Taiwanese Contemporary Dance: From the Chinese Body to Intercultural Corporality

• Autorzy: Łabędzka Izabela
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

This paper is devoted to three “Chinese” dances from the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (Yunmen Wuji) choreographed by Lin Huaimin: The Tale of the White Serpent (Baishe zhuan, 1975), Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng, 1983) and Nine Songs (Jiuge, 1993). The author analyses the dances and their cultural context. The paper traces how the Taiwanese choreographer reaches not only for Chinese topics taken from traditional poetry, prose and religion / mythology but also uses the movement and gestic conventions typical of the Beijing opera. The focal point of the analysis is to show how Lin Huaimin merges them with the Western modern / contemporary dance and classical ballet techniques, Asian dancing traditions, and Japanese butō, thus creating a new form of inter-cultural body aesthetics and a dance theatre which crosses the borders of the arts.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Taiwanese Studies; Asian Studies

• Wydawca: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
• Czasopismo: Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia
• Rocznik: 2015
• Numer: 28
• Strony: 93-112

Daty

wydano

2015-12-01

Twórcy

autor

Łabędzka Izabela

• Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan

Bibliografia

• This article is derived from research conducted as part of a three-year (2009-2012) research project (no N N105 022 636) funded by Polish Ministry of Science and Academic Education / National Centre of Science.
• Contemporary Taiwanese dancer and choreographer, founder of the famous Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (Yunmen Wuji, 1973) and its artistic director.
• A phrase used by Chan Hung Chi, quoted by Chao Yu-ling, “Embodying Identity: The Socio-cultural Significance of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Repertoire (1973-1997) in Taiwanese Society”, in: Lin Huaimin – Wudao Guoji Xueshu Yantaohui lunwenji. Lin Hwai-min. International Dance Conference Proceedings. 2005.8.2-3, Taibei 2005, p.7
• My analysis of the dance is based on the DVD recording The Tale of the White Serpent / Baishe zhuan, Taibei 2003, Jingo Records.
• See entry “Wąż [Snake]”, in: W. Eberhard, Symbole chińskie. Słownik. Obrazkowy język Chińczyków (original title: Lexicon chinesischer Symbole. Die Bildsprache der Chinesen, Kraków 1996, Universitas. pp. 277 -278.
• See entry “Nüwa”, in: Li Huiyang, Deming An, J. Anderson Turner, Handbook of Chinese Mythology, New York 2005, Oxford University Press, p. 174.
• See entry “Naga”, in: S. Schuhmacher, G.. Woerner (eds.), Encyklopedia mądrości Wschodu (original title: Lexicon der östlichen Weisheitslehren), Warszawa 1997, Warszawski Dom Wydawniczy, p. 225.
• W. Eberhard, Symbole chińskie, p. 278.
• Chen Ya-ping, Dance History and Cultural Politics: A Study of Contemporary Dance in Taiwan, 1930s-1997 (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), New York University 2003, p. 89.
• Ibidem, p. 91.
• Ibidem, pp. 97-99.
• Ibidem, p. 92.
• Yu Dagang, „Cong dongwu zai Zhongguo de diwei tan Yunmen Wuji de xin wuju 'Xu Xian'” (Animals in China. About ‘Xu Xian’ − a New Dance of Yunmen Wuji ), in: Yao Yiwei et al., Yunmen wuhua (On Yunmen’s dances), Taibei 1981, Yuanliu Chubanshe, p. 12.
• Chen Ya-ping, Dance History and Cultural Politics…, p. 96.
• Ibidem, pp. 93-100.
• Ibidem, p. 95.
• My analysis of the dance is based on the DVD recording provided by the Yunmen Wuji Archive.in Taibei in 2011. Première: October 31st, 1983 (revised version: 1994), Taibei Shejiaoguan, choreography: Lin Huaimin, music: Lai Te-he (Lai Dehe), stage set: Ming Cho Lee (Li Mingjue), lighting: Lin Keh-hua (Lin Kehua), costumes: Li Jingru.
• Huang Yin-ying, “Lin Hwai-min's Dance Works Inspired by Literature: Nine Songs (1992) and Dream of the Red Chamber (1983), in: Lin Huaimin – Wudao Guoji Xueshu Yantaohui lunwenji, p. 49.
• Ibidem, p. 49.
• Umbrella ia s Buddhist symbol. In China it symbolizes the purity and dignity of an official; during the wedding ceremonies it is used by a bridegroom on his ritual way to his bride; umbrellas are believed to shield people from demons. See W. Eberhard, Symbole chińskie, pp. 190-191.
• Ukyo-e is one of the main genres of Japanese art during Tokugawa era (1603-1867). The images of the floating world, true to their name, depicted life in entertainment districts, figures of courtesans, city life scenes. They were usually woodblock prints which skilfully merged realistic and decorative elements.
• Huang Yin-ying, “Lin Hwai-min's Dance Works Inspired by Literature…” , p. 49
• Ibidem, p. 49.
• Lin Yatin C., “Dancing in the Age of Globalisation – Cloud gate Dance Theatre and the Political Economy of Touring”, in: Chen Ya-ping, Chao Chi-fang (eds.), Dance Studies and Taiwan: The Prospect of a New Generation, Taibei 2001, Guoli Zhong Zheng Wenhua Zhongxin / National Chang Kai-Shek Cultural Center, p. 205.
• See entry “Lotos [Lotus]”, in: S. Schuhmacher, G. Woerner (eds.), Encyklopedia mądrości Wschodu, pp. 198-199.
• See entry “Woda [Water]”, in: W. Kopaliński, Słownik symboli, Warszawa 1990, Wiedza Powszechna, pp. 475-479.
• See entry “Woda [Water]” W. Eberhard, Symbole chińskie, pp. 287-288.
• See J. Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge 1980, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2, p. 132-139 and L. Wasiliew, Kulty, religie i tradycje Chin, Warszawa 1974, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, pp. 74-78.
• See chapter “Shamanism and Politics”, in: K.C. Chang, Art, Myth and Ritual. The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China, Cambridge, Mass., London 1953, pp. 44-53 and M. Eliade, Szamanizm i archaiczne techniki ekstazy [original title: Le chamanisme et les techniques archaїques de l’extase], Warszawa 1994, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, p. 442-444.
• See J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China, Leiden 1910, E.J. Brill, vol. VI, p. 1195.
• A. Waley, The Nine Songs. A study of Shamanism in Ancient China, London 1956, George Allen and Unwin Ltd., p.11.
• My analysis of the dance is based on the DVD recording Jiuge / Nine Songs, Taibei 2003, JingoRecords. Première: August 10th, 1993, Taibei Guojia Juchang / National Theatre in Taibei, choreography: Lin Huaimin, music: Taiwanese and Asian folk music, music arrangement: Qu Xiaosong, stage set: Ming Cho Lee (Li Mingjue), lighting: Lin Keh-hua (Lin Kehua), costumes: Lin Huaimin, Lo Ruey-chi (Luo Ruiqi), masks: Lin Shufen, Wang Junyao, projections: Zhang Huiwen.
• Huang Yin-ying, “Lin Hwai-min's Dance Works Inspired by Literature…”, pp. 47-48.
• Lin Yatin C., “Dancing in the Age of Globalisation…” p. 205-206.
• Ibidem, p. 206.
• Jiang Xun, Wudong Jiuge (Dancing Nine Songs), Taibei 2007, Yuanliu Chuban Shiye Gufen Youxian Gongsi, p. 126.
• Lin Yatin C., “Dancing in the Age of Globalisation…” p. 206.
• See entry “Siming”, in: S. Schuhmacher, G.. Woerner (eds.), Encyklopedia mądrości Wschodu, pp. 306-307.
• Gamelan - “the indigenous orchestra type of the islands of Java and Bali, in Indonesia, consisting largely of several varieties of gongs and various sets of tuned metal instruments that are struck with mallets. The gongs are either suspended vertically or, as with the knobbed-centre, kettle-shaped gongs of the bonang, placed flat. Percussive melodic instruments include the bonang, the xylophone (gambang kayu), and various metallophones (instruments with a series of tuned metal plates, either suspended over a resonance trough or on resonance tubes). A sustained melody is played either by the bamboo flute (suling) or by a bowed stringed instrument (rebab) or is sung—the last especially when, as often occurs, the gamelan is used to accompany theatrical performances, or wayang. The voice is then part of the orchestral texture. Dominating these two groups of instruments is the drum (kendang), which unites them and acts as leader.” [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2002, CD-ROM.]
• See Z. Kalnická, “Woda [Water]”, in K. Wilkoszewska (ed.), Estetyka czterech żywiołów. Ziemia, woda, ogień, powietrze (Aesthetics of Four Elements. Earth,Water, Fire, Air), Kraków 2002, Universitas, p. 78.
• Ibidem, p. 80.
• Ibidem, p. 96.
• Joyce Chi-hui Liu, “The Religious Icons in the Culture and the Goddess in Contemporary Taiwan Dance Theatre”, www.srcs.nctu.edu/tw/JoyceLiu/mworks/mw-taiwantheatre/dancetheater.htm [access:10.02.2010].
• Ibidem.
• Jiang Xun, Wudong Jiuge, pp. 152-159.
• S. Blakeley Klein, Ankoku Butō. The Premodern and Postmodern Influence on the Dance of Utter Darkness, Ithaca, N.Y. 1988, Cornell University Press, p. 47.
• Ibidem, pp. 47-48.
• S. Horton Fraleigh, Dancing into Darkness. Butoh, Zen and Japan, Pittsburgh 1999, University of Pittsburgh Press, p. 26.
• Ibidem, p. 25.
• Huang Yin-ying, “Lin Hwai-min's Dance Works Inspired by Literature…”, p. 51.