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Compañia de danca Sol Picó
by David Mead February 21, 2010 -- National Theater and Concert Hall Plaza, Taipei “Heavy rain forecast sinks Spanish mermaid show” was the headline in the Taipei Times, which added that “a mermaid who tries to save her world from its worst-ever drought has been done in – by too much rain.” Never was I so pleased that a show had been postponed. Not only had it rained like crazy all week, but by Taipei standards it was decidedly cold. With more of the same forecast, the thought of standing outdoors for a performance, probably not seeing much through a forest of umbrellas, was not pleasant. But two days later the weather had improved enormously, and Sol Picó’s “Sirena a la plancha” went ahead on the huge plaza framed by the National Concert Hall and National Theatre. It was soon easy to see why they had called things off previously. The work involves an 8 metre-long mobile mermaid, an 8 metre-tall puppet, people with flaming torches and a stage made up of five mobile platforms, all not only sharing the same space as the audience, but moving around and through them. Two days earlier, the conditions would all have been far too dangerous for audience and performers.
For me, the story got lost as the performance unfolded. Then again, I don’t speak any Spanish. And although the words of the accompanying songs, mostly sung live by the fabulous Cee (the stage name of Christine Hinterkörner), were shown at the bottom of giant screens that showed close ups of the action, my Chinese isn’t up to that either, and anyway, everyone’s attention was often taken by what was happening live.
There was a bonus to Sol Picó’s two-day postponement. It meant that the Festival was actually opened by the Formosa Aboriginal Song & Dance Troupe and a performance of the traditional Ilisin-Amis Harvest Festival Dances. The Amis is one of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes, with a culture much closer to that of Polynesia than China. More than 100 Amis Aborigines performed their stirring group dances, often circular in nature, presenting a condensed two-hour overview of their traditional end of year festival, Ilisin.
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'Sirena la plancha'
The 60-minute show, premiered in the summer of 2008 as a special commission for the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, tells the story of a woman who changes into a mermaid to save the world. Caught by fishermen, she is sold and lost before being seduced by a giant. It is a sort of environmental tale for our times that focuses on protection of marine-life and the issue of dwindling water supplies. 
There was certainly plenty to see and plenty of surprises. It took a while to get going, but much of the performance was both humorous and sensual. A particular highlight was the five male actors, who also propelled the giant and stages, giving “five tenors” type rendition. Some of them were no mean dancers either, some excellent partner work taking place on and around the huge mermaid. I would guess the audience was around 1,500 people, and with everyone constantly on the move as the focus of events changed and the performers ran through the masses, it was certainly a spectacle I’m pleased I didn’t miss.