Cloud Gate 2 (雲門2) returned to the Joyce Theater in New York on Wednesday night with the US premiere of the award-winning On the Road.
Choreographed by the troupe’s associate artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍), the piece won Cheng the Taishin Arts Award for Performing Arts in May last year and Best Group at Premio Roma Danza’s 1st International Choreographic Competition in July 2011.
The piece features elements from contemporary dance and Taiwanese religious rituals based on those of traditional temples, which Cheng hopes can offer audiences a unique way of experiencing two art forms and two cultures at once.
Photo: AFP
“It is clear and simple in the best way possible. You understand his intent from the moment you see it,” Joyce Theater executive director Linda Shelton said after Wednesday night’s show.
Shelton, who was a judge for for last year’s Taishin Arts Awards, was impressed by the piece, which she said merges light and shadow with rich and inventive movement.
Cheng said the inspiration for the piece, which fuses Eastern and Western elements, came to him in 2010, when he was literally “on the road” traveling in China’s Yunnan Province with two Cloud Gate 2 dancers, Chiang Pao-shu (江保樹) and Luo Sih-wei (駱思維).
Although the three men share similar backgrounds, they have different personalities, Cheng said, describing Luo as a perfectionist and Chiang as more laid back. Their similarities and differences helped Cheng to see different sides of himself, he said.
The score combines Taiwanese folk songs, traditional Naxi and Islamic music and Tom Waits songs.
On the Road is the second piece from Cloud Gate 2 to be put on at the Joyce Theater, where it will run through Sunday. The troupe made their New York debut in February last year, performing four works, including Cheng’s The Wall.
Cloud Gate 2 was founded in 1999 by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) founder and artistic director Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) and prominent dancer and teacher Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲).
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS