HOTPOT : Taiwan "Jo (Kaohsiung) " "Watcher (Kaohsiung)" "Tschüss!! Bunny (Taipei)" "The Sacrifice of Roaring (Kaohsiung)"City Contemporary Dance CompanyCity Contemporary Dance Festival ( Hotpot Showcases )
"Jo (Kaohsiung)"
Jo is Chien Lin-yi’s first creation to back to Taiwan. To rediscover his body how leavening by his native culture and what he saw in Japan. From Chinese title, it also is a metaphor for one person how to wake by an unstable position in a limitary square. This piece pays reverence for Jo Kanamori, his mentor and friend.
"Watcher (Kaohsiung)"
Raining in the room was reviewed by Diane Baker from Taipei Times “Hung-Chung Lai comes into his own”.
The inspiration for this piece is based on The Greek mythology “Argus “. The movements were derived from Eastern movement techniques to portray the trials and tribulations of Watcher.
Argus was described as a 100-eyed giant who had the ability to keep a few eyes open, even asleep, he was always alert. Argus had to slay Echidna, who is a servant to Hera, goddess of woman and marriage, the snake-legged monster and guard “Lo”, the cow that is tied to a sacred tree. However, as “Lo” was in league with Zeus, Zeus then ordered Hermes to disguise himself as a shepherd, to enchant Argus to sleep then taking all of his eyes to kill him.
Watcher is inspired by the story of Argus. Everyone has their weaknesses and sometimes it is not easy to see clearly their surroundings, As the Chinese proverb says, “on-lookers see more than the players”. People need a little guidance to help them see the truth, only then they will be able to trust more and protect the ones they love.
"Tschüss!! Bunny (Taipei)"
While the Self deals with its decease by the past of time, should it accept the new I, or be constantly battling with it? Could conflicts between them be another kind of presentation of maintaining the connection? Or it simply creates the rivalry?
“Death” and “goodbye” to create the main concept of the dance, showing that perhaps death can be another form of rebirth.The main character of the dance is based on the similar sounds of the two terms, expressing the attitudes and philosophy of life when confronting parting and rebirth.Who are we saying goodbye to? What does the bunny represent in the dance? What are we being resentful for, being sorrowful for or even fighting for? Can we find any peace within? looking for a solution to everything the only approach for survival? Or perhaps when encountering the time pass, we would also be able to transit?
Who is the Self that we are departing from? What kind of I are we becoming? What things in life that we really need to say goodbye to? Or is saying goodbye to the old Self simply a manner of ours to make fun of the present?
"The Sacrifice of Roaring (Kaohsiung)"
The Observer Selected by Judith Mackrell in “Three of the best dance performance this week” in Edinburgh Fringe 2016.
Fires burn, ashes rise and flesh falls into the mud. Something wild is marching through the land, accompanied by the endless screaming of spirits. Inspired by Taiwanese rituals related to mortality and resurrection, the young firebrand choreographer Hsu Chen Wei and company reveal the human need to release all the pain in their lives to the gods. The result is the dance that is at once mysterious yet vivid, unexpectedly seductive and vital. A curtain silently closes as the wind howls across an abandoned shrine, and life carries on…
