The crossing of cultures is a fundamental tool to enrich each and every member of a society.
MASDANZA, through this programme, aims to promote artists from different countries, dedicating each year to a specific country a unique and exclusive space to show the work carried out by the creators and artists of the chosen country.
MASDANZA TAIWAN 2023
Saturday 28 OCT // Cuyás Theatre
FORMLESS EROSION (15’)
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Created by: LAI HUNG-CHUNG (HUNG DANCE)
Performed by: Cheng I-Han & Lee Kuan-Ling
In “Formless Erosion”, we can peek at the scene in our heart. It is as unique as the land cut by the water. And the beauty of the land of Taiwan that is carved by time has revealed the essence of love. One loves oneself and his or her love. Gesture through Namaste, folding hands, means praying, appreciating, or asking. Therefore, the Choreographer LAI Hung-Chung finds the power of stability. By two hands, feelings are delivered, so the spirits are connected. In “Formless Erosion”, Namaste is shown in many dance enchantments to symbolize the emotional transition.
Using the sound of nature as a metaphor for humanity to express the true meaning of love.
THE BODY THAT DOES NOT EXIST (13’)
Kaohsiung, Taiwa
Created by: TING-SYU LIN (Autumn Cedar Sóo-Tsāi)
Performed by: Zong-Lin Li & Yi-Ying Chao
In the Southeast Asian folk religious culture, a “Ji-Tong”(spirit medium) is a person believed to have been chosen and possessed by a particular god/spirit as the earthly vehicle. Therefore, a “Ji-Tong” has a body in which a spirit and a human co-exist. If the body is a vehicle for a spirit, how did the bodies once existed in the past, after destruction, transform into invisible energies and last until now, even to the future?
When a pure body is possessed by this invisible power, how does it reorganize and reconstruct to adapt to such co-existence and unique mechanism? As a Taiwanese saying goes: “A tiger dies and leaves his skin; a man dies and leaves his name.” Yet, perhaps when a man dies, he leaves not only a name, but also a body that does not exist, which still wanders in this infinite universe.
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (12’)
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Created and Performed by: CHEN TING-YU & CHIU PO-SHENG
Take the two-time concepts of «past» and «present» as a thought. Looking back at the «past» from the «now» point in time, those moments that are inadvertently recalled may be warmth and happiness, or pain and regret, whether it is a good or bad memory, when you think back, and fell into it again, to relive those beautiful things, to pick up the memorable scenes of misses, and until we got the method and reason to let go, then there was a way to save myself trapped in the past and be free. And the things that can never be forgotten, the things that cannot be replaced, have already been taken care of.
FLOW (12’)
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Created by: KUO CHUEH-KAI
Performed by: Yang Ya-Ching, Lu Ying-Chieh, Ho Tzu-Wem, Wu Shin-Jie
Flow is to the body as movement, to the mind as consciousness, to human as convergence, and to life as immortal. Currents repeatedly rush and calm, and all flow in oneself
BIRDY (18’)
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Created by: LAI HUNG-CHUNG (HUNG DANCE)
Performed by: Cheng I-Han & Lee Kuan-Ling
The drive to pursue dreams in spite of reality served as the inspiration for «Birdy».
In this piece, we integrate the use of «Ling Zi”, a long pheasant tail feather worn on the dancers’ head in traditional opera to represent the power and skill of the warriors.»Ling Zi” entwined in space, resembling the extension of the human spine, the imagery of a bird, and the inner sense of the desire to escape reality.
We reflect the relationship between societal context and communities, stretching the line between an individual’s inner feeling, to a relationship, then to the context of a society, culture or the world in which we live.