Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is to hold outdoor performances of artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung’s (鄭宗龍) 13 Tongues (十三聲) in Taipei and Taichung.
Cloud Gate is to first perform the production at the plaza between the National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei on July 15, and then at the plaza in front of Taichung City Hall on July 22, the group said in a news release on Wednesday.
The troupe is to host family-friendly evening events in Taipei on July 14 and in Taichung on July 21, it said, adding that the events can teach people about their bodies through dance.
Photo courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre via CNA
First performed in 2006, 13 Tongues was inspired by Cheng hearing his mother’s accounts of the legendary 1960s street artist and storyteller known as “Thirteen Tongues” while growing up in the 1980s.
The street artist was said to be able to vividly tell stories of different characters in Bangka, the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) name for a part of Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), it said.
Through the piece, Cheng sought to show “a thrilling representation of the clamor of street life,” with music ranging from “Taiwanese folk songs to Taoist chant, to electronic,” Cloud Gate said.
The troupe is to perform 13 Tongues in Spain and France, along with Cheng’s 2019 piece 22° Lunar Halo (毛月亮) in London’s Sadler’s Well Theatre, as part of its European tour in November and December, it said.
The group said it expects to perform 13 Tongues more than 100 times during the tour.
The work has been performed in Europe, China and, most recently, the US in October last year.
The troupe is also to hold shows arranged by Cheng to engage with residents in communities around Taiwan: at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung on Aug. 19-20, at a gymnasium in Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) Nangan Township (南竿) on Aug. 26-27, at Taoyuan’s Longgang Forest Park on Sept. 2-3 and at the Kinmen County Stadium on Sept. 9-10, it said.
Following the community events, Cloud Gate is to stage Cheng’s new work Waves (波) from Oct. 12 to Nov. 5 in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung as part of celebrations for the group’s 50th anniversary.
The troupe just concluded a tour of Cloud Gate founder Lin Hwai-min’s (林懷民) 1978 classic piece Legacy as the first part of its celebrations.
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