Body swings like a narrow stream and rushes like a broad river. Between them, dancers are nearly drowned in their sweat, as the longest day of body is reflected in the simmering waters of the meandering rivers. Long River, WCdance’s production in 2014, marks the transformation of the dance company, as explained by Wenchung Lin that “I want to return to bigger venues, although that’s where I came from – after spending some time doing works for smaller venues, how to pack it up and bring it back is what I have been thinking about.”
Still waters dun deep, bringing changes to the company
It seems that Wenchung Lin has shown some obsession with the image of water. In 2009, he choreographed the piece Reflections on a Lake for Taipei Folk Dance Theatre’s annual production Dancing Portrait of Taiwan, in which water shimmers like a mirror reflection dancing in the misty sound of the Nanguan music. In 2012, he worked with dancers from Chicago’s The Seldoms in Small River, exploring and deconstructing the image of water. In 2014, he announces his change in Long River, hoping that the dance company will have a long and promising future like how still waters run deep. “I want the body in Small End flowing like a river, which flows toward the future, and it is why Long River is created,” says Lin.
Therefore, we find traces of the subtle movements stimulated by the experimental thinking in Small End (2013), while the well-tuned body which shows its highly existence in its breath is integrated into the pure dance what Wenchung Lin has been famous for. The final work carries the expectations of an artist to embrace the artistic vision targeting medium/large-sized theatre, to digest what he has experienced while working in a smaller venue, to polish the artistic pursuit of the dance company, and to move forward to a bigger production.
It is also noticeable that the constant changes of river are not only shown in the dancers’ physical dynamics but also the music’s spectrum. Music designer Lee Shih-Yang and Ka Dao Yin (aka Caught Up In), the music improvisation ensemble which has just won a 2014 Golden Melody Award for Traditional Arts and Music, make the music swim between melody and atonal sounds, inexplicitly evoking surrealistic emotions around the space as a boat traveling in an unknown river – misty when it remains still and shimmering when it rushes.
“No body, no company,” and vice versa
On the other hand, the water images in his works represent how Wenchung Lin explores the mother culture and the “pan-Asian body,” which can be further traced back to his folk dance training. The Western experience in Bill T. Jones when he stayed in the USA forced him to question his own identity between tradition and modernity, resulting in the series works where the artist searched for his true self in the mother culture through water reflection. “The first question is how to differentiate my works from Cloud Gate and Taipei Folk Dance Theatre when we are all trying to bring the Western and the Eastern together,” says Lin, who confesses that there is no shortcut to find an answer. However, as long as something interesting comes up for him to dig into once in a while, he can continue the journey.
As for the reality, Wenchung Lin expresses his worry that Taiwanese always focus on short-term achievements without any patience for long-term projects, so it will be very difficult to organize medium/large-sized productions as he tries to maintain a professional dance company. Now, he is even pushing himself to another level in terms of the size of the company. “How long can we hang on?!” He asks as if it were a joke. Nevertheless, he still believes that it is necessary to explore the “body” in dancing, expects WCdance to become a bigger and more stable professional dance company, wishes to provide better wages and promises for dancers, and focuses on the exploration of body to make his works lasting.
ARTICLES
Premiere Date: Oct 17, 2014
Performance Venue: Wellspring Theate
Artistic Director/ Choreography: Wen-Chung Lin
Dancer: Wei-Han Li, Hui-Chieh Hsu, Tsun-Jen Tung, Cheng-An Wu, Pei-Fen Lin, Hsiang-Yu Chan, Chia-Ying Chiang
Technical Director: Kevin C.Y Lee
Costume Designer: Yu-Teh Yang
Lighting Designer:Yung-Hung Sung
Sound Designer: Shih-Yang Lee
Graphic Designer: David Lai
Photographer: You-Wei Chen
Video Production: Kuan-Yu Chen
Still waters dun deep, bringing changes to the company
It seems that Wenchung Lin has shown some obsession with the image of water. In 2009, he choreographed the piece Reflections on a Lake for Taipei Folk Dance Theatre’s annual production Dancing Portrait of Taiwan, in which water shimmers like a mirror reflection dancing in the misty sound of the Nanguan music. In 2012, he worked with dancers from Chicago’s The Seldoms in Small River, exploring and deconstructing the image of water. In 2014, he announces his change in Long River, hoping that the dance company will have a long and promising future like how still waters run deep. “I want the body in Small End flowing like a river, which flows toward the future, and it is why Long River is created,” says Lin.
Therefore, we find traces of the subtle movements stimulated by the experimental thinking in Small End (2013), while the well-tuned body which shows its highly existence in its breath is integrated into the pure dance what Wenchung Lin has been famous for. The final work carries the expectations of an artist to embrace the artistic vision targeting medium/large-sized theatre, to digest what he has experienced while working in a smaller venue, to polish the artistic pursuit of the dance company, and to move forward to a bigger production.
It is also noticeable that the constant changes of river are not only shown in the dancers’ physical dynamics but also the music’s spectrum. Music designer Lee Shih-Yang and Ka Dao Yin (aka Caught Up In), the music improvisation ensemble which has just won a 2014 Golden Melody Award for Traditional Arts and Music, make the music swim between melody and atonal sounds, inexplicitly evoking surrealistic emotions around the space as a boat traveling in an unknown river – misty when it remains still and shimmering when it rushes.
“No body, no company,” and vice versa
On the other hand, the water images in his works represent how Wenchung Lin explores the mother culture and the “pan-Asian body,” which can be further traced back to his folk dance training. The Western experience in Bill T. Jones when he stayed in the USA forced him to question his own identity between tradition and modernity, resulting in the series works where the artist searched for his true self in the mother culture through water reflection. “The first question is how to differentiate my works from Cloud Gate and Taipei Folk Dance Theatre when we are all trying to bring the Western and the Eastern together,” says Lin, who confesses that there is no shortcut to find an answer. However, as long as something interesting comes up for him to dig into once in a while, he can continue the journey.
As for the reality, Wenchung Lin expresses his worry that Taiwanese always focus on short-term achievements without any patience for long-term projects, so it will be very difficult to organize medium/large-sized productions as he tries to maintain a professional dance company. Now, he is even pushing himself to another level in terms of the size of the company. “How long can we hang on?!” He asks as if it were a joke. Nevertheless, he still believes that it is necessary to explore the “body” in dancing, expects WCdance to become a bigger and more stable professional dance company, wishes to provide better wages and promises for dancers, and focuses on the exploration of body to make his works lasting.
ARTICLES
Premiere Date: Oct 17, 2014
Performance Venue: Wellspring Theate
Artistic Director/ Choreography: Wen-Chung Lin
Dancer: Wei-Han Li, Hui-Chieh Hsu, Tsun-Jen Tung, Cheng-An Wu, Pei-Fen Lin, Hsiang-Yu Chan, Chia-Ying Chiang
Technical Director: Kevin C.Y Lee
Costume Designer: Yu-Teh Yang
Lighting Designer:Yung-Hung Sung
Sound Designer: Shih-Yang Lee
Graphic Designer: David Lai
Photographer: You-Wei Chen
Video Production: Kuan-Yu Chen