BEHALF

Tradition · Contemporary · Oneself · Spectatorship

Venue

Cloud Gate Theatre

Time

2018.05.25 Fri. 20:00

2018.05.26 Sat. 15:00

2018.05.27 Sun. 15:00

BEHALF is a collaboration between 2 contemporary Asian male choreographers who ‘dis/close’ themselves: to each other and to the spectator.

Taking equal turns on stage, they reveal personal portraits in pure movement. These form short intriguing snapshots on power and iconography in fatherhood, heritage and self-making. One seeks to embrace patrimony; the other tries to reform it. They speak, as unresolved individuals, through incomplete voices: each on behalf of himself, and of other figures who embody him.

Yes, this is supposed to be a dance duet. But it takes 2 years (perhaps more) of friendship to even begin to unlock stories, to find like-ness, and then to really dance close together. BEHALF – reflecting on collaboration as unfinished revelation – hence proposes a different game on the power of closure to its spectator.

Text | Tang Fu-Kuen

When people look at me, they regard me as a representative of Thai traditional culture, but I personally think that I am not. I prefer to wear jeans more than traditional costumes. This is the idea of how to identify the person in the tradition and himself. This is the time of “democracy”, “freedom” and “equality”. The idea is to play around the tradition to rethink about what is belief, what is culture, personal and object. We are constantly trying to question in contemporary art.

Choreographer & Performer Pichet Klunchun

The history makes me doubt about my root. What is tradition? What is the tradition of my body? It is when I started to work with Pichet that I realized he has the same question doubting about traditions, even he seems to present the pure lineage. Now I consider the traditions more as a process of mutation and as the history of physical experiences.

Choreographer & Performer CHEN Wu-Kang

Press

The experimental form of Behalf questioned Klunchun for his tradition and his inner self, allowing him to be confident and assertive on establishing the body. On the other hand, for Wu-kang Chen, Behalf acts perhaps like the inception of self-questioning and reflection. Moreover, as far as the context of Taiwanese dance is concerned, compared with many other attempts to explore the tradition but failed to escape from forging an imaginary tradition and thus falling into the stereotype of Tradition Essentialism, Behalf is courageous and sparks the discussions and debates.

Shang-Jan FAN, Taishin Artalks

Calm and serene, the two dancers show no sign of apprehension or hesitation. In a peaceful rhythm and natural breath, they fuel their bodies with own wills, deducting a boundless journey of search with no delirium or regret. The audience a stone’s throw away in their seats gaze and stare only to find that the more they want to conceive the more they have to interpret by themselves. During such time, they see two aesthetically sound “dancing bodies” not necessarily seeing them “dancing”

LIN Ji-Huei, PAReviews