The Neo-Classic Dance Company (新古典舞團) opens its new production, Le Petit Prince 3.0 (小王子 3.0), at the National Theater in Taipei on Dec. 11 for a three-show run.
The 91-year-old founder and artistic director of the troupe, Liu Feng-shueh (劉鳳學), said the show is her third attempt at creating a production based on Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s 1943 book.
Liu said the the show is “a return to innocence” because it is not only aimed at children, but the 22-member cast includes children ranging in age from four to 11.
Photo Courtesy of Neo-Classic Dance Company
“The children may not have the technical expertise of the dancers, but their natural instinct and imprecise movements break down the barriers of stereotypical dance,” she told a press conference in late October.
Children have always provided her with endless inspiration, she said.
For those who have never read the story or seen the countless TV show or movie versions, Le Petit Prince tells the tale of a downed pilot’s encounter with a visitor from asteroid B-612 — a home with three volcanoes, but so small the prince can walk around it in just three steps. His most cherished possession is a rose, which arrived as a seed and has been nourished into a very needy blossom.
Photo Courtesy of Neo-Classic Dance Company
The prince asks the pilot to draw him a picture of a sheep, something he needs to help keep the predatory baobab trees that inhabit his asteroid under control.
In return, the prince tells the pilot of his visits to other planets and the people and creatures he has met — including a king, a lamplighter, a businessman, a fox — provide lessons in human frailty and adult foolishness.
For the show, Liu has wisely chosen to highlight the prince’s visits to just three planets.
Liu has a very talented production team behind her, including Chang Yi-cheng (張一成), who, along with Liu, created the stage design, music by award- winning composer and harpist Lee Che-yi, costumes by Weng Meng-ching (翁孟晴) and lighting by Li Jun-yu (李俊餘).
Tickets have been going fast, with just about 60 left for the Friday night’s show and a handful for the Dec. 13 matinee.
NORDIC
Dance lovers looking for a something to see this weekend might want to check out a much smaller production at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Yeh Ming-hwa’s (葉名樺) Nordic, being performed as part of this year’s Points on Stage@Lab at the park’s newly-opened LAB Creative Lab.
The four performers include Yeh — who once danced with the Connecticut-based Thomas/Ortiz Dance Company and Kaohsiung City Ballet (高雄城市芭蕾舞團); her husband Chen Wu-kang (陳武康) — cofounder of Horse (驫舞劇場); Taoyuan-based ethnomusicologist and overtone singer Mark van Tongeren and Sheng (晟).
The show was inspired by a trip Yeh took to Scandinavia — the winter sun, short daylight hours, the Northern Lights, the light refractions of ice crystals and the seemingly pristine landscapes.
The show may be smaller in scale than Neo-Classic, but its running time is a full three hours. However, I was assured that Yeh does not necessarily expect the audience to make it through the show without shifting — they can step outside for a break or a drink of water and then return to their seats.
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