Theater
Five troupes from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and China are staging productions at different venues in Taipei as part of the Seventh Chinese Drama Festival (第七屆華文戲劇節). Hong Kong Cinematic Theater’s (香港影話戲劇團) Waiting for the Match (獨坐婚姻介紹所) is composed of monologues by three men in a sealed room containing a video camera and a chair. In The Pop Star and the Orangutan (歌星與猩猩), by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center (上海話劇藝術中心), a pop singer has his brain transplanted into the body of an orangutan after a car accident. To prove his human identity, the orangutan escapes from a zoo and returns home, only to find lies and hypocrisy. And in Oscar et la Dame Rose (粉紅天使), a 10-year-old boy named Oscar battles cancer and rediscovers his love for his family in this production by Hong Kong Theater Space (香港劇場空間劇團).
▲Tonight at 7:30pm (Waiting for the Match), National Experimental Theater, Taipei City
▲Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm (The Pop Star and the Orangutan), Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂), 98 Yenping S Rd, Taipei City (台北市延平南路98號)
▲Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm (Oscar et la Dame Rose), Crown Art Center Theater (皇冠小劇場), 50, Ln 120, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei City (台北市敦化北路120巷50號)
▲Tickets are NT$500, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
In this adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s semi-biographical novel Orlando, Robert Wilson’s minimalist aesthetic meets Wei Hai-ming’s (魏海敏) Beijing opera refinement in a challenging work that is bound to attract international attention.
▲National Theater, Taipei City
▲Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:30pm
▲Tickets are NT$600 to NT$3,600, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
A pioneering figure for traditional Japanese dance in Taiwan, Hsu Yeh-ching (許葉景) has been studying and teaching the style for more than a decade. In her latest work, Dance of Formosa (舞之蹄)Hsu integrates elements from different Japanese schools of dance with her own creative artistry. Artists from several renowned Japanese schools will perform with Hsu.
▲Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3-1號)
▲Tomorrow at 2pm
▲Tickets are free but must be ordered in advance by calling (02) 2716-0150
Divine Performing Arts, a New York-based Chinese dance and music company that aims to breathe new life into ancient Chinese art forms, brings to Taiwan its latest touring show of lavishly presented classical dance and music.
Taipei International Convention Center (台北國際會議中心), 1, Xinyi Rd Sec 5, Taipei City (台北市信義路五段1號)
▲Tonight and Monday at 7:30pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm and 7:30pm
▲Tickets are NT$500 to NT$5,000, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
Contemporary
The Taipei County Government’s Bitan Music Festival (碧潭音樂節) continues each weekend until March 29 with free outdoor performances at the scenic Bitan (碧潭) riverside area by Xindian MRT Station (新店捷運站). Tomorrow features world music sensation A Moving Sound (聲之動樂團). On Sunday, it’s Chinese music and jazz fusion group Sizhukong (絲竹空). For more information and full schedule, visit www.2009bmf.com.tw.
▲Bitan riverside area, just outside of Xindian MRT Station
▲3pm to 5pm tomorrow and Sunday
▲No admission fee
It’s Reggae Fever tonight at VU Live House, with Selectah Taro of Japan, who specializes in roots, classic reggae and dub, joining Jamaican sound system Black Reign International Sound.
▲B1, 77, Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市武昌街二段77號B1).
▲Tel: (02) 2314-1868
▲Starts at 11pm; Entrance fee is NT$350, includes one drink
Canadian/British outfit The Dana Wylie Band plays folk and roots tonight at Witch House (女巫店). Joining it are acoustic blues duo David Chen and Conor Prunty. Tomorrow, Tsai Wen-hui (蔡雯慧) and her backing band perform original songs with folk and jazz flavors.
▲7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). For more information, call (02) 2362-5494 or visit www.witchhouse.org
▲Performances start at 9:30pm. Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist bookstore and large collection of board games open 11am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays; 11am to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays
▲Entrance fee for music shows is NT$300, includes one drink
Tonight The Wall (這牆) hosts post-rock-flavored band Orangegrass (橙草) and 929. Metal groups Ashen and Forgiveness (恕) share the evening tomorrow with punks Kook (庫克) and Punkhoo (胖虎). Emo-punk rockers Full Count and Pa Pang (怕胖團) round out the weekend on Sunday.
▲B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1).
▲Call (02) 2930-0162 or visit www.thewall.com.tw for more information
▲Starts at 8pm tonight, tomorrow and Sunday
▲Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$300 on Sunday
Riverside Cafe (河岸留言) is closed tonight for a private party. Tomorrow former Sticky Rice frontman Ma Nien-hsien (馬念先) continues to take full advantage of his renewed stardom as a member of the cast of Cape No. 7 (海角七號). The rocker is billing his show as a “Saturday Night Party.” Fingerstyle guitarist pair Woody Woody splits the bill with acoustic guitar trio Tiaolang (跳浪樂團) on Wednesday.
▲B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電大樓). Call (02) 2368-7310 or visit www.riverside.com.tw for more information
▲Starts at 9pm tomorrow and Wednesday
▲Entrance fee is NT$400 tomorrow and NT$350 Wednesday, includes one drink
Indie-folk duo katncandix2 (棉花糖) open for Hsu Chia-ying (徐佳瑩) tonight at Riverside Live House (西門紅樓展演館). Hsu is a previous winner on the One Million Star (超級星光大道) pop-idol reality show. Her backing band is called Show Me the Money. Taiwan’s “King of Rock” Wu Bai (伍佰) and his band China Blue appear tomorrow in support of their latest album, Spacebomb (太空彈). This show is already sold out, but Wu Bai and China Blue will return for another show at Riverside Live House next month.
▲177 Xining S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路177號). Call (02) 2370-8805 or visit www.riverside.com.tw
▲Shows start at 8:30pm
▲Entrance fee is NT$500 tonight, includes one drink
Sappho de Base hosts Jazz Your Mind tonight and Double J and Friends tomorrow night. Tuesday is an open jam with the venue’s “jazz friends.” On Wednesday it’s the Chris Stiles Jazz Trio, and on Thursday it’s Emo Jazz Trio.
▲B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit www.sappho102.biz
▲Performances begin at 10:30pm on weekends, 10pm on weekdays
▲No admission fee
Every Wednesday night at the Cosmo-politan Grill there’s a blues open mic held by the Blues Society on Taiwan. All are welcome to bring their instruments and sit in on guitar, bass or drums.
▲1F, 218 Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台北市長春路218號1樓).
▲Call (02) 2508-0304 or visit www.cosmo.com.tw for more information
▲8pm to 11pm every Wednesday
▲No admission fee
EZ5 Live House hosts Mando-pop singers backed by a live band every night. Tuesdays belong to beloved crooner Julia Peng (彭佳慧). Other highlights this week are Pheobe Huang (黃嘉千), tonight, and Huang Zhongyuan (黃中原), tomorrow.
▲211, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City
(台北市安和路二段211號).
▲Call (02) 2738-3995 or visit www.ez5.com.tw for more information
▲Music shows run from 9:45pm to 12:30am
▲Entrance (including two drinks) ranges from NT$600 to NT$850, depending on the performer
Experimental noise and electronica are the sounds tonight at Underworld (地下社會), with Austrian DJ assimilatah, whose MySpace motto reads, “too harsh is never enough.” Joining him are Fish.the, Ironska and VJ Azz (阿紫). Tomorrow post-rock combo Tin Pan Alley (錫盤街) plays its final show. Joining them are Dangzai Kongzhong (蕩在空中) and “one man band” Summerbred (夏生一人大樂隊).
▲B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369-0103 or visit www.upsaid.com/underworld
▲Music shows run from 9:30pm to 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 9pm to 11pm on Wednesdays
▲Entrance is NT$300 tonight and tomorrow and includes one drink, Wednesday’s show is NT$100
▲House regulars Loaded play rock and pop tonight at Tone 56 Live Bar. All-girl pop band Donuts hits the stage tomorrow. There’s an open acoustic jam on Sunday.
▲1F, 56, Minquan E Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市民權東路三段56號1樓), near the corner of Fuxing North (復興北) and Minquan East (民權東) roads.
▲Tel: (02) 2517-3869
▲The music starts at 9:30pm tonight and tomorrow. The open jam goes from 7pm to 10pm on Sunday
▲No admission fee
Latin One Night plays tonight at Bliss. Tomorrow night it’s Space Funk, a collective of musicians from Taiwan, North America and the UK who play R ‘n’ B, electro-disco, hip-hop and swing with a funk edge. Thursday is open jam night, where all are welcome to perform either three songs or a set running 15 minutes long.
▲148, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City
▲(台北市信義路四段148號), one block east of Dunhua South Road (敦化南路).
▲Call Bliss at (02) 2702-1855 or log on at www.bliss-taipei.com. For more information on live performances at Bliss, visit www.myspace.com/ blisslivehouse
▲Tomorrow at 10pm. Bar/kitchen open from 7pm daily. Ladies night Wednesdays, women get free sparkling wine with NT$100 specials on mixed cocktails. Open jam starts at 9pm.
▲Entrance fee for the music shows upstairs is NT$200 tonight and tomorrow, free for the open jam on Thursday. No cover charge for the bar
▲South Road (敦化南路). Call Bliss at (02) 2702-1855 or log on at www.bliss-taipei.com. For more information on live performances at Bliss, visit www.myspace.com/blisslivehouse
▲Music shows start at 10pm. Bar/kitchen open from 7pm daily. Ladies night Wednesdays, women get free sparkling wine with NT$100 specials on mixed cocktails. Thursday’s open jam starts at 9pm
Classical music
2009 Russian Classical Music Series — Master Cellists, Ancient and Modern (2009俄羅斯古典音樂節系列 — 古今奇大提琴獨奏會) is a series of concerts sponsored by Royal Music Studio (皇家音樂藝術坊) to present rising Russian musicians. This week it’s Arkadi Kuchynski, and the program includes Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 1 in E-Minor, Op. 38, Martinu’s Variations on a Slovakian Theme, Brubeck’s Blue Rondo a la Turk and Piazzolla’s Oblivion.
▲Tomorrow at 7:30
▲Hsinchu Municipal Performance Hall (新竹市立演藝廳), 17, Tungta Rd Sec 2, Hsinchu City (新竹市東大路二段17號)
▲Tickets are NT$300 and NT$500, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
World to Come — Maya Beiser Multimedia Cello Concert (瑪雅．貝瑟多媒體大提琴獨奏會 — 明日世界) brings “cello goddess” Maya Beiser to Taiwan. Beiser is known for her innovative work with the cello and has collaborated with contemporary composers such as Dan Tun and Philip Glass. Video designs for the performance — which will include Arvo Part’s Fratres and Golijov’s Mariel (both versions for solo cello and multitrack recording), along with Steve Reich’s Cello Counterpoint and David Lang’s World to Come — were created by Irit Batsry and won the Whitney Museum’s prestigious Bucksbaum Award.
▲Tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,000, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
NSO’s Discovering Future Masters Series — Singing on the Glacial Land (NSO 發現未來大師系列 — 嬝繞川原的穹音) sees guest conductor Andrew Constantine leading the National Symphony Orchestra (國家交響樂團) with cello soloist Amit Peled. The program will feature Elgar’s Cockaigne, Op. 40 and Cello Concerto in E-Minor, Op. 85 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 82.
▲Sunday at 2:30pm
▲National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲Tickets are NT$400 to NT$1,500, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Crossover 40 — Tango Abrazo
(飛樂40 — 探戈阿伯拉佐) presents the Cantango Berlin, specialists in Argentinian tango music who made a huge impact with their collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic to create a new tango sound. In Taiwan they join the Taipei Symphony Orchestra (台北市立交響樂團) to perform music from Piazzolla, Pugliese and other tango masters.
▲Tuesday at 7:30pm
▲National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲Tickets are NT$200 to NT$800, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Exhibitions
The Dream in Time Flow (春秋夢)
is a solo exhibition by Taiwanese artist Wu Jhy-chen (巫日文). In this series of paintings, Wu uses his imagination to depict historical individuals through an expressive and abstract style.
▲Lili Arts Space (Lili藝術空間), 2F, 760, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 6, Taipei City (台北市中山北路六段760號2樓). Open daily from 11:30am to 9pm. Call (02) 2876-0798
▲Until Sunday
Easy Plastics is a group exhibition by 11 up-and-coming Taiwanese artists who use sculpture, installation and design to investigate plastic
and its metaphoric applications to our society.
▲Taipei National University of Arts — Guandu Museum of Arts (台北藝術大學關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Beitou Dist, Taipei City (台北市北投區學園路1號). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Call (02) 2896-1000 X2432
▲Until March 29
Those wanting to gain a deeper understanding of one of Asia’s oldest trade routes can check out Legends of the Silk Road — Treasures From Linjiang (絲路傳奇—新疆文物大展). The exhibit provides viewers with a glimpse of life in the ancient world by displaying 150 items unearthed along the Silk Road, including a 4,000-year-old mummified body of a woman in sandals known as the Loulan Beauty (樓蘭美女) and artifacts from the Tang Dynasty.
▲National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號). Open daily from 10am to 6pm, closed on Mondays
▲Until March 15
Ancient Pottery of the Paiwan Tribe in Taiwan (祖靈的居所—台灣排灣族古陶壺特展) shows how ceramics are closely associated
with the legends of the Paiwan tribe’s origins, and how pottery
helps to perpetuate the tribe’s
social hierarchy.
▲National Museum of Natural Science (國立自然科學博物館), 1, Kuanchien Rd, Taichung City (台中市館前路1號). Open daily from 9am to 5pm, closed on Mondays
▲Until May 17
The God of Earth in Taiwan (台灣土地公特展) explains the origins of the Earth God (土地公) and why it continues to play an important role in folk worship throughout the country.
▲National Museum of Natural Science (國立自然科學博物館), 1, Kuanchien Rd, Taichung City (台中市館前路1號). Open daily from 9am to 5pm, closed on Mondays
▲Until May 31
Skies of Northern Tibet
(藏北的天空) is a solo exhibition of 13 of Chiu Hsien-te’s (邱顯德) watercolors. The exhibit shows the continuing evolution of the artist’s style with the sky now occupying a greater proportion of the painting’s surface than ever before. Stylistically, the paintings possess a freer, more lyrical expressiveness and a tremendous richness of layering and tonal shifts in color.
▲99 Degrees Art Center (99 藝術中心) 5F, 259, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段259號5F). Open daily from 11am to 6pm, closed on Mondays
▲Until Feb. 28
Art on Balcony (露台開賣) presents 100 works by 40 emerging and established contemporary artists working in a variety of different mediums including painting, sculpture, photography and printmaking.
▲Project Fulfill Art Space (就在藝術空間), 2, Alley 45, Ln 147, Xinyi Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市信義路三段147巷45弄2號). To arrange a viewing
▲call (02) 2325-0023
▲Until March 8
The National Palace Museum does a superb job of explaining the history and importance of Chinese ink painting with its exhibit The Art and Aesthetics of From: Selections from the History of Chinese Painting (造型與美感—中國繪畫的發展). Beginning with the Six Dynasties period and moving up to the Qing Dynasty, the show represents a selection of works from the museum’s collection arranged chronologically to provide an overview of some of the major traditions and movements in Chinese painting.
▲National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), 221, Zhishan Rd Sec 2, Shilin Dist, Taipei City (台北市士林區至善路二段221號)
▲Until March 25
Madden Reality: Post-Taipei Art Group (叛離異象:後台北畫派) features 72 works by eight of Taiwan’s most well-respected contemporary artists ranging from sculpture to painting.
▲Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號)
▲Open daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm, closed on Mondays. Tel: (02) 2595-7656
▲Until April 5
During the Japanese colonial era, remote mountain villages were almost exclusively populated by indigenous residents. Deep in the mountains of Chiayi County, however, was a settlement of Hakka families who braved the harsh living conditions and relative isolation to eke out a living processing camphor. As the industry declined, the village’s homes and offices were abandoned one by one, leaving us with a glimpse of a lifestyle that no longer exists. Even today, it takes between four and six hours to walk in to Baisyue Village (白雪村), and the village is so far up in the Chiayi mountains that it’s actually
The Taipei Times reported last week that housing transactions fell 15.3 percent last month, to under 20,000 units. However, the market boomed for the first eight months of the year, and observers expect it to show growth for the year as a whole. The fall was due to Central Bank intervention. “The negative impact of credit controls grew evident for the third straight month,” said Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) research manager Tseng Ching-ter (曾敬德), according to the report. Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) in October said that the Central Bank implemented selective credit controls in September to cool the housing
These days, CJ Chen (陳崇仁) can be found driving a taxi in and around Hualien. As a way to earn a living, it’s not his first choice. He’d rather be taking tourists to the region’s attractions, but after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region on April 3, demand for driver-guides collapsed. In the eight months since the quake, the number of overseas tourists visiting Hualien has declined by “at least 90 percent, because most of them come for Taroko Gorge, not for the east coast or the East Longitudinal Valley,” he says. Chen estimates the drop in domestic sightseers after the
Dec. 16 to Dec. 22 Growing up in the 1930s, Huang Lin Yu-feng (黃林玉鳳) often used the “fragrance machine” at Ximen Market (西門市場) so that she could go shopping while smelling nice. The contraption, about the size of a photo booth, sprayed perfume for a coin or two and was one of the trendy bazaar’s cutting-edge features. Known today as the Red House (西門紅樓), the market also boasted the coldest fridges, and offered delivery service late into the night during peak summer hours. The most fashionable goods from Japan, Europe and the US were found here, and it buzzed with activity
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