Focus Dance Company: Tempestuous

Dance Theater, Taipei National University of the Arts
March 21 & 22, 2025

Tempestuous (狂潮計劃), the 2025 production of Focus Dance Company (焦點舞團), comprising the dancers of the graduating year of Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA, 國立臺北藝術大學), brought a rich a diverse programme of one masterwork, one popular revival and eight new student works (four presented on each of two programmes) to the stage of the university’s Dance Theater. All were superbly danced.

That the highlight was the thirty-minute extended excerpt from Beckoning (來) by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍), that closes the first half of each evening, was little surprise.

Inspired by the choreographer’s childhood fascination with folk beliefs, the gestures and postures of the statues of gods and buddhas, the work draws on the movements and colours of the Taiwanese street-dancing ritual of ba jia jiang (八家將), eight generals who are bodyguards to the gods of the underworld) seen in Taoist temple parades.

After the anticipatory tension of the opening, Beckoning is colourful in just about every possible way. The work’s many duets and solos, all compelling, allow each dancer to be seen as an individual.

Scenes shift between sensual and poetic, and teasing and spirited. Sometimes they seem to be quite sexual in nature. One looks remarkably like a playful mating dance. The women in general appear more light-hearted than the men. Elsewhere the cast comes together, especially at the terrific end, full of swaying bodies, circling arms and stamping feet that leave a lasting impression.

It’s all enhanced by simple but colourful costumes by Lin Bin-hao (林秉豪), especially the calf-length dresses for the women; and the contemporary score by Chung Cheng-da (鍾成達) and Quiet Quartet (靜謐時光), that includes traditional parade and street sounds.

The programme’s revival comes in the form of Black Hole (黑洞) by TNUA alumnus Chang Chien-ming (張建明), premiered by Focus Dance back in 2017. Now rehearsal director for Shechter II, Chang has been dancing with Hofesh Shechter Company since 2008, so it’s perhaps to be expected that the work bears the huge imprint of the Israeli choreographer; right down to Shechter’s trademark ‘rewinding’ at the end. But it is very well assembled, Chang handling the ensemble with ease, his choreography full of eloquent patterns and interest.

An opening voiceover tells us that black holes are the simplest thing in the universe. As they suck in matter that comes close, compressing it into a very small space, they are the Venus Fly-traps of the cosmos. Chang’s choreography is anything but simple however, the work indeed sucking ideas in, spewing them out again as fragmentary moments.

Charged with energy with just the occasional quieter moment bringing respite, Black Hole is full of rapidly changing scenes and emotions; and dynamics, from fluid to jolting. Amidst it all is a running theme of the differences and bleakness between the two sexes, revealed in moments of ecstasy, desire and loneliness. In particular, much is made of men’s uncertainty, nervousness and not knowing how to act around women.

Liu Chen-ying’s (劉彥成) music, as broken as the choreography, supports the dance throughout, while Goh Boon An’s (吳文安) excellent lighting focuses the eye superbly.

By its nature, student choreography varies in quality from class to class, but 2025 is one of the better years. All their works showed choreographic promise, although some ended without reaching a satisfactory conclusion. Even a ten-minute ‘short’ can and should have a beginning, middle and end. Silence is also a little overused here and there.

Both contemporary ballet pieces were rather enjoyable. En Fleur by Lin Yi-chi (林翊綺) takes up the idea that a flower often blooms only briefly before disappearing. It’s a busy but pleasing work with lots of entrances and exits, and fleeting moments, that combines classical ballet with the freedom of the contemporary body.

Equally good is the bright, light and colourful Whispering Tides (時絮) by Chen Yi-an (陳奕安). Having some dancers in pointe shoes and some in soft shoes did feel strange, though. Bourrées on demi-pointe are also not a good idea. They’re fine for children but on older dancers they always look really odd.

In more contemporary vein but still very much emphasising technique, Eternal Sunshine by Lin Wei-chen (林韋辰) soon awakens after its considered start. As the pace picks up there are any number of solos and duets that show off the cast as individuals.

None of the works illustrates its theme better than House but not house by Chen Yu-chun (陳昱均), which focuses in on the contradictory emotion that is love, and how it both binds and shackles. Excellent technique is a given at TNUA but here, the individual expression was just as good. It also benefits from using what appears to be just one, rather excellent, piece of music, sadly uncredited.

Welcome by Huang Teng-sheng (黃騰生) attempts to portray the secrets, the restlessness, of the inner world although, while a satisfying watch, it never quite projected that for me.

Beyond the Water (不只是蜉蝣) by Chao Hung-chi (趙宏麒) combines folk dance postures with more contemporary movement. A rather vague programme note spoke about everyone evolving differently, but I again struggled to connect that with the dance.

An interstice is a space between things or events. Far from being empty, it is a place of potential and possibility. He Huai-po’s (何懷博) Interstice (間) reflects just that. A balletic dance that uses fans, it is full of detail and interest, the cast of just three weaving their bodies into a beautiful, calming melody of movement.

Finally, Survival Game (生存遊戲) created and danced by Lin Chen-hsuan (林宸宣) and Chen Yu-chun is about the game of life. Sometimes quirky and humour-edged, it takes a bit of a sideways look at how humans often obey for the sake of survival, equating the position with that of man and dog; with a twist. It’s unusual, and has possibilities for further exploration and extension.

The students of Focus Dance 2025 will soon be saying goodbye to TNUA. But as one chapter in their dance life closes, another begins. They are superbly equipped for that next stage, wherever it might take them. I’m sure everyone wishes them well.