DFT reshapes Taiwan’s modern dance landscape

2019/12/02

Homegrown troupes such as Dance Forum Taipei are breaking out of a stylistic rut while providing a globally inclusive platform for choreographers and performers to share experiences and boost cooperation.
 
 Founded in 1984 as Taipei Dance Workshop by artistic director Ping Heng, Crown Theater-based DFT is now considered a fully professional outfit. “We invited various Taiwan choreographers to work with us in our first five years,” she said, adding that no other troupe in the country offered so many opportunities to local talents.
 
 DFT has retained its experimental edge largely due to creative figurehead Yang Ming-lung. From 2000 through 2005, the troupe featured a series of works by then artistic director Yang inspired by traditional performance arts like glove puppetry and Peking opera.

Yang’s leadership saw DFT make its first tour of Europe in 2002, following on from previous overseas performances in Southeast Asia and the U.S. The visit forged lasting links resulting in the company’s first international co-production “The Unreality of Time,” which was released in 2012 in collaboration with Netherlands-based Korzo Theater and choreographed by Spain’s Marina Mascarell.
 
 To date, the group has performed pieces by 56 domestic and foreign choreographers while touring in 39 cities abroad. DFT’s reputation has attracted some of the industry’s best to work on the group’s productions, including Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun, who orchestrated the music for the 2015 production “Hui,” and Lin Ching-ru, a costume designer and winner of the National Award for Arts.
 
 According to Ping, DFT has also partnered with leading lights from outside the dance industry such as architects. “We always want to try new things and enjoy having our expectations subverted,” she said.

2020 scheduled productions continue DFT’s long-standing commitment to original ideas. In May, it presented a multipart work with each section choreographed by one of the troupe’s former or current dancers. Collectively titled “Jiang,” an improvised Chinese word suggesting the group’s resilience, the seven-segment piece explored subjects like the contrast between reality and fantasy, as well as the consequences of media misinformation.
 
 In the three decades since DFT’s formation, the company has worked to develop talent at home. It has also looked outside of Taiwan, which is why the troupe chose to collaborate with three international choreographers for its 30th anniversary celebrations.
 
 After Japan’s Toru Shimazaki, who the group first worked with in 2007, next year will see further productions by Tokyo-based all-male outfit Condors as well as long-time partner Mascarell.
 
 DFT’s success means it is set to grow to an unprecedented 12 full-time members by year-end. And starting in April 2020, the group plans to tour an estimated 100 local schools by the end of that year—an experience enabling all members to share the stories behind their dances while providing a rare opportunity for students to study under their tutelage.

As DFT continues to grow in size and influence, Ping is confident it will stay true to its principles. “We’ll always be an inclusive platform for choreographers and artists from around the world searching for a place they can truly express themselves,” she said.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)