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Taiwan International Festival 2010
Published April 2010 -- Taipei You have to remind yourself sometimes that the Taiwan International Festival is only in its second year. It already seems so established. Actually, Taipei International Festival might be a more appropriate name, since all the events take place in and around the National Theater and Concert Hall in the city. What is great about the Festival is that the organisers do not feel the need to rely only on established names already known to local audiences. They do not baulk at presenting avant-garde works with fresh perspectives that sometimes challenge the sensitivities of local performing arts lovers. And it says a great deal about those audiences that they flock to see programmes. Attendances this year ran at something like 80%. The scale of the event is impressive. The 2010 programme featured 15 productions from nine countries, including six world premieres and six Asian premieres, in the form of dance, drama, music, and visual arts. Some shows, such as renowned stage director Robert Wilson’s “1433 - The Grand Voyage,” are jointly created by Taiwanese and foreign artists. Dance featured prominently in 2010. Top of most people’s list would be the premiere of Lin Hwai-min’s new full-length work for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, “Listening to the River.” Inspired by various rivers that Lin has visited, but especially by the Danshuei River overlooked by his Taiwan home, the work shows a new side to the company. It is bright, colourful and full of different moods. I think I even saw a touch of street dance in one section. It’s danced against a white scrim onto which images of rivers in different temperaments are constantly projected. It even has a couple of spine tingling emotional moments, most notably when one dancer helplessly watches her own body being washed away by the currents. Apart from “1433 - The Grand Voyage,” Cloud Gate was joined by Tanztheater Darmstadt and Taiwanese choreographer Lin Mei-hong’s “Schwanengesang, ” Ballet Preljocaj with “Snow White”, Compañia de danca Sol Picó’s “Sirena a la plancha”, all of which are reviewed elsewhere on Ballet-Dance Magazine. And the Formosa Indigenous Song and Dance Troupe Sol Picó performed free and outdoors. These two shows were certainly a spectacle danced against the impressive backdrop of the theatres and Taipei’s night skyline. Local culture is very important in Taiwan, so it somehow seemed appropriate that the Festival was opened by the Song and Dance Troupe and their presentation of traditional dances. It should have been Sol Picó but heavy rain meant there was a late change to the programme. As good as all the dance was, one of the most memorable evenings was “On the Road,” a musical presentation in the Concert Hall that weaved virtual storylines with traditional culture, music and video. Renowned local conductor Chien Wen-pin played a leading role as we followed his search for traditional music and dance. The Chinese title of “On the Road” literally translates as “you haven’t paid me any respect in a long time.” Well, they certainly have it now. Even as a visitor, albeit a regular one, I found the appearance of aboriginal performers from the Puyuma tribe of Nan Wang Village in Taitung on a major stage alongside the National Symphony Orchestra quite moving. Although I missed it, I understand that “Forlorn- a Rhyming Song for Lovers Music” by Taiwan’s “Xin Xin Nanguan Ensemble” was also worth catching. Elsewhere, other creations include Thomas Ostermeier’s “Hamlet,” which combined rock music with Shakespeare’s themes of human desire, sexuality, betrayal, sanity, love and hatred; and Odin Teatret from Denmark’s production of Eugenio Barba’s “Salt,” a tale about a woman seeking her beloved near the Mediterranean islands in reality and imagination; travelling through the realm of memory and fantasy. Across the plaza at the Concert Hall meanwhile, world-famous composer Tan Dun unveiled “Crouching Tiger Double Concerto” a symphony orchestra version of his Oscar-winning score for the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” featuring both Eastern and Western instruments. The concert also feature Tan’s first internet symphony “Eroica,” a piece originally written for the YouTube Symphony Project and performed by musicians from all over the world gathered by YouTube in New York. Besides “Sirena a la plancha,” the Festival’s theme of “Diversity and Sustainability” and the stressing of environmental issues such as global warming and ocean pollution was represented by “The Blue Planet Live,” a multimedia concert by George Fenton and the National Symphony Orchestra. Roll on the Taiwan International Festival 2011!
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by David Mead