Small Nanguan 2, WCdance’s first work at Taiwan Internaitonal Festival of Arts organized by the National Theatre and Concert Hall, premiered at the National Experimental Theatre in 2014. As its title suggests, it can be seen as the follow-up of Small Nanguan to integrate Nanguan music and modern dance, extending the first encounter of the two into self-deconstruction and collapse.
Inspired by the 1970s and 1980s’ soft rock trend in the USA, which is also the Chinese title of the work – Soft Rock, Small Nanguan 2 brings up the question “why can’t nanguan become our ‘pop music’ of contemporary society?” Apart from the Nanguan performers and musicians in Small Nanguan, including Lin Ya-Lan, Wei Mei-Hui, Chen Yen-Xi, and Huang Jun-Li, we also invite Lee Shih-Yang, the leading artist of Ka Dao Yin (also known as “Caught Up In”) to jam it up musically and physically. It is where our inspiration originates – with an attempt to shatter the boundary among different kinds of performances and to bring everything together.
Based on the artistic concept, there is no role distinction between musicians and dancers in Small Nanguan 2. The performers are both singers and dancers, and they express themselves with musicalized bodies as well as physicalized music. Starting from humans’ instinctive perception of music, we search for the purest innocence and freedom, which unexpectedly leads us to an on-going debate about the ancient Nanguan love songs and the modern people’s pursuit of love.
With its history dated back to hundreds of years ago, Nanguan was supposed to be the “pop rock” of our ancestors. Enchating and alluring, it traps us into a fantasy where no reality is allowed access. Through the music of the age, we speak to the world and hear from it as well. Even till today, we are still moved by the forbidden love, the imprisoned women, and the silenced passion celebrated or mourned by most of the Nanguan melodies. A sad song of love may last for generations, and it is just heartbreaking no matter it is song in Nanguan or pop rock. When we dance with the music, our bodies break away from everything – all the lust, betrayal, pleasure, pain, noise, and solitude which exist in every love story.
【ARTICLES】
Premiere Date: Mar 07, 2014
Performance Venue: National Theater/ Experimental Theater
Artistic Director: Wen-Chung Lin
Choreography: Wen-Chung Lin
Assistant creator: Ya-Lan Lin
Collaborative editor/creator: Nai-Wen Lin
Technical Director and Lighting Designer: Kevin C.Y Lee
Sound Designer: Shih-Yang Lee
Stage Designer: Yi-ken Li
Costume Designer: Yu-The Yang
Graphic Designer: David Lai
Photographer: Jason Chiu
Video Production: Very Mainstream Studio
Premiere Performers: Wen-Chung Lin, Ya-Lan Lin, Tzu-Ying Lee, Shih-Yang Lee, Wei-Han Li, Ya-Ting Tsai, Mei-Hui Wei, Yan-Si Chen, Jun-Li Huang
Inspired by the 1970s and 1980s’ soft rock trend in the USA, which is also the Chinese title of the work – Soft Rock, Small Nanguan 2 brings up the question “why can’t nanguan become our ‘pop music’ of contemporary society?” Apart from the Nanguan performers and musicians in Small Nanguan, including Lin Ya-Lan, Wei Mei-Hui, Chen Yen-Xi, and Huang Jun-Li, we also invite Lee Shih-Yang, the leading artist of Ka Dao Yin (also known as “Caught Up In”) to jam it up musically and physically. It is where our inspiration originates – with an attempt to shatter the boundary among different kinds of performances and to bring everything together.
Based on the artistic concept, there is no role distinction between musicians and dancers in Small Nanguan 2. The performers are both singers and dancers, and they express themselves with musicalized bodies as well as physicalized music. Starting from humans’ instinctive perception of music, we search for the purest innocence and freedom, which unexpectedly leads us to an on-going debate about the ancient Nanguan love songs and the modern people’s pursuit of love.
With its history dated back to hundreds of years ago, Nanguan was supposed to be the “pop rock” of our ancestors. Enchating and alluring, it traps us into a fantasy where no reality is allowed access. Through the music of the age, we speak to the world and hear from it as well. Even till today, we are still moved by the forbidden love, the imprisoned women, and the silenced passion celebrated or mourned by most of the Nanguan melodies. A sad song of love may last for generations, and it is just heartbreaking no matter it is song in Nanguan or pop rock. When we dance with the music, our bodies break away from everything – all the lust, betrayal, pleasure, pain, noise, and solitude which exist in every love story.
【ARTICLES】
Premiere Date: Mar 07, 2014
Performance Venue: National Theater/ Experimental Theater
Artistic Director: Wen-Chung Lin
Choreography: Wen-Chung Lin
Assistant creator: Ya-Lan Lin
Collaborative editor/creator: Nai-Wen Lin
Technical Director and Lighting Designer: Kevin C.Y Lee
Sound Designer: Shih-Yang Lee
Stage Designer: Yi-ken Li
Costume Designer: Yu-The Yang
Graphic Designer: David Lai
Photographer: Jason Chiu
Video Production: Very Mainstream Studio
Premiere Performers: Wen-Chung Lin, Ya-Lan Lin, Tzu-Ying Lee, Shih-Yang Lee, Wei-Han Li, Ya-Ting Tsai, Mei-Hui Wei, Yan-Si Chen, Jun-Li Huang