Since 2014, the excellence of the Taiwan Season series of dance, both contemporary or influenced by indigenous culture, has become established as one of the most exciting and sought after dance shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Indeed, last year Broadway Baby gave their Bobby Award for best in the fest to the Taiwanese Company B Dance for ‘Floating Flowers’.
This year, 2020, would have been their 7th season but of course, Covid put paid to their appearing in the flesh. But do not despair. Undaunted, the organisers have put together a month-long online programme for you: a symposium of cultural close encounters/interviews with choreographers plus dance extracts. Three out of the four dance shows (not Boundless) will appear in Edinburgh in 2021 at either Dance Base or Summerhall so have a taster now and get ahead of the game.
August 4th to 28th, the Taiwan Season Online Symposium: ‘Connecting with Taiwan’ is a thrice-weekly series of scintillating artist interviews (Tuesdays, 1-1.45pm BST with repeats every Thursday) and in-depth webinars (Wednesdays and Fridays, 1-3pm BST).
The Tuesday sessions, accessible via Taiwan Season’s Facebook and YouTube, are revealing 45-minute interviews with the heads of the four dance companies that had been set to present their work at the Edinburgh Fringe.
The four Taiwan Season 2020 shows are:
4th Aug - Taiwan Season: Touchdown
Hao Cheng’s mathematical background gives him a unique perspective on abstract ideas and flesh-and-blood performance. His dynamic, highly personal and proudly low-tech solo for Incandescence Dance merges popular science and the poetry of motion.
11th Aug - Taiwan Season: Boundless
Hung Dance’s hallucinatory ensemble work is like entering the mind of someone trying to exit a troubled dream. Although this intense, darkly imaginative performance flirts with traditional culture, the atmosphere is contemporary and complex. Choreographer: Hung-Chung Lai.
18th Aug -Taiwan Season: Fighters
This buoyant work by Nai-Hsuan Yang’s Les Petites Choses Production is fierce fun. Five godly characters from classical Chinese literature spring to life in a fusion of hip hop, contemporary dance and folk-techno music.
25th Aug - Taiwan Season: The Back of Beyond
Tai Gu Tales Dance Theatre’s dancers merge Eastern cultural traditions and contemporary Western practices in a physical and spiritual journey of great power and sensitivity. This is an exceptional theatrical dream-ritual. Choreographer: Hsiu-Wei Lin.
Click here for more details.
Taiwan Season 2020 website
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/taiwanseason
Twitter: https://twitter.com/taiwanseas...
Note: all sessions conducted in English.
Aimed at forging new links with members of the global arts industry, the Wednesday/Friday webinars focus by turns on a handful of topics: venues and international exchange (Aug 5th and 7th); disability arts (Aug 12th and 14th); live art and interdisciplinary practice (Aug 19th and 21th); and creating and/or curating indigenous work (Aug 26th and 28th). Click for more information and Register your place here.
In addition, the Fringe is hosting a Taiwan Season 2020 Showcase and Pitch (Monday, Aug 10th, 11:00am-12:45pm BST). This is available only to those delegates who have been accredited with Fringe Central. https://www.edfringe.com/take-... Taiwan Season Online Symposium 2020 and Taiwan Season 2020 Showcase and Pitch are curated by Step Out Arts, UK and funded by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan.
