Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre

The  Joyce Theater
The Joyce Theater: 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street

Feb. 5-9, 2003
Life of Mandala

Artistic Director: Lin Hsiu-wei
Leading Dancer: Wu Hsing-kuo



http://www.joyce.org/taigu03.html

Le Figaro: "Besides Pina Bausch and Robert Wilson, we got to see some new and charming things with Tai-Gu."

Le Figaro: "…the dancers were unbelievably lithe and resilient! Dancer Lin Hsiu-Wei had a charm all her own."

Taipei Cultural Center
99 Park Avenue
Suite 1540
NY, NY 10016
Tel: 212-697-6188
Fax: 212-697-6303

For Immediate Release
Please contact:
June Huang at 212-697-6188 (104)
Duo-lin Peng at 212-697-6188 (105)

Tai-gu Tales Dance Theater
The Life of Mandala
Date: February 5-8, 2003 at 8:00 p.m.
Feb. 8 & 9, 2003 at 2:00 p.m.
Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Photo call: Feb. 5, 3:00 p.m.
Humanities: Feb. 6 after the performance
The Joyce Theater: 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street
JOYCECHARGE: 212-242-0800, www.joyce.org
Single Tickets: $35, Joyce Members:  $25

New York, NY (Dec. 16, 2002)---Presented by the Taipei Cultural Center in association with the Joyce Theater, the Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre will perform The Life of Mandala Feb. 5-9 at The Joyce Theater at 175 Eighth Avenue, New York City. .

Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre is quite literally the result of a marriage of two disciplines:  contemporary dance and Peking opera. When artistic Director Hsiu-wei Lin, formerly a principal dancer with Cloud Gate Dance Theater, married Peking opera star Hsing-kuo Wu, they established a dance company, the Tai-gu Tales Dance Theater, and a theater company, Contemporary Legend Theatre, both incorporating these two disciplines.

Life of Mandala, was born out of tragedy but is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.  When Ms. Lin produced The Kingdom of Desire, a Peking opera version of Macbeth, a talented stage designer, also a friend of Ms. Lin, fell from the lighting truss, resulting in his immediate death. This tragedy prompted Ms. Lin to engage in deep contemplation about life, eventually inspiring the Life of Mandala. As Ms. Lin explained "That accident destroyed my belief in the idea that 'Man will conquer Nature.'" Her consciousness fell into this state of indulgent and silent darkness until she read works of religious philosophy from India, and tried to search for a way toward self-awakening and liberation. From the Mandala images, the central image of Buddha is expanded and scattered into infinite Buddhist reflections.  Finally, she realized that continuing and unceasing life is the natural and universal rule, and also the essence of artistic creation.

Mandala is defined as "the true word", "the essence"," real meaning" and "sanctuary."  Mandalas symbolize true vitality.  Thus, Life of Mandala is a dance work searching for the essence of life and transcending suffering in images of the human body. The work is a dance in four parts:
1. Sublimation: My soul thirsts for purity.
2.   The World of Desires: Oh, motherland!  I am only a traveler among the mountains.
3. Awakening: The tears fall silently in the dark night.
4. Buddhist Chanting: The light of heaven penetrates our hearts and minds.

Life of Mandala has been presented at the Festival of Chateauvallon, France (1994) Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany (1996), Cultura Nova, Heerlen, Holland (1996), Die Werkstatt, Dusseldorf, Germany (1996), and the Spoleto Festival USA, South Carolina, USA (1997), among other venues.

All of Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre's female dancers have received modern dance training, while the male dancers were Chinese opera actors.  Hsiu-Wei Lin also trained all of the dancers in three stages of technique:  The first stage, the "babies of the universe" (as it is referred to by Ms. Lin), uses soft, organic and meditative movements.  The second stage tries to capture and imitate animal movements with expansion and explosion.  The third stage aims to search for the self with techniques of concentration and relaxation.  In searching and exploring a pure and original dance style, Lin tried to achieve a unity of form based on her inner spirit.

The Taipei Cultural Center, originally operated as the Taipei Theater, continues to present companies from Taiwan in association with other local and national organizations. These performances are made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Council for Cultural Affairs, Executive Yuan, R.O.C.

For ticket information, please contact: JOYCECHARGE: 212-242-0800, www.joyce.org