Wasteland 荒土 Woeste Grond: 舞蹈

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Enfant

Enfant - by Boris Charmatz 20:00 8th June 2012 Zuiveringshal West of Westergasfabriek Amsterdam (Holland Festival)

Every time I go see some performances in the Netherlands I often get so angry with people's bad manners. They cut in line and talk during the performance. They have no concerns for others and are very pushy and always selfish. They appear to be great audiences, though, like they would always stand up, clap so hard and make the artists run 3,4 times for the big goodbye. They do. But once the light is on and the show is over, they start to share the weirdest and silliest opinions with everyone around and far away. I really hope that they could keep their "great" observation for themselves. Really, I would rather to stay with my own impression for a while longer please.

Anyway, the show is interesting, but not something you can't live without. The concept is simple: in the modern society we try to tame and control our children. The desire to suppress their untamed living energy is actually the result of our own separation from the life and our own subservience to the materialism and technical civilization. If we give in to the untamed energy that children's world represents, however, we might fall into an unknown and rather a dangerous situation. Is control really a bad thing after all? We can also see this piece as an essay about the methodology of dance. When the movement is totally freed, can we still call it dance at all?

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The art of (dis-)harmony: C(H)OEURS

The art of (dis-)harmony: C(H)OEURS So today I went to Carré for the first time and got the total vertigo experience, to see this dance/orchestra/opera-choir piece: C(H)OEURS, by Alain Platel and Les ballets C to B. I have to say Carré's super scary gallery seats does make the cheapest ticket worthwhile, if you are not afraid of the height of course. But even someone like me, who have a serious problem with the arena style gallery, still managed to forget the height when the show started.

It was awkward in the first 20 minutes. Even with all my brain cells try to make sense out of it, I still find it difficult to conclude everything with a clear concept. However it is a very interesting piece, and gives you a sweet feeling afterward. The art of it, lies exactly at the play between harmony and disharmony, the unity and individuality. As the title has already suggested, choirs (choeurs) can only be constructed with all hearts (coeurs) singing together.

All hearts are the same yet different, and only with different individuals and their different personality the true harmony can be achieved. The choir, the dancers and orchestra, each plays a role in it and each of them tries its best to be unique and even to overtake others' territory (and therefore to be disharmonious). The moving is awkward, sometimes even rigid. The choir chat loudly at the back. But somehow in the end, they all become the indispensable parts of the great harmony. And a very joyful one.

Friday, September 23, 2011

悠游于古典与前卫之间台湾表演艺术惊艳荷兰

by Agnes Chen (2011/09/23) “荷兰人对台湾的认识，多半止于七０、八０年代台湾大量代工的粗糙产品，’Made in Taiwan’的标签。他们不知道的是，台湾早已蜕变为一个高科技的现代民主国家，他们更不了解，台湾保存了丰富的中华文化，又有大批的年轻艺术家不断探索实验传统艺术的新表现形式。我们希望通过今日台北艺术节，让欧洲看见台湾的新面貌！”荷兰皇家热带戏院(Tropentheater)的节目总监Emiel Barendsen说。

今日台北

从九月一直延伸到今年年底的今日台北(Taipei Today)艺术节，最重要的两个节目《风云》与实验京剧《霸王别姬—寻找失落的午后》，分别由两个台湾顶尖艺术表演团体舞蹈空间与国光剧团担纲演出，以传统京剧剧码霸王别姬为主题，以当代前卫的表演形式重新诠释项羽与虞姬千古不朽的爱情故事，更深入生之欲与死之惧的哲学课题，展现从悲剧中找到救赎的台湾式精神。不同于一般海外表演只提供场地，皇家热带剧院此次与表演团体合作监制新剧码，舞蹈空间的与国光剧团日前於热带戏院的表演因此带上”世界首映”的特殊意义。

随後将登场的还有台原木偶剧团的《老鼠娶新娘》、1/2Q昆曲表演团的的《小船幻想诗》与杨德昌电影回顾展：http://www.tropentheater.nl/

时不力兮骓不逝，虞姬虞姬奈若何

《霸王别姬—寻找失落的午后》以倒叙法破题，以项羽自刎后，阵亡的战士孤魂追述霸王一生，追究他鸿门宴上为忠义不杀刘邦，是他最大的败笔。随后的三、四幕以亡者的角度重现项羽被围，四面楚歌虞姬自刎，直至他逃至乌江边，与汉军奋战后自尽而亡。项羽的命运是历史的事实，正如开场时已言明他的兵败身亡，唯独剧中人在当下一无所知。然而若他们早知道命将如此，是否会改变作为、扭转命运？

导演李小平以彩衣、黑衣两个虞姬表现生与死的角力，即便在项羽势力鼎盛意气风发之时，死亡早已如影随形。唯独命运其实是性格的产物，就算参透了天意，人无法改变自己，一如他们无法改变命运。舞台上两个虞姬，一生一死，接替唱着虞姬的唱词，时而柔情婉转、时而阴厉逼人，无疑是《霸》剧最让人难以忘怀的场景，也刻画出台湾表演艺术家重新省思传统与历史的深度。

前卫与传统的角力

舞蹈空间的《风云》则更尖刻地标志出台湾艺术家在前卫与传统之间的挣扎，以前卫的当代舞形式表现复杂的历史故事，无疑是台湾舞蹈艺术史上的创举，足见编舞家杨铭隆在云门舞集东方现代舞风格上另辟途径的野心。杨铭隆延续他先前即为成功的《东风》系列风格，将京剧的身段动作揉入舞蹈中，创造出水般柔软、又如风般凌烈的全新肢体语言。一如李小平的《霸王别姬》，杨铭隆思索历史命定的必然性，在无可免的历史悲剧后，回到开场时霸王与虞姬情意深厚的合舞，像是所有的悲伤都可以抹去，唯独在爱情里能够找到救赎。

创新的尺度越高，也越容易遭到批评。《风云》虽然受到荷兰观众的热烈欢迎，已有数个国际艺术节、表演团体表示希望与舞蹈空间合作，但现场也有少数华人观众，对这样的改编方式不已为然。对中国舞蹈艺术与音乐颇有研究的英国观众Jay Achterberg则认为前卫当代舞与传统舞的结合太突兀，在配乐运用上全然不顾乐曲曲意，只求音效，令他无法苟同。

政治？！太政治

虽然艺术家们表示这纯粹是艺术创作、无关政治，台湾与中国的政治纠葛仍让观众有不少联想。曾经雄霸一时的项羽兵败被围，霸王别姬确实是围城里的爱情故事，让人想到困守岛国的蒋介石政权；而《风云》里一面象徵鲜血的大红旗，在退休的Volkskrant记者Albert Schipper眼中则成了中共的五星旗。舞台外，皇家热带戏院以”今日台北”替代”今日台湾”，算是符合了荷兰官方政策，但杂志的节目介绍上，却明白地指出：今日台北艺术节是庆祝台湾”建国一百年”的活动。

不论政治到底在这次艺术节中扮演什么角色，可以确知的是台湾政府在艺术人才培养上贡献了不少心力。舞蹈空间与国光戏团，都是得到政府全额支助的表演团体，出国表演也得到台湾文建会与驻荷兰台北办事处的大力支持。反观荷兰近来一连串删减文化预算的政策，长期代理亚洲表演艺术团体至欧美表演、今日台北艺术节最重要的推手，Anmaro表演艺术经纪公司负责人Robert van den Bos不无愤慨地说：”表演艺术不仅丰富当地文化，也为城市带来无限的商机，我觉得荷兰政府的作为相当不明智！”