Metropolitan Hall, Taipei
March 25, 2026
This year’s annual production by the Hwa Gang Dance Troupe (華岡藝展) of the Department of Dance at the Chinese Culture University (中國文化大學舞蹈學系) certainly lived up to its title, The Body of Time: Generations in Motion (時間的身體：跨世代共舞). The first half of the performance featured revivals of classic works by Wu Man-li (伍曼麗) and Chen Long-lan (陳隆蘭). That was followed by three contemporary works created by emerging choreographers Shih Cheng-liang (施政良), Lin Yi-cheng (林逸貞) and Su Chia-hsien (蘇家賢).
It was a stylistically rich evening, the work ranging from classical and contemporary ballet to traditional Chinese dance, all excellently performed. But it was also one in that the four older works tended to outshine the newer creations.
First to classical ballet and Whispers on a Starry Night (星空夜語) by Wu Man-li. Reflecting different emotions in the changing play of starlight, the choreography suited the dancers perfectly. That for the women is very classical, generally soft, with a lot of gentle, poetic arabesques. The men get something rather more exiting and exuberant, their choreography full of turns and leaps, all executed with impressive height but also light landings. A male trio was particularly excellent.
Photo courtesy Hwa-Gang Dance Troupe
Summer (夏) by Chen Long-lan opens with to what sounds rather like chirruping insects on a hot day. Dressed in red, the upstage group of dancers opens like a human fan, or perhaps it’s the first rays of the morning sun. Thereafter, the choreography is fast and full of ever-changing formations and patterns. It called for a lot of energy, and got it.
Chen’s second piece, Osmanthus Alley (桂花巷) brought a dose of powerful narrative. It’s based on the novel of the same title by Taiwanese author Hsiao Li-hung (蕭麗紅), later adapted for a successful film, which tells of the life of Ti-hung (棣紅), orphaned when aged 12, who then loses her younger brother to the sea in a fishing accident four years later. Her fortunes appear to have turned when she marries the son of a Hsin family, but happiness is short-lived, her husband dying early of pneumonia. That’s where Chen’s choreography ends, although Hsiao’s story continues to detail the woman’s fated life.
Set to strong, cinematic, sweeping music from the successful 1987 film based on the book, and against a lovely light turquoise palette, we find a woman and man. Thesetting is simple but when the dance speaks as eloquently as here, who needs more? The choreography is a beautiful and delicate fusion of Chinese classical dance and ballet, with some lovely arabesques from Tu Yi-wen (涂意雯) as the central figure. It shows just how close the two forms can be. Tu and her male partners, Wang Huai-sheng (王懷陞) as her brother and Teng Jing-hong (鄧靖紘) as her husband, both expressed perfectly the nature of their relationships in tender and caring duets. The poignancy of the closing moments, when the latter dies in her arms, was beautifully conveyed.
Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is so powerful it often overpowers attempts to choreograph to it, but in Cantata (頌歌), Wu Man-li does a fine job. Perhaps dispensing with a narrative helps, although the emotions and moods of the excerpts used are reflected in the choreography, and a woman lifted high at the end could be taken to be Fortuna.
Right from the opening slow walk on with a repeated gestural sequence set against a bank of 24 upstage lights, it’s a terrific piece. Each of the eight movements tap into the intense rhythms of the score. If you had to categories the choreography, it would probably be ‘contemporary classical’. As it progresses, we see the eruption of rage and a lot of intensity, but also moments of youthfulness and joy.
Unfortunately, the second half of the evening paled somewhat in comparison to what went before. Indeed, the programme would probably have been better had the two halves been reversed.
In Blades and Shields (鋒環盾形), Shih Cheng-liang (施政良) uses swords and shields in a dance of military formations, shadow battles, and real conflict, all to stirring music.
The contemporary Vanishing Script by Su Chia-hsien (蘇家賢) comes with a dark grey palette that rather sets the mood. In a misty atmosphere, it opens with the dancers in a vertical line, the movement rippling up and down the column; an idea that’s returned to later, each time varied creatively. The lighting is terrific throughout with two moments standing out, one when powerful beams from above create a sort of weave of light, and then when the lighting creates the effect of a huge sheet or horizontal curtain sitting above the action.
Finally, Her Pulse by Lin Yi-cheng (林逸貞) is a contemporary ballet. The opening, with the dancers in their pink romantic tutus and black tops, look like cherry blossom slowly opening in Spring. Rather appropriate given the music is Spring from Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. As it develops, the patterning is pleasant, although the pacing and choreography rather sedate. It also felt like there was a great deal of running around to form new groups rather than them emerging out of the dance.