Theater
Dancer/choreographer Lin Wen-chung (林文中) and his WCdance troupe begin their first national tour this weekend in Kaohsiung with Small, the show that launched the company last year (see Page 13 of the Taipei Times on Dec. 12, 2008 for the preview of this piece and Page 13 on Dec. 22, 2008 for the review). Small is a finely crafted gem. Lin confines the dancers to a plexiglass cube for the bulk of the evening, yet creates a wide world of possibilities within that small space, all set to a driving techno beat.
■ Tomorrow at 7:30pm at Tsoying Boy’s High School dance theater (高雄左營高中舞蹈班劇場), 55, Haikung Rd, Kaohsiung (高雄市左營區海公路55號); Nov. 20 7:30pm, Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 at 2:30pm at the Children’s Educational Center Theater of the Taipei Cultural Center, Wenshan Branch (台北市社教館文山分館兒童劇場), B2, 32 Jingwen St, Taipei City (台北市景文街32號B2); Dec. 4 at 7:30pm and Dec. 5 at 2:30pm and 7:30 pm at the Experimental Theater at No. 20 Warehouse, Taichung (台中二十號倉庫實驗劇場), 6-1, Ln 37, Fuxing Rd Sec 4, Taichung City (台中市復興路四段37巷6-1號)
■ Tickets are NT$350 for Kaohsiung and Taichung shows, NT$500 for the Taipei shows, available at www.artstickets.com.tw or NTCH outlets
Billed as the first Taiwanese Aboriginal musical, Ciwas (吉娃斯－迷走山林) tells the story of an adventure of three Taiya (泰雅族) youths, who save the forest and a kidnapped friend from the invading Japanese army. Directed by Fu Hung-cheng (符宏征), the musical aims to appeal to young audiences with cast of young pop singers including Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) and Afalean Lu (盧學叡).
■ National Theater, Taipei City
■ Tonight at 7:30pm, tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$3,000, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
In collaboration with the National Culture and Arts Foundation (國家文化藝術基金會), the National Theater and Concert Hall is staging a series of dance and theater performances to showcase emerging talent. Yong Stars, New Vision 209 — Dance I (舞蹈-與私密絮語) is the first installment of the series and features works by choreographers Lee Kuo-chih (李國治), Chen Wei-ning (陳維寧) and Yang Nai-hsuan (楊乃璇).
■ Experimental Theater, Taipei City
■ Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$300, available through NTCH ticketing or online at
www.artsticket.com.tw
Flamenco dancers and musicians from local flamenco group Compania Flamenca are putting on four performances tomorrow night at Saffron, a venue for ethnic dance.
■ Saffron Flamenco Studio (蕃紅花佛朗明哥表演廳), 2, Ln 142, Nanya S Rd Sec 2 Banciao City, Taipei County (台北縣板橋市南雅南路二段142巷2號). Tel: (02) 8967-5937. On the Net: tw.myblog.yahoo.com/gina-saffron
■ Tomorrow at 8pm
■ Tickets are NT$350 and include a drink
Bean Theatre (豆子劇團) invites children and their parents to take a journey to a far-away insect kingdom with its latest production, Bell Runner No. 28 (蜻蜓二八).
■ Novel Hall (新舞臺), 3-1 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路3-1號)
■ Tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
■ Tickets are NT$300 and NT$800, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
On Sunday, Tellus Theatre begins Workshop 3, a series of workshops held on seven Sundays for a total of 28 hours of training. The workshops will be conducted in English and cover such exercises as major-minor, rhythm and repetition in movements with music, and playing with masks. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing. To register, send an e-mail to tellus_drama@yahoo.com.tw, or call Nita at 0982-204-577 or Daniel Ingi Petursson 0981-472-451.
■ O Space (圓場排練室), 1-8, Ln 34, Quanzhou St, Taipei City (台北市泉州街34巷1-8號)
■ Sundays from 2pm to 6pm. Starts this Sunday
■ NT$2,500 for the entire course, NT$1,800 for students
Classical music
Toyota Classical Music Series 20th Anniversary Concert: Prague Chamber Orchestra (豐田古典音樂會二十週年 — 布拉格室內管弦樂團) brings the world-renowned Prague Chamber Orchestra to Taiwan to perform in a single concert under conductor Charles Olivieri-Munroe and featuring soprano Marie Fajtova. The program will include operatic selections include Mozart’s Overture to “Don Giovanni” and arias from Cosi fan Tutte, Beethoven’s Overture to “Die Geschopfe des Prometheus, and Song of the Moon from Dvorak’s opera Rusalka.
■ Monday at 7:30pm
■ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,500, available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw
NSO 2009 Halloween Concert (NSO2009萬聖派對) features the National Symphony Orchestra (國家交響樂團) performing a selection of classical music pieces appropriate to the season, including the theme music from the movie Batman and John Williams’ soundtrack to Dracula.
■ Today and tomorrow at 7:30pm
■ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$1,000, available through NTCH ticketing or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
E1002 Plays Steve Reich (Steve Reich的極簡主義 — 擊簡E1002) is a concert showcasing the work of Steve Reich, one of the early pioneers of minimalist music. The program is performed by the percussion duo E1002 and features works including Music for Pieces of Wood, Piano Phrase and Clapping Music.
■ Wednesday at 7:30pm
■ National Recital Hall, Taipei City
■ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$600, available through NTCH ticketing or online at
www.artsticket.com.tw
Contemporary
Tonight the The Wall (這牆) pays tribute to the New York rock club CBGB with performances from neo-folk singer and actress Enno Cheng (鄭宜農), rockers H!Jack, grunge band Kook (庫克) and Until Seeing Whale’s Eyes (直到看見鯨魚的眼睛). Disco-funk rockers Cosmos People (宇宙人) take the stage tomorrow. On Sunday it’s post-punk rockers My Skin Against Your Skin, Crystal Dancer (舞璃), who spins a mix of electronic melodic metal, psychedelic trance and new breakbeats, and the Blue Velvets (藍絲絨). On Wednesday the venue hosts noise band Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車), Pleasure Science (愉悅科學) and indie rockers Boyz and Girl, which features the sweet, high-pitched voice of Ban Ban (斑斑).
■ B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Tel: (02) 2930-0162. On the Net: www.thewall.com.tw
■ Music shows start at 8pm tonight, 8pm and 11pm tomorrow, 8pm Sunday and 8pm Wednesday
■ Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow and NT$300 on Sunday and Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased online at www.thewall.com.tw or
tickets.books.com.tw
Metamorphosis (變形蟲爵士樂團), a veteran jazz group that mixes Western music with traditional Taiwanese folk music, appears tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留言). Tomorrow indie-rockers Love Manana (愛的大未來) open for pop-punk rockers The Fen-Fens (紛紛樂團). Acoustic pop group Anniedora (安妮朵拉) and pop-ska group Pops Candy (跳跳糖) appear on Sunday. Monday is the venue’s weekly open jam.
■ 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).
Tel: (02) 2368-7310. On the Net:
www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 9:30pm tonight and 9pm tomorrow, Sunday and Monday. Open jam starts at 9pm
■ Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight and tomorrow, NT$350 on Sunday and NT$150 on Monday
Tonight at Riverside Live House (西門紅樓展演館), indie-rock band Totem (圖騰) throws a concert to celebrate the release of its latest CD, The Boy Who Cried Wolf (放羊的孩子). Tomorrow is an evening of hip-hop with Double Jump and Da Xi Men (大囍門). On Thursday folk rocker Connie Lu (呂莘) opens for folk-rock act Hsiao Nan and Friends (小南and Friends).
■ 177 Xining S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路177號). Tel: (02) 2370-8805.
On the Net: www.riverside.com.tw
■ Shows start at 8:30pm
■ Entrance fee is NT$400 tonight, tomorrow and Thursday. Tickets can purchased online through www.riverside.com.tw/livehouse or tickets.books.com.tw
Tonight Underworld (地下社會) hosts two Japanese bands, new wave punk group Six O’Minus and Ground Cover. Also appearing is indie-rock outfit Varo. Tomorrow night Black Summer Days (黑色夏日) and veteran underground rockers Celluloid (賽璐璐) take to the stage. Later on, it’s the venue’s Halloween Party presented by Back 2 the Future (B2TF, 回到未來), which includes sets by DJs Discoattack, Spykee Fat and Ariel Zheng (鄭思齊) of Go Chic, among others. Post-rock group Psycho and XOXO perform on Wednesday.
■ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Tel: (02) 2369-0103.
On the Net: www.upsaid.com/underworld
■ Music shows run from 9:30pm to 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 9pm to 11pm on Wednesdays. Tomorrow’s Halloween Party starts at midnight ■ Entrance is NT$300 tonight and tomorrow and includes one drink, NT$100 on Wednesday. The Halloween party is NT$100 with a free drink for the first 50 people with costumes
Flaneur Daguerre, a jazz quartet that plays everything Bach to Bjork and Ornette Coleman to the Ramones, performs tonight at Sappho de Base. Tomorrow it’s
party favorites The Kenyatta Quartet. The Emo Jazz Trio appears on Tuesday, and DD Fujasion Quartet plays fusion on Wednesday. Orbit Folks, which mixes Balkan and Mediterranean folk with jazz, performs on Thursday.
■ B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Tel: (02) 2700-5411. On the Net:
www.sappho102.biz
■ Music shows begin at 10:30pm on weekends, 10pm on weekdays. Sappho is closed on Sundays and Mondays
■ Entrance is free
Tonight 89k in Taichung welcomes back former resident Brad Whitmore of folk-rock group the Black Lung Inner City Choir. Tomorrow, the venue’s Halloween party features garage rockers The Deadly Vibes, expat comedy rock band Crome Relic, and post-punk rockers My Skin Against Your Skin.
■ 21 Daguan Rd, Nantun Dist, Taichung City (台中市南屯區大觀路21號)
■ Shows start at 10pm
■ Entrance is NT$300
Tomorrow night, Roxy Roots hosts a Halloween party featuring funk-rock group Slow Motion and Colombian reggae duo The Warm-Ups, reggae and ska favorites Skaraoke, and High Tide. Revelers can win prizes including free beer by bobbing for apples. Best costume wins a cash prize of NT$5,000.
■ 90 Songren Rd, Taipei City (台北市松仁路90號), Tel: (02) 2725-3932.
On the Net: www.roxy.com.tw
■ Show starts at 9:30pm tomorrow
■ Entrance is NT$350, includes a drink
The Other Side closes for business after its Halloween party. No cover charge for those wearing costumes tomorrow.
■ B1, 20, Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北 市松壽路20號B1). Tel: (02) 2723-3257.
On the Net: www.roxy.com.tw
■ Open tonight and tomorrow from 10pm until 4am
■ Entrance fee is NT$300, free for those wearing costumes tomorrow
In 1990, Amy Chen (陳怡美) was beginning third grade in Calhoun County, Texas, as the youngest of six and the only one in her family of Taiwanese immigrants to be born in the US. She recalls, “my father gave me a stack of typed manuscript pages and a pen and asked me to find typos, missing punctuation, and extra spaces.” The manuscript was for an English-learning book to be sold in Taiwan. “I was copy editing as a child,” she says. Now a 42-year-old freelance writer in Santa Barbara, California, Amy Chen has only recently realized that her father, Chen Po-jung (陳伯榕), who
Jan. 6 to Jan. 12 Perhaps hoping to gain the blessing of the stone-age hunter-gatherers that dwelt along the east coast 30,000 years ago, visitors to the Baxian Caves (八仙洞) during the 1970s would grab a handful of soil to bring home. In January 1969, the nation was captivated by the excavation of pre-ceramic artifacts and other traces of human habitation in several caves atop a sea cliff in Taitung County. The majority of the unearthed objects were single-faced, unpolished flake tools fashioned from natural pebbles collected by the shore. While archaeologists had found plenty of neolithic (7,000 BC to 1,700
Famed Chinese demographer Yi Fuxian (易富賢) recently wrote for The Diplomat on the effects of a cross-strait war on demography. He contended that one way to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is by putting the demographic issue front and center — last year total births in the PRC, he said, receded to levels not seen since 1762. Yi observes that Taiwan’s current fertility rate is already lower than Ukraine’s — a nation at war that is refusing to send its young into battle — and that its “demographic crisis suggests that Taiwan’s technological importance will rapidly decline, and
When the weather is too cold to enjoy the white beaches and blue waters of Pingtung County’s Kenting (墾丁), it’s the perfect time to head up into the hills and enjoy a different part of the national park. In the highlands above the bustling beach resorts, a simple set of trails treats visitors to lush forest, rocky peaks, billowing grassland and a spectacular bird’s-eye view of the coast. The rolling hills beyond Hengchun Township (恆春) in Pingtung County offer a two-hour through-hike of sweeping views from the mighty peak of Dajianshih Mountain (大尖石山) to Eluanbi Lighthouse (鵝鑾鼻燈塔) on the coast, or
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