Feiwu Theater re-extracts fragments of past works from its 20-year creative process, and then reinterprets them by dancers of different generations, allowing the old body language to enter a new group dance structure. (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
[Reporter Dong Baiting/Reporting from Taipei] Twenty years ago, Chen Wukang, Su Weijia, and Zhou Shuyi got together to dance. At one time, they felt that their bodies were too different to form a "group dance." Twenty years later, the three of them stood in the same rehearsal venue again, surrounded by dancers who were more than 10 or 20 years younger than them. This time, they decided to magnify the "difference".
Pleasure Dance Theater's new 20th anniversary work "Big Group Dance" will be performed at the Taipei Performing Arts Center on September 12 and 13. 12 dancers span different generations, gathering and separating between solo dances, duos and group dances. It seemed like they were talking about a dance, but what the three founders of the band were talking about was actually a relationship that lasted 20 years. Chen Wukang pointed out in an interview, "Being able to go on for 20 years is a group dance in itself."
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Starting from 20 years of accumulated physical experience, the "Big Group Dance" of Xiwu Theater disassembles and reorganizes past works, allowing the bodies of the past and the present to meet on the same stage. (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
When Xiwu was founded in 2004, several young dancers came together in order to continue to stay in the dance environment. No one had the final say. They gave each other choreographic inspiration and even decided on creation through voting. Suweijia recalled that in the first 10 years, a large part of the journey was "relying on companions"; in the second 10 years, the directions of several people gradually diverged. Some people are choreographing, others are dealing with different issues, and Su Weijia continues to delve into the body. He did not describe this period of time as romantic. Instead, he admitted that he was once "full of jealousy and envy" when he saw other teams' large-scale works that could arrange many dancers to perform vigorously on the stage. So, he began to think: Is it possible for Xiwu to do a real group dance? The work "Large Group Dance" accumulated over 20 years has become part of the answer. From old works such as "Speed", "Bone", "Growing", "Free Step", and "Drums", Su Weijia "fished out" the movements that once existed in three people, and then disassembled them and gave them to the 12 bodies today. Some viewers who are familiar with the dance may recognize the three-person dance in "Speed" and the five-time five-person dance in "Drums"; more parts have been rearranged and grown into another work.
Pleasure Dance Theater's new 20th anniversary production "Big Group Dance" brings together founding veterans, long-term collaborators, new generation dancers and live percussionists. It will be performed at the Taipei Performing Arts Center Ball Theater on September 12 and 13. (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
But facing the body's blunting over time, an unavoidable problem arises: some things that could jump 20 years ago really can't jump now. "There is still some reluctance." Su Weijia did not shy away. He said that the way to deal with it was to find new ways to adjust and reorganize to fill in the parts of the body that could not return to the past after the physical change. To some extent, this may also be innovation due to limitations.
Young dancers join in this history. Zhou Shuyi said that during rehearsals, they will teach the young dancers the previous movements and rules, and also tell them the principles of the movements, but how they present them in the end is determined by their own bodies. "The right of interpretation is still left to the dancers."
This sentence also encounters a more interesting question in "Big Group Dance": When there are already seniors and juniors in the rehearsal hall, is it possible for the collective creation of mutual weaving and mutual strife 20 years ago to still exist? Zuweijia's answer is that creation does not necessarily happen with verbal arguments. The feedback given by the dancer's body will also change the choreography, and he will continue to adjust according to these reactions. 12 people from different generations, so they don’t need to be shaped into the same look. He described that various "landscapes" can appear in group dances, including human landscapes, group landscapes, and landscapes of different states. "Seek common ground in differences, seek differences in common ground." Sometimes the 12 bodies dance like "waves one after another."
"Big Group Dance" allows the dancers to intersect in their own movement paths. Some stand, some lean down, and some move. Through differences, they form what Suweijia calls "seek commonality in difference, and seek difference in sameness." (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
This also forms an interesting contrast with the Phi Dance 20 years ago. When Su Weijia was asked about the characteristics of the dance company, he could not explain his own characteristics. He only knew that "we can dance". He has continued to create for 20 years, and it is only now that he has stepped back some distance that he can gradually identify those recurring body traces. Su Weijia puts it into the larger picture of Taiwanese dance. He said that Cloud Gate is an important part of it, but there is never just one kind of body in Taiwan. Various different puzzle pieces ultimately form a hybrid appearance. "We are one of the representative bodies of Taiwan."
Chen Wukang extended the scale of "group dance" from the stage to time. If a year is one movement, then creating together, developing separately, and people leaving and coming back, 20 years itself is a period of choreography. Therefore, what is left in the end of "Big Group Dance" may not be just how 12 people dance neatly on the stage. 20 years ago, they found it difficult to dance together because of their differences; 20 years later, they finally seem to understand that a group of people can be different and still dance together. Please check the OPENTIX website for details about the performance.
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