Taiwan made its debut at the Carnival of Nice in the south of France earlier this month with a performance featuring Henan opera artist Hsiao Yang-ling (???), vocalist Dianne Wu (???) and members of a Ba Jia Jiang dance troupe.
The Feb. 11 performance, produced by French dancer Gleb Lyamenkoff, was a collaborative effort involving flower artist Lee Chia-wei (???), singers Wu and Hsiao, and dancers from the Tainan University of Technology (TUT) Dance Club and a Kaohsiung-based Taoist temple.
Lyamenkoff, an associate professor at TUT Department of Dance, told CNA that his goal was to showcase Taiwanese culture in France.
Enamored by the “colorful” Ba Jia Jiang dance, Lyamenkoff said he hit on the idea to put a spin on the set traditional Taoist dance by incorporating contemporary dance into it.
In his quest for an ideal Ba Jia Jiang performers, a friend introduced him to the Kaohisung troupe, who he said was eager to showcase the ritual dance on the international stage.
One of the most challenging aspects of combining Ba Jia Jiang and contemporary dance is respecting ceremonial rituals while adapting the choreography to a theater or carnival format.
Referring to a large Republic of China (Taiwan) flag featured in the performance, Lyamenkoff said that Taiwanese are very proud of their country, so he decided to make Taiwan’s national flag a part of the dance.
Spectators filmed the performance with their phones, and many Taiwanese people teared up while watching the performance, Lyamenkoff said.
According to Lyamenkoff, a Taiwanese woman in the audience told him that she felt proud to see her culture highlighted at the event.
Looking back on the show, Lyamenkoff said he was glad it went ahead as scheduled, as an unexpected incident almost thwarted his plans.
Large-scale strikes on Feb. 11 and 16 against pension reform in France meant that they would not board the train or check into the hotel they had booked, and they had to scramble to buy tickets for a different date and make new reservations, Lyamenkoff said.
He credited the successful show to teamwork, including making arrangements for the troupe and bringing artists from vastly different backgrounds together to work as a cohesive unit.
During their two weeks in France, Lyamenkoff’s team engaged in exchanges with a number of educational institutions, including Center national de la dance (CND) and Centre de formation professionnelle et d’études supérieures en danse (CFPESD), by holding seminars and workshops.
Several choreographers they met during such exchanges have expressed interest in collaborating with the Taiwan team and invited it to give more performances in France, Lyamenkoff said.
The experience was a journey of discovery for all Taiwanese artists that participated and for all the French people that took in the performance, Lyamenkoff said.
He thanked his team for placing its faith in a Frenchman, and said it was his dream to have a team from Taiwan featured at the Nice Carnival every year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel