Time
2020/07/31 (Fri.) 19:30
2020/08/01 (Sat.) 19:30
Venue
Zhongzheng Auditorium, Taipei Zhongshan Hall
“This dance work shows a context of language for international cooperation born out of the process from cross-disciplinary culture to the contextualization of inter-body relations. The subject on one side (I am Chen Wu-kang) is established through such consensus-based politics.”
Wang Mo-lin, Performing Arts Review
‘A year ago – for ecological reasons – my dance collaborators and I stopped all air-travel. Instead, I started contemplating new practices in choreography. Last year, for Taipei Arts Festival, we put together via Skype communication, the performance “The Show Must Go On” with an all-local cast and co-directors Ming-hwa Yeh and Wu-Kang Chen. It was a truly satisfying process. But still, I wish to go further by writing solo dance scores which are eloquent transmissions, so that I do not have to meet the dancer. Whilst I was formulating the dance scores, the Coronavirus crisis started spreading fast across the globe. This project thus became all the more urgent and necessary, especially since theatres everywhere were shutting down. Curator Tang Fu Kuen and I decided to carry out this experiment in the Festival, perhaps the only summer platform to remain open in this exceptional year. Very quickly, I thought the ideal dancer would be Wu-Kang Chen. This new piece entails someone like him who is both skilful and open to new experience. ‘
Jérôme Bel, April 2020, Paris.
Dances for Wu-Kang Chen(2020), recipient of 2021 Taishin Performing Arts Award.
PRESS
Comments for the 2021 Taishin Performing Arts Award Winner
Dances for Wu-Kang Chen is composed of 10 dance/non-dance sections, which pose the question “what is dance” while exploring the core of the performer’s life. The work of Jérôme BEL’s aesthetic propositions in collaboration with Wu-Kang CHEN’s directing and performance reflects CHEN’s life experiences and his interpretation of creative propositions through various forms of performance. Instead of being constrained by the conceptual framework, the performance embodies the richness of life, highlighting the traces left in the performer’s body by his artistic formation and career development. The work is a successful demonstration of the creative quality of performance in constructing the uniqueness of an individual.
Credit
Concept｜Jérôme Bel
Directed and Performed｜CHEN Wu-Kang
Director’s Assistant｜YEH Ming-Hwa and WU Ho-Ju
Costume Advisor｜TENG Yu-Fang
Local Guest｜CHEN Kuo-Hao and HAN Yin
Artistic Advice and Executive Direction R.B. Jérôme Bel｜Rebecca Lasselin
Production Manager R.B. Jérôme Bel｜Sandro Grando
Special Thanks to HORSE
R.B Jérôme Bel is supported by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile-de-France, French Ministry for Culture and Communication, by the Institut Français, French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for its international tours and by ONDA – Office National de Diffusion Artistique – for its tours in France.
Taipei Performing Arts Center
Commission
