Theater
PHOTO COURTESY OF HARALD HOFFMANN/DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
The Apartment (公寓春光), a new satirical play by the Godot Theater Company (果陀劇場), featuring well-known local comedian Gu Pao-min (顧寶明). Godot is known for its adaptation of many works of contemporary Western drama as well as local dramatic works.
● At the National Theater, Taipei.
● Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available from NTCH ticketing.
● Tonight, tomorrow and from June 27 to June 30 at 7:30pm with matinee performances tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm
The Comedy of K by Helen Lai and the City Contemporary Dance Company from Hong Kong follows on from the Compagnie Jerome Bel in the Novel Dance Series performances. Inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, the performance, like all this year's selections, pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance.
● At the Novel Hall (新舞台), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei (台北市松壽路3-1號).
● Tickets cost from NT$500 to NT$1,500.
● Tonight and Tomorrow at 8pm
Four Winds, Four Bliss (大四囍), a dance by the Century Contemporary Dance Company (世紀當代舞團) dealing with topic of traditional Chinese marriage.
● At the auditorium of the National Center for Traditional Arts (國立傳統藝術中心), 201 Wupin Rd Sec 2, Chihsin Village, Wuchieh Township, Ilan County (宜蘭縣五結鄉季新村五濱路二段201號).
● Tickets for the performance are free.
● Tomorrow at 2:30pm
Classical Music
Chang Ya-ching's 2006 Violin Recital (張雅晴2006小提琴獨奏會 -- 法蘭西的冷暖) organized by the Chee-hsin Music Ensemble (知心樂坊) will be held at the Kaohsiung National CKS Cultural Center's Chihshan Hall (高雄市中正文化中心至善廳), 67, Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號) tonight and at the National Recital Hall on Tuesday. Chang is a pupil of renowned French Violinist Michele Auclair and this concert will present a program of works from French composers, including Leclair's Sonata for violin and piano in D Major, Franck's Sonata for violin and piano in A Minor, and Ravel's Sonata for violin and piano and his Tizigane. Pianist Cheng Su-chuan (鄭夙娟), who together with Chang established the Chang-Cheng Duo, will accompany Chang.
● Tickets are NT$200 in Kaohsiung and from NT$200 to NT$300 in Taipei and can be purchased through ERA ticketing.
● Tonight and Tuesday at 7:30pm
Formosa Singers 2006 Concert Series III (福爾摩沙合唱團九五年系列音樂會) will be held at the National Recital Hall tomorrow and Sunday. Led by conductor Julian Su (蘇慶俊) and accompanied by pianist Tsai Yu-shan (蔡昱珊), the Formosa Singers, a 40-member mixed choir, will present works on the theme of world soundscapes as well as Taiwanese folk songs in praise of maternal love. The program includes Whitacre's I Will Wade Out, Schafer's Magic Songs, four of Moses Hogan's spiritual songs, Chen Mei-chun's (陳玫君) Moonlit Night (月光夜), and some newly arranged Taiwanese folk songs.
● As of press time, NT$300 tickets for tomorrow's concert are sold out, but seats are available from NT$500 to NT$800 tomorrow and from NT$300 to NT$800 for Sunday through NTCH ticketing.
● Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm
Tseng Shih-fei and Cheng Yi-chun Violoncello and Piano (曾史妃與鄭怡君 -- 大提琴與鋼琴的對話) will be held in the lobby of Taipei Cultural Center (台北市立社教館), 25 Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市八德路三段25號) on Sunday. The program will include Beethoven's 12 Variations in F Major on Mozart's Ein Madchen oder Weibchen and Beethoven's Seven Variations in E flat Major on Mozart's duet Bei Mannern, welche Liebe Fuhlen. Chou Fang-ru (周芳如), chairwoman of Chamber Music Society of Taiwan, will introduce the program to the audience throughout this lecture-recital.
● Admission is free on a first-come-first-serve basis.
● Sunday at 2:30pm
Violinist Sarah Chang vs. National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (張莎拉VS國立台灣交響樂) will be held at Taichung Chungshan Hall (台中中山堂), 98 Hsuehshi Rd, Taichung City (台中市學士路98號) on Monday and at the Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25 Bade Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (台北市八德路三段25號) on Tuesday. One of the most remarkable prodigies of any gener-ation, Chang has matured into a young artist with great musical insight, technical virtuosity, and emotional range. She has been praised by the New York Times as having a "full, beautiful tone, unimpeachable intonation, and restrained sincerity." The program will include Haydn's Symphony No.101 in D Major, Bruch's Violin Concerto in G Minor Op.26, and Richard Strauss's Also Sparach Zarathustra Op.30. Felix Chen (陳秋盛) will conduct the NTSO.
● Tickets are from NT$300 to NT$1,000 in Taichung and from NT$400 to NT$1,200 in Taipei through NTCH ticketing.
● Monday and Tuesday at 7:30pm
Soprano Gigi Chan Solo Recital (女高音詹怡嘉獨唱會) will once again perform at the National Recital Hall tonight as part of her annual tour. The release of her recent recording featuring Bach's Cantatas has already become a great success. The theme of this concert will be the Voices of Spring and the program will include works by Johann Strauss II, Stolz, Lehar, Delibes, Verdi, and others.
● As of press time, all NT$600 tickets are sold out, but NT$500 seats are available through NTCH ticketing.
● Wednesday at 7:30pm
Contemporary
Scratch DJ Drez from LA will play his last date on the Taiwan leg of his Asian tour tonight at Paradise Club in Taichung. He's been playing top hip-hop clubs and parties all over the island including the Summer Aquarian Party at Green Bay in Wanli Township two weekends ago. Visit www.revevolution.net for more information. Drez plays a wide variety of underground funk, old school hip hop, dancehall, reggae, house and African beats, and uses ethnic percussion, vocal work and ambient synthesizers.
● Tonight at 10pm
Location: 181 Chaofu Rd (at the intersection of Chaofu and Shicheng North Roads) 朝富路 181號 (市政北二路與朝富路口)
Organizers of the Peace Festival 2006 rescheduled the event for this weekend because of inclement weather. The festival, a Hoping for Hoping production, is a charity fundraiser now in its third year. It is set apart from other music festivals by its decidedly un-commercial nature, organized by volunteers and with all proceeds from the gate, drinks and merchandise going directly to charity. Organizers have released a revised lineup: Milk, David Chen and the Muddy Basin Ramblers, Matthew Lien, Boogie Chillin, Neon, Fireflower, The Sound Clashes, The Anglers, Fluent, Fat Club, Consider the Meek, Long Gone Sound, Wise Maneouvers, Militant Hippi, Minstral, Public Radio, Native Space, Red-I and the Riddim Outlawz, Hulihutu, Silent Toads, The Scooters, To a God Unknown, Brian Funshine, Mister Green, and more. Check the festival Web site at www.hopingforhoping.com for detailed information. Weekend passes are NT$500, with free admission for children. There is plenty of space for camping. Shuttle buses will be available from Longtan interchange to the site.
● Today through Sunday
Location: Kunlun Herb Gardens, Longtan, Taoyuan County (桃園龍潭崑崙藥用植物園).
Cheers Nini is throwing a Get Out of Skool party tomorrow night to mark the beginning of the summer. This year's graduates get free entry and a chance to win California Fitness Center memberships. Liquid Lifestyle's DJ Penetration will be manning the decks, and tunes will run through hip hop, R&B and reggae (no electronica, house or techno). Entry is NT$350 before 11pm, NT$500 after
● Tomorrow at 10pm
Location: 2F, 100 Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei (安和路二段100號2樓). Call (02) 2703-1919
The Living Room (小客廳) A chance to see three of Taiwan's better bands, To A God Unknown, Goodbye!Nao! and Emily. Goodbye!Nao! took its moniker from a well known Japanese pornography star, Nao Saejima, and plays way out pop. Emily band members are influenced by the likes of Velvet Underground, Joy Division, New Order, Depeche Mode, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Interpol. The group formed in 2002 and has performed at festivals such as Spring Scream and Formoz Festival. A sample of Emily's work can be heard at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=49980366. To a God Unknown is described as "post rock, sometimes as an instrumental groove unit, and other times as the bastard offspring of Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath," on the English trio's MySpace site.
● Tomorrow at 10pm.
● Minimum charge is NT$300 plus a NT$100 donation
Location: 3F, 8, Nanjing E Rd, Sec 5, Taipei (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓).
Call (02) 8787-4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com.
Exhibitions
Life Seen From a Dog's Eyes
Yeh Ching-fang Solo Exhibition (狗眼人生 -- 葉清芳創作個展). Consisting of 60 photographs and paintings, this is a retrospective exhibition of one of Taiwan's photographic pioneers who left behind him a valuable visual record of Taiwan's social and political development during 1980s. Capturing the rise and fall of the student movement and street protests before and after the lifting of martial law on film, Yeh creates a picture of the social movements of that turbulent era.
● Huashan Cultural Park (華山文化園區), 1 Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市八德路一段1號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Call (02) 2392-6180.
● Until July 1
The Magician of Light and Shadow -- Illustrations by Giuliano Ferri (光與影的魔術師 -- 朱里安諾插畫展). An exhibition that invites visitors to travel into the imaginative and colorful world of the Italian illustrator of children's books. Having his works published in Europe and America, Ferri has also exhibited his work worldwide, from the Pompidou Center in Paris to the Itabashi Art Museum in Tokyo.
● National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung (國立台灣美術館), 2 Wuchuan W Rd Sec 1, Taichung (台中市五權西路一段2號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Call (04) 2372-3552
● Until Sept. 10
Exhibition on Jade Articles and Culture in Eastern Asia (玉之華 -- 東亞玉器與玉文化大展), touted as the largest exhibition of jade artifacts to be held in Taiwan, it features more than 2,000 items from 130 private collectors whose total worth is estimated to reach tens of billions of NT dollars. The items on display reach back 8,000 years and include pieces from China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
● Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館), 505 Renai Rd, Sec 4, Taipei (台北市仁愛路四段505號), Open Monday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Call (02) 2758-8008.
● Until July 16
Lo Hsiang-ling Photography Exhibition (躡影追飛 -- 駱飛林的攝影畫境), the first large-scale collection of the late artist's photography works. A poet, scholar, writer, painter and calligrapher, Lo took up photography at the age of 60 and worked as an innovative photographer for 20 years. Strongly influenced by the aesthetic of Chinese ink paintings, Lo frequently retouched and colorized his photos so as to create his own lyrical hybrid of photography and painting.
● Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館), 181 Changshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Call (02) 2595-7656.
● Until Sept. 3
Taiwan Dye -- Special Exhibition on Color in Life (台灣染 -- 生活中的自然色特展), focusing on plant dyes used in Taiwan, the exhibition features finished products that employ technique of natural dyes in the hope of raising the public's awareness toward the environment and brings to life the environmental friendly craftsmanship passed down through many generations.
● National Taiwan Museum (國立台灣博物館), 2 Xiangyang Rd, Taipei (台北市襄陽路2號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Call (02) 2382-2699.
● Until Oct. 10
The entire saga involving the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and its Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) continues to produce plot twists at such a rapid pace that fiction publishers would throw it out for being ridiculously improbable. This past week was particularly bizarre, but surprisingly the press has almost entirely ignored a big story that could have serious national security implications and instead focused on a series of salacious bombshell allegations. Ko is currently being held incommunicado by prosecutors while several criminal investigations are ongoing on allegations of bribery and stealing campaign funds. This last week for reasons unknown Ko completely shaved
Gabriel Gatehouse only got back from Florida a few minutes ago. His wheeled suitcase is still in the hallway of his London home. He was out there covering the US election for Channel 4 News and has had very little sleep, he says, but you’d never guess it from his twinkle-eyed sprightliness. His original plan was to try to get into Donald Trump’s election party at Mar-a-Lago, he tells me as he makes us each an espresso, but his contact told him to forget it; it was full, “and you don’t blag your way in when the guy’s survived two
The self-destructive protest vote in January that put the pro-People’s Republic of China (PRC) side in control of the legislature continues to be a gift that just keeps on giving to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Last week legislation was introduced by KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-lin (翁曉玲) that would amend Article 9-3 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to permit retired and serving (!) military personnel to participate in “united front” (統戰) activities. Since the purpose of those activities is to promote annexation of Taiwan to the PRC, legislators
Nov. 18 to Nov. 24 Led by a headman named Dika, 16 indigenous Siraya from Sinkan Village, in what is today’s Tainan, traveled to Japan and met with the shogun in the summer of 1627. They reportedly offered sovereignty to the emperor. This greatly alarmed the Dutch, who were allies of the village. They had set up headquarters on land purchased from the Sinkan two years earlier and protected the community from aggressive actions by their more powerful rivals from Mattau Village. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) had been embroiled in a bitter trade dispute with Japan, and they believed
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