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Main
Works
 2008
New Works <Puppet Ballet¡Ö¡@¡@¡@¡@¡@
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A new
choreography of ACME Physical Theatre <Puppet Ballet>
The brand new annual production of ACME Physical Theatre, Puppet
Ballet, is an animated dance that exhibits traditional hand puppet
show performed in front of Taiwanese temples and reveals the spirit
of ¡§Made in Taiwan.¡¨ It combines several elements such as ballet
dance, hand puppets, story-telling, cosplay, and installation art.
The leader of Wu Zhou Yuan Hand Puppet Theatre, Mr. Huang Wen Lang,
manipulates puppets and narrates stories in person, getting out of
conventional hand puppet performing shack, guiding performers and
cosplay actors to step into the audiences, ushering the audiences¡¦
vision from the auditorium to the stage, symbolizing that the
dynamics of Taiwanese folk art has rushed on to the western-style
stage. In the meantime, ballet dancers begin their dancing ahead of
the stage. Seeing tremendous puppets unexpectedly falling from the
top with the narration of an experienced master, the play is indeed
fierce and vivid, full of genuine excellence! The revolutionary
thoughts and distinct integration of arts guarantees the audience to
feel the uniqueness of ¡§Puppet Ballet.¡¨
On the
stage, a dozens of round steel stools are deployed and the old-style
hand puppet performing shack are put up in order to lively recreate
the traditional scene of Taiwanese temples. Multimedia projection
demonstrates the renowned Ballet Comique de la Renine of 1582,
innovatively delivering traditional ballet dance to the performing
shack of hand puppets. Dancers with toe shoes on their feet and
puppets on their hands would dance along with musical notes of
cembalos of Bach; several huge puppets are even installed high on
top of the stage to look down upon the dancers, creating a
magnificent scene stimulating audiences to reflect the
subject-object relation between dancers and puppets; it also allows
the audiences to experience the joy of traditional outdoor drama and
modern cosplay acting. The play contains fun and conflicting factors
and intriguingly blends Taiwanese temple art with traditional
western royal amusement. With your eyes watching the mixture of
oriental and western traditional art; ears hearing fine music
composed by Golden Horse winner, Ling Chiang, remixed by a
specialist of Folk Music Graduate Institute, Chen Chau Ching;
feeling the talent of artistic choreographer Shih Ji Jr; admiring
the 40-year technique of Huan Wen Lang, the first grandson of
national renowned Huan Hai Dai, to perform along with the finest
dancers in central Taiwan. Puppet Ballet is going to impress the
international performing art admirers with the distinction of
Taiwanese dance and reapprove them with the innovative spirit of
¡§Made in Taiwan.¡¨ The whole choreography is about to introduce a
feast of professional dancers with the combination of cross-sector
arts to the audience. The choreographer concludes the production
with the following interpretation:
¡§The stage and the shack interchanges; the western and the oriental
tradition together traces; the swan in the palm significantly
amuses; the outdoor sky horse dances and gallops.¡¨
¡@
<Window>
<TRUE MAN >
¡@
“True Man” is composed of two scenes. Scene one features ancient Eastern style, solemn and dignified in tone, while scene two is Western, modern, and fast-paced. However, the two seemingly opposite scenes in fact present one central theme ¡V “True and Untrue.”
In Scene One we see artists reveling in the joy of life, writing, painting, chanting, dancing, and playing music at their pleasure. This is a modern interpretation of “True Man” in Chung Tze. The choreography is inspired by the ancient Chinese who practiced writing on the ground by using bamboo sticks as pens. Their movements are a fusion of sword dance and writing; now pointing and piercing, now swinging and swirling like swords. The energy flows through their breath and movements. It’s an innovation of the Eastern dance. It’s a representation of the Western proverb, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” The audience would have to see it with their heart to comprehend.
Scene Two portrays “seeing the true through the untrue” with ease and humor. The dancers dance with “untrue (unreal) people”-- puppets of real human size. Amidst the sound of the trance music, the dancers move around in awkward and eccentric movements. The puppets dance with “true man”. Then the true man in turn mimic the untrue people (puppets) by manipulating each other like puppets. The dancers form lots of contact and combinations in the movements. The subjects and the objects begin to get confused, and so do the real and unreal, the true and untrue, creating a comic effect. It bears a striking resemblance with the lives of modern people ¡V fast-paced, having to play different roles and change identity constantly to adapt to the ever-changing human relationships. The chaotic and countless movements may seem easy, but are in fact difficult and complex. The scene begins with the combinations of two people, then three, four, five and six people, touching each other and passing around the energy. These images represent the relationships between subjects and objects. The arrangements are complicated and full of drama, and every element in the dance is connected, creating a rich and engaging effect.
The choreographer Mr. She conceives scene one as revealing the artists’ true nature - the “true man.” Scene two also discusses the theme of “true man”, but argues from the opposite standpoint in the image of the “fake man”. He uses real people to play puppets as a satire of the modern human relationships where people manipulate and use each other. The real human beings and the puppets form an interesting contrast. As a quote from the Chinese classic “A Dream of the Red Chamber” goes, “When the unreal becomes real, the real becomes unreal. When the real becomes unreal, the unreal becomes real.” As a stark contrast to the solemn and pure “true man” in Scene One, in Scene Two the dancers become “untrue”, fooled and manipulated.
¡@
¡qGrass
Mountain (Yangmingshan)¡r
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Conceived and choreographed by Artistic Director
Shih Gee-Tze |
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This,
the newest of Acme Physical Dance Theatre¡¦s National
Park series reveals a handful of the mysteries surrounding
Yangmingshan or "Grass Mountain". This park
is significant for many reasons. The most immediate
of these is in its function as a natural sanctuary to
the residents of Taipei City. Its close physical proximity
acts as a huge garden for city dwellers to escape their
busy and stressful lives. Indeed, historically, it has
served this function since the beginning of Japanese
rule (1895.)
Grass
Mountain is also unique in its geological makeup. Volcanoes
and fuming crevices steam and fume through a barren
tortured landscape, while a stone¡¦s throw away,butterflies
dance among masses of vibrant trees, |
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shrubs
and greenery. Owing to this layered nature of Yangmingshan
park, choreographer Shih Gee-Tze has chosen to present
the multiple aspects of meaning through 4 separate acts:
¡§Blossoming,¡¨ ¡§Red Mountain,¡¨ ¡§Night Scenery,¡¨ and
¡§Mountain Living.¡¨ |
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Act One: The Blossoming
In
season, azaleas, flowering plums, cherries and other
flowers attract swarms of flower watchers as well as
butterflies and pollinating insects. To best present
this vitality and dynamism of spring, we choose to look
at the mysteries of a misty morning sunrise and the
awakening of butterflies, young bees, and flocks of
songbirds. To frame this concept, Choreographer Gee-Tze
has chosen to present the ¡§unveiling¡¨ of the Toyogo
(gauche) painting by Japanese artist Kinoshinta Seigai
(1889-1992). During his nearly 25 years as a North Taiwan
resident, Mr. Seigai drew inspiration from the surrounding
scenery. As the sun wipes away the remains of night¡¦s
stillness, this Segai masterpiece is revealed and nature
rejoices.
Act
Two: Red Mountain
The
inspiration for this act comes from two historical myths.
The first involves Yu Yung -Her a volunteer Ching Dynasty(1644-1912)
military commander who was sent to explore Taiwan on
behalf of a Chinese Emperor for 10 months. Yung-Her
was an early archivist and cultural anthropologist.
He was the first emissary to Taiwan from the Mainland
to record the island¡¦s geography, people, and culture
by writing his ¡§Be¡V Hi itinerary¡¨ (roughly, a travelogue
by surmounting the Taiwan Strait to Formosa).
As a result of Grass Mountain¡¦s long standing sulphur
mine, certain areas have the special red of chemically
rich earth and subterranean heat. One day, Yung-Her
watched the sun¡¦s setting colors through the rising
steam of this sulphur-orange landscape and eternally
claimed ¡§The grass of the Red mountain appears to be
on fire.¡¨
Another inspiration comes from the aboriginal Ketagalan
People who live on and around Yangmingshan. They claimed
the subterranean heat, vapors and fumes to be sent by
witches and named the place ¡§Patauw¡¨ (translated, simply,
as witch). This myth perpetuated throughout the period
of Japanese rule (Japanese occupiers bathed in the ¡§Witch¡¦s
hot spring ¡¨) and continues today with signposts for
the Patauw area of the park.
To emphasize these two stories, Gee-Tze has attempted
to recreate the burning ground using unusual floor materials,
smoke, and lighting. In this landscape, a lost tourist
is met and seduced by a non-human witch. Through their
interaction, a communication develops that leads the
tourist and the audience on a unique mountain journey
through this unusual beautiful territory.
Act
Three: Night Scenery
While
the most familiar view of Grass Mountain is that by
daylight, many modern Taipei residents visit to appreciate
the magical vistas of night. Indeed, throughout the
night, young people visit to stargaze far from the distracting
neon of downtown, and lovers congregate to share romantic
moments with a view only comparable to those mountain
lookouts of Hollywood movies. Some call Grass Mountain
a ¡§non-sleeping¡¨ mountain.
To
present this, we have attempted to emulate nature¡¦s
majesty. Gee-Tze has designed a space using a multitude
of tiny electric bulbs dotting the stage. Dancers play
among and around this romantic ¡§starscape¡¨ in solos,
duets and complex group movement. By running and flying
through and under the bulbs, they enrich the active
Grass Mountain nightscape.
Act
Four: Mountain Living
As
a natural place becomes popular with the masses, care
has to be taken to preserve that which drew the hordes
in the beginning. No one is greater witness to the changes
that popularity brings than the residents of Grass Mountain
themselves. They witness the daily confrontation of
nature and the modern world. In preparation for this
piece, Mr. Shih Gee-Tze visited and interviewed Yangmingshan
elder lifetime resident Qiu A-Haw. He was a cowherd
who has taken care of hundreds of bulls since childhood
and worked as a porter to carry heavy things up and
down the mountain. ¡§Day after day,¡¨ he said, ¡§time changes
rapidly.¡¨ Even with the protection granted under the
status of a national park, the crowds appear on the
mountain on holidays and special events. However, nature
is amazingly resilient. If care is taken, the rhythm
does not change, and the Flowers bloom, the crevices
fume , and the cicadas sing on.
To
represent this daily drama of the natural world and
challenges that this new generation brings, Mr. Gee-Tze
positions a solo female dancer. She is the classic delicate
and graceful azalea existing in the breeze. She must
maintain her own light among the arriving trio of non-traditional
up tempo new-generational influences. This strenuous
contrast¡Xthe competition for light and the purity of
sound, is brought to a climax by mother nature herself.
People must live by the rules of nature to survive and
the dancers are ¡§swallowed¡¨ by the mountain. To represent
this, we see another gouache painting of a magnificent
mountain and trees by Japanese artist Gobara Koto(1892
~1965), whose work is often featured in Taiwan. As the
dancers walk into the mountain, their minds focus on
the mountain and feel the passing of time and learn
to respect the power of nature.
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¡qTaroko¡r¡@¡@¡÷
¡ö
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Dancing
with and as a celebration of National Parks of Taiwan is the
motive of choreographer Shih Gee-Tze. He wants to interweave
dance with nature as he has done in 2002 with the work ¡§Zhan
Zhuan,¡¨ which was recently presented successfully in Moscow,
Russia and on tour around Taiwan. For 2003, Acme Physical
Dance Theatre has expanded on this idea and has now undertaken
the challenge of presenting a combined movement journey within
the spectacular gorge ¡§Taroko.¡¨ By doing so, Shih hopes
to capture the spectacular elements of the gorge scenery and
weave it together within the framework of the theatre. With
this piece, he hopes to sing the praises of and celebrate
the beauty of this national treasure with
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Taiwanse
people as well as the world community-at-large through dance.
To this end, Acme Physical Dance Theatre is using a professional
technical crew to blend motion picture projections and photos
to recreate ¡§Taroko¡¨ as a stage design. Thus, the dancers
will appear to dance in the Liwuchi river, balance on the
rocks before the waterfalls and even climb the canyon walls.
The video not only shows behind the dancers, but surrounds
them on the ground as well, in effect, creating the ambiance
and visual beauty of Taroko on the stage. Shih Gee-Tze has
been inspired by Taroko to teach a movement style that is
less institutionalized and academic, unique and unimitable.
The dancers develop themselves in a pose like the tree in
nature, fluid like the river, and bending in the wind. Dancers
¡§melt¡¨ into the film and photos to the accompaniment of
Aboriginal traditional Northern and Southern Taiwanese music
sung by the ¡§Tai Ya¡¨, ¡§Buno¡¨, and ¡§Zow¡¨ tribes. Adding
to this vocal accompaniment is the use of traditional ¡§Tai
Ya¡¨ and ¡§Pai Wan¡¨ ancient strung instruments and wooden
percussion pillars-- the sound of which inspires celebration,
consolation, protection, and marriage. Following nature¡¦s
example, the different elements on the stage co-exist in harmony
with one another¡Xdancers, music, stage properties, and visual
footage¡Xall balanced, in tune, and creating a wonder to be
appreciated¡K.much like ¡§Taroko¡¨ itself.
An
explanation of the title Xia Lu: The title of this performance
is made up of two Chinese double entendres and therefore merits
explanation. The character for Xia means on a simple level
a canyon, or gorge. Lu signifies a personal journey. However,
Xia also carries a deeper meaning, that of the ancient band
of warriors that protected their ruler, their country, and
freedom throughout Asia with martial arts skill and clear
minds. Likewise, Lu means a gathering or feeling of togetherness
or cooperation. These double meanings in the title allow you,
the audience, to make a choice. Are you witness to journey
through the gorge or are you also present at a gathering of
ancient martial arts practitioners and protectors?
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¡qZhan
Zhuang¡r ¡@¡@¡÷
¡ö¡@
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The dance work Zhan Zhuang is based on a fundamental component
of eastern martial arts known as zhan zhuang, or "standing
like a tree." In the original form of this exercise, the
practitioner positioned his feet on top of a tree stump. He worked
to become rooted, cultivated his internal energy, and put stability
before motion. Hence he could be still like Mount Tai, yet powerful
like a mighty river.
As a result of deep inquiry into the fundamental ideas underlying
zhan zhuang, the choreographer has developed a new vocabulary
for eastern dance. An example is the harnessing of energy created
by cultivating qi in the dantian (a point just below the navel)
so as to allow a body crouching low or lying prostrate to smoothly
and elegantly glide along the ground: as energy is conducted between
toes, knees, legs, buttocks, waist, back and shoulders, each momentarily
becomes the sole interface between the body and the ground. Another
example is the beauty of standing still on tiptoe: a bubbling
spring of energy wells up from the earth; all things converge
and it is as if one has gone to heaven. One enters a wonderland
where the body is still and suffused with the energy of the world.
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¡qFeel
and Respond¡r |
 Premiere:
Sep19, 2001, Taichung
Choreography: Shih Gee-Tze
Lighting Design: Hsiang Jen-Hao
Prop Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Costume Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Inspired by
the cool breezes, green grass and garden paths of Taichung City,
as well as the natural beauty, purity and scenic wonders of Australia,
the choreographer has brought together different customs, lands
and peoples to create the dance work "Feel and Respond."
"Feel and
Respond" is divided into three parts. Part One is performed
by Australian dancers. Its most important features are a technique
involving relaxation and pressing oneself to the floor, amazing
moves and jumps, and a dialogue between the dancers and Mother Earth.
Part Two is performed by dancers from the Acme Physical Theatre.
The dancers are paired throughout the stage amongst a sea of clouds,
giant floating curtains, and a sky full of falling leaves. The dancers
and the leaves dance together in the wind. In the third part, dancers
from the two lands perform together. Through a variety of quick
and delicate contact moves such as throws and flips requiring physical
interaction between the dancers, intermixed with Tai Chi "pushing
hands" motions that produce an air of simultaneous togetherness
and aloofness, the dancers display the highest level of tacit understanding.
¡@
¡ÕA
Fantasy about Bach ¡Ö
 Premiere:
Aug 26,2000,Taipei
Choreography:
Shih Gee-Tze
Lighting
Design: Hsiang Jen-Hao
Prop
Design: Verner Panton
Costume
Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach¡A1685~1750
It is not saying
too much to call Bach (1685-1750) the pivotal figure in 18th century
Baroque music. He gave today's music a strong foundation.
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven followed in his footsteps, supplying the
leaves and branches, to form the peak of the classical school.
Bach was the great synthesizing force of contrapuntal music, and his
Musical Offering took counterpoint to its highest level. Today,
without the need to flatter kings and serve the church, choreographers
are free to use whatever methods are necessary to express their feelings
for the music. We cannot know how Bach felt, but we can fantasize!In
the use of body language, besides employing motions which match the
force of the music by reflecting the linearity, smoothness and gentleness
of the Musical Offering, the choreographer also draws from the beautiful
artifice and ornamentation of the Rococo wave. This sort of
brilliance is not necessarily best conveyed by ballet, but perhaps
is better illustrated by the twists and rotations of joints that characterize
more innovative dance forms.In
his staging, Shi Gee-Tze was inspired by the curves of golf course
sand traps. Hence amongst a wondrous and colorful environment
of curved shapes, the dancers dance an inspiring movement of Bach!A
Musical Offering was Bach's expression of reverence for God, and this
production is choreographer Shi Gee-Tze's expression of admiration
and gratitude to Bach for his role in the past two hundred fifty years
of civilization's progress. Why should not we approach the 21st century
full of confidence and fantasy? So let us title this dance work "A
Fantasy about Bach" and present to the world our "musical
offering"!
 Premiere:
Feb 26, 2000, Taipei
Choreography: Shih Gee-Tze
Lighting Design: Hsiang Jen-Hao
Prop Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Costume Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Act One: The
Passage of Time
A group of dancers
opens the act with a series of lifts and other technically challenging
contact maneuvers. Then, amidst the sound of the rushing waters
of a great flood, they are washed from stage left to stage right
and disappear, leaving a single dancer on a beach. She moves her
joints in circles and her limbs follow, and with repeated motions
she forms parabolas in the air to portray an hourglass, which is
the most important body language of this work. Moving amidst amorphous
media such as the flow of sand, reflections of light and the sound
of water, dancers act out the theme of the passage of time. Dead
wood hanging in the air symbolizes the ruthlessness of time: the
wood is from trees of the Nantou disaster area that died in the
earthquake of September 21, 1999. The dancers sway and rock their
bodies and limbs, repeatedly hinting at the passage of time and
the fleeting beauty of an ephemeral and uncertain universe.
Act Two: Celestial
Bodies
Male and female
dancers, yin and yang in harmony. Their breathing is like the waxing
and waning of the moon or the changing of the seasons. With circular
motions they draw parabolas that suggest the endless motion of celestial
bodies. The dancers perform contact maneuvers and lifts, solid yet
flowing, orbiting and swinging, that capture the souls of the audience.
Pools of water surrounded by sand look like mirages, creating a
surrealistic effect. The dancers concentrate their energy on the
body's central point; then they exert force on their bodies from
that point, and their limbs follow to draw beautiful parabolas.
Finally, a group of dancers performs a long canonesque series of
overlapping motions, portraying on a larger scale the endless motion
of celestial bodies.¡@
¡@
¡@
¡ÕMillennium
Ritual¡Ö
 Premiere:
Sep19, 1999, Hsinchuang
Choreography: Shih Gee-Tze
Lighting Design: Hsiang Jen-Hao
Prop Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Costume Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Act One: Chaos
This act is a disturbing display of concentrated tension. It consists
of three parts entitled "This Mortal World," "Worried
Hearts" and "Shackled Bodies." Innovative stage props
such as rice paper handscrolls and rock-climbing equipment create
a fantastic atmosphere. The act portrays a process in which people,
in a state of confusion and restrained by external objects, are
unable to escape and struggle with increasing force. Particularly
notable is a difficult and expressive sequence in "Shackled
Bodies" in which rock-climbing ropes are used to pull the dancers
horizontally to showcase the beauty and tension of the human body
out of balance.
Act Two: Regeneration
The first scene, "Praying to Heaven," takes the form of
a ceremony in which the dancers pray for peace through the medium
of a sorcerer. The synergy between the costumes and the calligraphy
handscrolls used as props is a particularly creative feature of
this scene. The second scene, "Cleansing of the Soul,"
is a duet. Two spirits gradually return from a strange, mystical,
calm atmosphere. They become increasingly lively and frolic merrily
on the stage. The third scene, "The World at Peace," expresses
the harmonious state of a great reign of peace. It is an ensemble
dance requiring the highest level of teamwork, featuring difficult
contact maneuvers and quick movements and leaps. It is an explosive
finale! Before he choreographed "Millennium Ritual," dance
troupe leader Shih Gee-Tze once wrote: "A dancer's discipline
is like a monk's devotion, and a performance is like offering a
sacrifice. For the dancers, dance is a religion.
¡ÕThree
Dynamics¡Ö
 Premiere:
Nov 21,1998,Taipei
Choreography: Shih Gee-Tze
Lighting Design: Hsiang Jen-Hao
Prop Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Costume Design: Shih Gee-Tze
The theme of
this three-part work is changes in dynamics.
Part One: Flow
The curtain rises. The lights come up gradually, and the sound of
a stream is heard. The dancers lie on the stage and shake lightly.
Emphasis is placed on the body language engendered by relaxation
of the body and mind. The distinctive feature of this piece is that
the dancers sway, rock and shake in a trance-like state.
Part Two: Transmission
This piece is performed solo by a male dancer. He demonstrates the
subtle dynamic changes that separate relaxation and looseness from
tension and control. He skillfully takes advantage of gravity to
perform twists, turns and other interesting movements.
Part Three:
Radiation
From "Flow" to "Transmission" to "Radiation,"
the mood of "Three Dynamics" changes gradually from peaceful
and calm to passionate and excited. Continuing the progressive increase
in energy that characterized the transition from "Flow"
to "Transmission," "Radiation" emphasizes speed,
tension, control, and sharp lines radiating outward. A feeling of
radiation is created not only by the shapes of the dancers' bodies,
but also by the spring of centrifugal force as the dancers tautly
counterbalance each other in a large circle rotating at high speed.
The piece showcases the dazzling technical abilities of individual
dancers, and brings "Three Dynamics" to its climax.
¡ÕSquare¡Ö
 Premiere:
Aug 26,1997,Taichung
Choreography: Shih Gee-Tze
Lighting Design: Hsiang Jen-Hao
Prop Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Costume Design: Shih Gee-Tze
Music: Tibet Hymn ¡® Chao Gee-Ping
"Square"
draws its ideas from ritual and from the martial arts.
In ancient times,
in both the east and the west, various art forms were present in
religious rituals. Dance is one important example; this primitive
form of expression, which predated language, has always been inseparable
from our lives. Sorcerers may be deemed the first dancers on earth!
The martial
arts, for their part, occupy an extremely important position in
the development of ancient Chinese dance. In ancient China, dancing
and fighting skills often coexisted in the field to discipline the
army, or on the stage for entertainment. It is notable that the
character for "martial" and the character for "dance"
have similar pronunciations, and that some people did not differentiate
between the two disciplines.
"Square"
draws from the traditional intermixing of martial arts and dance
to create a novel style. Such a traditional yet innovative style
is a type of experiment. After all, as much as western technology
and literature have become part of the contemporary east, consideration
of how to place eastern cultures within art holds great interest
for artists and is an important mission for them.
Also worth mentioning
is that the staging in "Square" takes a creative direction
that is especially appealing to Shih Gee-Tze himself. From the earliest
times in his artistic career, he has dreamed of making the stage
into a canvas, painting on the canvas, and having dancers dance
on the painting. "Square" is his first attempt to realize
that ideal.
During the two
years of work that were required to complete "Square,"
Shih Gee-Tze saw the dancers work hard to learn each new addition
to their dance vocabulary. He was moved by the dancers' perseverance.
Shih Gee-Tze once said: "If 'Square' is a ritual, then I believe
that the dancers, like myself, are believers who have sacrificed
their bodies to dance. A dancer's discipline is like a monk's devotion,
and a performance is like offering a sacrifice. For the dancers,
dance is a religion."
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