Wenshan Theater, Taipei
April 23, 2016
David Mead
A doll or the clothes in your closet coming to life and having a mind of their own sounds like the stuff seriously bad dreams could be made of. But rest assured, because Sun Shier Dance Theatre’s (三十舞蹈劇場) latest work, The Place: a Puppet, a Closet, a Fantasy (所在－人與偶幻化的奇特空間) by Lin Yi-jie (林依潔) is no nightmare scenario. It’s not a dance that is going to have you hiding under the bedsheets wondering just what your shirts, jackets or dresses might be getting up to behind those wardrobe or closet doors.
What it is, is a successful expansion from a much shorter piece presented last year as part of the company’s short Salon season. It’s also a piece that works well on two levels. It can be viewed simply as an amusing dream or fantasy, but there is a deeper, more thoughtful underlying theme, one of the desire for autonomy and self-determination. In the latter sense, it is cleverly judged follow-up to Sun Shier’s Take Off 2015 (逃亡2015), which last year so successfully looked at the longing for freedom. As in that piece, Lin succeeds in asking questions about a serious subject subtly but effectively, and makes the dance hugely enjoyable at the same time.
The action all takes place in or around a square frame that’s shifted around the stage for each of the work’s five scenes, and manipulated during the final one. The show’s 70 minutes fly past. All the sections are neatly linked, and while obvious, the joins never jar.
Photo Lin Shou-Cheng
In the first part, six dancers expertly manage a large stick puppet that seeks to want to break free of the metal framed box it inhabits. After a while, it is joined by the excellent Su Jia-xian (蘇家賢) who taunts and teases the puppet by showing a freedom of movement it cannot match. The puppet eventually has enough and strikes back. All may not be as simple as it seems, however. Su and the puppet are dressed identically. It’s not a huge leap to see the doll as an incarnation of himself, and maybe a reflection of the fact that he is not as free as he might think.
Section two takes us into the wardrobe where clothes hanging on a rail seek to rid themselves of the restrictions imposed by their hangers and Su, their owner. The clothes continually frustrate his attempts to make them hang neatly and tidily. Leader of the gang is a jacket that refuses stubbornly to be hung up, the other items soon joining in and frustrating Su in his attempts to do so.
Photo Lin Shou-Cheng
The idea is repeated (although the staging and choreography is very different) with what seem to be mannequins in a shop window, who come to life when their dressers are not around; and even occasionally when they are, as when one refuses to let go of a bottle. A quartet has them dance with jackets pulled up so they appear headless. It’s as if the clothes have minds, but no bodies inside them. Not a new idea, but very effectively done nonetheless.
The last section is more poetic and reflective. The frame is turned and shifted around with Su inside, the scene dominated by the original puppet, now sat on the front of the stage, cross-legged, with a hat, briefcase and magazine. And yet, the questions remain. Who is free? What is freedom anyway? Who is most content? Great questions, impressive dance.
中文
三十舞蹈劇場：《所在－人與偶幻化的奇特空間》
大衛・密德(David Mead) 撰
朱星朗 譯
衣櫃裡的洋娃娃或衣服，有生命意志似地動起來。 聽來像極了惡夢吧！但是別擔心，三十舞蹈劇場最新製作，編舞家林依潔作品《所在－人與偶幻化的奇特空間》，絕不是讓你躲在被子裡直打哆嗦，害怕衣櫃裡那些襯衫、夾克和裙子在謀算著什麼。事實上，這是去年在「三十沙龍」呈現的一個較短舞作的延伸發展。舞作成功地融合兩個層面。表面上看，充滿著奇趣夢幻，更深的底層，竟是在思考自主性的哲理。這點從去年三十舞蹈劇場的作品《逃亡2015》成功探討「追求自由」這樣的議題，不難看出。這次林依潔以適度且微妙手法探討一個嚴肅主題，兼顧舞作趣味，結果是賞心悅目的。
舞作的五個段落，全圍繞在一個可由舞者移動操縱的金屬「立方框」。作品全長70分鐘卻眨眼結束！各段落的銜接雖明顯可見，卻毫不突兀。
第一段開始時，六個舞者嫻熟地一起操弄著一個大型「杖頭偶」，它嘗試要衝出這個「立方框」的住所。後來另一位優秀舞者蘇家賢加入，他以流動而自由的動作，似在揶揄它行動的有限。終於它受不了，反擊了。這裡顯見杖頭偶就是舞者蘇家賢自身的反映，他其實並不如自己所想像的自由。
第二段帶我們進到衣櫃裡，衣架上的衣服想掙脫衣架及主人（蘇家賢）的鉗制，帶頭的是一件不停拒絕被掛上衣架的夾克，其它衣服加入它，不斷地亂跑使得努力想整齊排放衣服的主人疲於奔命，且沮喪不已。
接下來的段落，概念雖相似但舞蹈編排截然不同：這次換成是櫥窗裡的服裝模特兒，當擺設者不在時就如有生命般舞動起來，甚至有時連他還在都會動手反抗，像是拒絕手中酒瓶道具被取走等。這段櫥窗四人舞中，舞者將頭縮入衣服內，看起來像是沒有頭，但衣服卻像裡面雖沒身體卻有思想般。點子不算新，但運用在此段非常有效果。
最後一段較有詩意且令人深思。主人（蘇家賢）在「立方框」內，一起不停被搬動、翻滾。此時第一段原來的大偶戴起帽子翹腳坐在下舞台，旁有公事包和雜誌，一付好整以暇掌握全局之態。終究還是那個問題：誰才自由？到底什麼是自由？誰又最滿意？這些都是好問題。舞作令人印象深刻。