In 2012, WCdance was invited by Carrie Hanson, the artist director of THE SELDOMS, to visit the Chicago-based dance company. The two companies were thus brought together by The Small Series, through which they started a one-month collaborative project from idea sharing, rehearsals, to the final presentation. In the project, Wenchung Lin and Carrie Hanson exchanged their dancers, choreographing and working with each other’s company. Sometimes, they even shared the same stage. The final pieces were showcased in Chicago and Taiwan.
THE SELDOMS is one of the most well-known and established dance companies in Chicago. With its dance performances in warehouses, abandoned swimming pools, and uninhabited buildings, THE SELDOMS makes a statement on social issues as it also challenges audience’s previous theatrical experiences with its clear-edged style. Carrie Hanson has choregraphed over twenty pieces for THE SELDOMS, including interdiscplinary works mixed with music, architecture, visual images, public art, and so on. She is a dedicated dancer educator as well. Chicago’s local media has described her as “an artist who really performs for Chicago.”
Carrie Hanson is known for integrating social issues into dance works. In Exit Disclaimer: Science and Fiction Ahead (excerpts), her choreographic work staged with Taiwanese dancers of WCdance, touches upon the subjects about climate change and overconsumption as symbolized by the giant electric fans and the donuts on stage. The physical expressions in her works are very American – exaggerative, over-reactive, and agitated–, making a sharp contrast to Wenchung Lin’s subtle and perceptive movements. Dancers in her work are thus allowed to open up to a totally different performance style.
Unlike the social concern in Carrie Hanson’s work, Wenchung Lin’s works are based on his life fantasy. The Western dancers of THE SELDOMS become the adorable “otaku” (a Japanese term for “geeks” or people obsessed with anime and manga) in Otaku’s Beach, holding blue beach towel printed with red goldfish and making some “otaku” poses. In Lin’s another piece Small River, the inpisration originates from the young composer Liu Chun-De’s adaptation of the folksong Scenes of Wuxi, where Liu puts the thunder sound in the melody to expand the musical possibility of traditional instruments such as guzheng, pipa, and sheng. In Lin’s subtle and precise choreographic style, the physical and the musical movements respond to each other, allowing dancers with different cultural backgrounds to interpret how the modern approaches the traditional. The granduer of the stage scene almost makes us forget that there are only six dancers on stage.
Wenchung Lin has described the project as “a journey away from home,” for that “marching toward the world is the only way out for Taiwan’s modern dance companies.” It well explains why he makes such a great effort for any opportunity of internaitonal collaboration or performances.
【ARTICLES】
Choreography: Wen-Chung Lin and Carrie Hanson
Lighting Designer: Tzu-Yen Huang
Costume Designer: Yu-Fen Tsai
Graphic Designer: David Lai
Stage Designer: Tzu-Yen Huang
Photographer: Kuan-Yu Chen (Chicago), David Tsai (Taipei)
Dancers: Yen-Chi Huang, Hsin-Yu Chen, Ren-Zhong Lin, Hua-Bao Chien, Wei-Han Li, Philip Elson, Damon D. Green, Javier Marchan Ramos, Amanda McAlister, Bruce Ortiz, Cara Sabin
THE SELDOMS is one of the most well-known and established dance companies in Chicago. With its dance performances in warehouses, abandoned swimming pools, and uninhabited buildings, THE SELDOMS makes a statement on social issues as it also challenges audience’s previous theatrical experiences with its clear-edged style. Carrie Hanson has choregraphed over twenty pieces for THE SELDOMS, including interdiscplinary works mixed with music, architecture, visual images, public art, and so on. She is a dedicated dancer educator as well. Chicago’s local media has described her as “an artist who really performs for Chicago.”
Carrie Hanson is known for integrating social issues into dance works. In Exit Disclaimer: Science and Fiction Ahead (excerpts), her choreographic work staged with Taiwanese dancers of WCdance, touches upon the subjects about climate change and overconsumption as symbolized by the giant electric fans and the donuts on stage. The physical expressions in her works are very American – exaggerative, over-reactive, and agitated–, making a sharp contrast to Wenchung Lin’s subtle and perceptive movements. Dancers in her work are thus allowed to open up to a totally different performance style.
Unlike the social concern in Carrie Hanson’s work, Wenchung Lin’s works are based on his life fantasy. The Western dancers of THE SELDOMS become the adorable “otaku” (a Japanese term for “geeks” or people obsessed with anime and manga) in Otaku’s Beach, holding blue beach towel printed with red goldfish and making some “otaku” poses. In Lin’s another piece Small River, the inpisration originates from the young composer Liu Chun-De’s adaptation of the folksong Scenes of Wuxi, where Liu puts the thunder sound in the melody to expand the musical possibility of traditional instruments such as guzheng, pipa, and sheng. In Lin’s subtle and precise choreographic style, the physical and the musical movements respond to each other, allowing dancers with different cultural backgrounds to interpret how the modern approaches the traditional. The granduer of the stage scene almost makes us forget that there are only six dancers on stage.
Wenchung Lin has described the project as “a journey away from home,” for that “marching toward the world is the only way out for Taiwan’s modern dance companies.” It well explains why he makes such a great effort for any opportunity of internaitonal collaboration or performances.
【ARTICLES】
Choreography: Wen-Chung Lin and Carrie Hanson
Lighting Designer: Tzu-Yen Huang
Costume Designer: Yu-Fen Tsai
Graphic Designer: David Lai
Stage Designer: Tzu-Yen Huang
Photographer: Kuan-Yu Chen (Chicago), David Tsai (Taipei)
Dancers: Yen-Chi Huang, Hsin-Yu Chen, Ren-Zhong Lin, Hua-Bao Chien, Wei-Han Li, Philip Elson, Damon D. Green, Javier Marchan Ramos, Amanda McAlister, Bruce Ortiz, Cara Sabin