his wife, Lee Shu-hui (李淑惠), who serves as the company’s artistic director, and it has struggled long and hard against the tide of modern dance that dominates Taiwan’s dance world. Hsu and Lee have a talent for picking young (and not-so) choreographers as well as dancers, and their programs have almost always proved interesting.
The company rolled out Scenery in Four Colors for its show in 2011, and it proved to be such an efficient way to link four disparate works by four choreographers that they have recycled the name.
Felix Mendelssohn’s 3322 (新三三兩兩), a pas de deux by Hsu set to Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 1 is a reworking of a piece he created in 2001, while Lee’s effort, Capital 1900 (首督1900), examines a life of luxury at the end of the 19th century and is set to music by Ennio Morricone from the film The Legend of 1900.
Silent Dialogue choreographed by dancer/choreographer Su An-li (蘇安莉), focuses on the relationship between body awareness and behavior rhythm and is set to a score that mixes contemporary composers Max Richter, Philip Glass and Nils Frahm.
Fuschia was created by Jian Hua-bao (簡華葆), a frequent contributor to Capital Ballet’s programs, and examines the reality of what is seen and what is unseen and is set the prologue to Tristan and Isolde played by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, that was used on the soundtrack of the film Melancholia.
The company will take the show on a four-theater road trip next month.
PERFORMANCE NOTES
WHAT: May B
WHEN: Today and tomorrow at 7:45pm, Sunday at 2:45pm
WHERE: National Theater (國家戲劇院), 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei City (台北市中山南路21-1號)
ADMISSION: NT$500 to NT$2,500; available at NTCH box offices, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and at convenience store ticketing kiosks.
WHAT: Scenery in Four Colors 2015 (四色風景 2015)
WHEN: Tomorrow at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:30pm
WHERE: Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25 Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市八德路三段25號)
ADMISSION: NT$400 to NT$1,200; available at NTCH box offices, online at www.artsticket.com.tw, at convenience store ticketing kiosks and at the door.
ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES:
Nov. 7 at 7:30pm at the Chiayi Performing Arts Center (嘉義縣表演藝術中心演藝廳), 265, Jianguo Rd Sec 2, Minsyong Township, Chiayi County (嘉義縣民雄鄉建國路二段265號); Nov. 13 at 7:30pm at the Performing Arts Hall of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taoyuan (桃園市政府文化局演藝廳), 21 Sianfu Rd, Taoyuan City (桃園市縣府路21號); Nov. 21 at 7:30pm at the Hsinchu Municipal Performance Hall (新竹市文化局演藝廳), 16, Dongda Rd Sec 2, Hsinchu City (新竹市東大路二段17號); and Nov. 27 at 7:30pm at the Pingtung County Art Center (屏東縣藝術館), 427, Heping Rd, Pingtung City (屏東市和平路427號). Tickets range between NT$250 and NT$500 depending on the location of the show and are available online at www.artsticket.com.tw, at convenience store ticketing kiosks and at the door.
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