Eight Taiwanese performing arts groups are to participate in the Festival Off Avignon next month and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday.
The Festival Off Avignon, which is to run in the French city from July 7 to 27, is a prominent arts festival. The four Taiwanese groups that made the cut are Formosa Circus Art, Lei Dance Theater, Hung Dance and Kuo-shin Chuang Pangcah Dance Theater.
Lei Dance Theater is to perform Flow (逐流), which seeks to help the audience engage with their inner selves through a series of “metaphors and allusions,” while the Formosa Circus Art is to stage Circus As Folks (嘛係人), which delves into the minds of circus performers, and explores how they balance their onstage and offstage roles, according to statements by the groups provided to the culture ministry.
Photo courtesy of Ministry of Culture
Birdy (翃舞製作) by Hung Dance seeks to explore the mental state of being anxious and unsettled through physical contact between dancers, while Sakero by Kuo-shin Chuang Pangcah Dance Theater was inspired by rituals performed during the Amis harvest festival, the groups said.
The Fringe Festival in Scotland, set to take place from Aug. 4 to 28, is one of the largest arts and culture festivals in the world.
Four Taiwanese performing arts groups will also be featured at the festival’s “Taiwan Season” program, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. The four are Double & Cross Theater Group, Eye Catching Circus, The Double Theater and 0471 Acro Physical Theater.
Double & Cross Theater Group is to perform World in a Word (一字一世界), a family friendly production that encourages personal interactions through different sounds and shapes, while Eye Catching Circus is to stage #Since1994, a reflection of contemporary views on women, the groups said.
The Double Theater is to perform The Way Back (回家), a reflection on today’s world through the use of lights, sounds, words and puppetry, while 0471 Acro Physical Theater is to stage Duo, which delves into the dynamic nature of personal relations, the groups said.
Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said yesterday in Taipei that the performing arts groups represented a cross-section of Taiwan’s diverse culture and expressed hope that they would demonstrate Taiwan’s “cultural I.D.” to audiences overseas.
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