Magic, beauty and darkness: Riverbed Theatre and Formosa Circus Art in Dreams and Shadows
The circus merges seamlessly into the theatre and a work that has a deeply thoughtful, emotional core that pulls you in and never lets go.
Taiwan/臺灣
National Taiwan University of the Arts: Emancipate & Millennium Dance
Two graduation shows, 25 short pieces, 23 of them by students. Plenty to admire, although some student works struggled and felt a little naive
A dance in the mists of time: Youth Ballet Ensemble Taiwan in Metaphor
Visually, it is insanely appealing and gorgeously lit. There are occasional, brief, brighter moments, but Metaphor is a dance in the shadows.
Taiwan students in two evenings of top-notch dance: Focus Dance Company 2023
Two fine programmes both featuring a reworking of Ihsan Rustem’s super, tongue-in-cheek Bolero and Tsai Po-cheng’s (蔡博丞) new Dreaminess
Imagination made visible: Boris Charmatz’ Somnole
One man. One light. A bare stage. In a way it’s as minimalist as it sounds. But in another, anything but
L-E-V in Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart
A feverish, pulsating, visceral dance in which salsa, voguing, rave and clubbing run up against balletic moments and more
Translating a divergent body
David Agudelo Restrepo on a work that asks how translatable is the disabled experience to those who do not inhabit bodies with such limitations
B.DANCE in The Cell: a mesmerising look at self conversation in a time of chaos
Riveting choreography. By looking at the madness we…have gone through, Tsai Po-Cheng invites the audience to let go, explore our deeper feelings
Dreams, determination, passion: Ballet in Tandem looks at the state of ballet in Taiwan
A look at the scene as it is through the eyes of the dancers past and present, while glancing back at some of the history of ballet on the island