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Taiwanese stage artists to perform at New York's Lincoln Center |
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06 July 2007 |
The Contemporary Legend Theater (CLT, 當代傳奇劇場) will take part in this year's Lincoln Center Festival in New York featuring three pieces from the theater's famed repertoire: The Tipsy Concubine (貴妃醉酒), Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬) and King Lear (李爾在此). The troupe will appear at the center between 10 and 12 July.
CLT's contemporary Chinese traditional opera was touted as "the dazzle of Peking opera with the strengths of Western realism" by The Guardian of London. Two well-known performers from CLT, Wei Hai-ming (魏海敏) and Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國) are the center of focus at this year's festival. Both dancers have been highly-praised for their unique onstage movements that fuse rich messages into the narratives of plays.
Wei, winner of the Plum Flower Award, the highest honor in Beijing opera, is the leading actress in both The Tipsy Concubine (貴妃醉酒) and Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬).
Wu, the founder and artistic director of CLT, will perform his soliloquy King Lear (李爾在此) in which he plays up to ten different roles throughout the 120-minute production. This one-man version of Shakespeare's King Lear, is Wu's personal rendition of the classic play in which he makes use of the archetypal characters of Beijing opera.
Lin Keh-hua (林克華), one of the most sought-after stage designers in Taiwan, oversees the lighting and stage settings and creates a simple set, bringing the performers rather than the stage props to the center of focus.
Based on traditional Peking Opera's uncluttered design, Lin establishes a stage with overwhelming tension and energy.
The dancing of Wu Hsing-kuo and another Taiwanese primary dancer Sheu Fang-Yi (許芳宜) will also be in the spotlight in another area of the festival, as part of a display of video installation works by American photographer David Michalek.
Michalek's hi-def videos of dancers, called Slow Dancing, features images of some of the most celebrated dancers of the 21st century which will be projected on to the facade of New York State Theater at the Lincoln Center starting 10 July.
Michalek is well-known for his multi-disciplinary installations that often involve collaborations with individuals or groups.
Sheu is one of this year's National Award for Arts (國家文藝獎) recipients and was the leading dancer in the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (雲門舞集) between 1998 and 2003. She recently retired from the Martha Graham Dance Company where she spent the last decade performing as the principle dancer.
Sheu recently took up an invitation from The Baryshnikov Art Center to become a village artist, staying in the center for eight weeks and making her own dance creations. She is the only Asian recipient to the center's honorary invitation this year.
Written by Fang-hsun Yeh/Culture.tw with CNA
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Last Updated ( 06 July 2007 )
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