Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

  • Cloudgate – Annual Outdoor Performance

    Cloudgate – Annual Outdoor Performance

    Cloudgate – and our sunshine account in the red

    Cloudgate (雲門舞集) are an institution in Taiwan; and one of its most treasured cultural exports. Combining traditional Asian and Chinese motifs, they combine them in extraordinary ways, mixing digital media, human-scale calligraphy, old folk tales and contemporary dance. It’s always a challenge to get seats for their performances in Taiwan, since they are so often on the road abroad, but they have an annual open-air performance; this year at least in the grounds of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, and in the shadow of the National Theatre.

    Seats were first-come-first-serve, so Yuyin and I wandered over a couple of hours early, camping mat in hand and laid out a pretty good plot for our friends that were planning on joining later. Taipei for once served up a rather splendid sunset, and we enjoyed hanging out in an unusual environment with kids running around and old people bisecting the audience loaded with shopping bags on their way home – hilarious.

    With the clock counting down, Abe, Lin and Steve arrived packing fizzy wines, cheeses, hams and a plethora of treats; if we were going to do this, we were going to do this in style! We were certainly the only ones I saw drinking out of about 10,000 people, quaffing out of champagne glasses and getting increasingly giddy as the evening progressed.

    The dance? I give the troupe full respect for not holding back, and not pandering to the lowest common denominator; the accompanying audio and performance were challenging, and at moments poignant and beautiful. The strength, stamina and control on display were extraordinary – and that for us just sitting still on a camping mat for two hours.

    Sitting in the shadow of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
    Yuyin at work!
    The girl with the sun in her hair
    Sugar wouldn't melt in her mouth
    Enjoying an afternoon in the sun

    Abe arrives with a basket of style
    Team CULTURE!
    The warmup was hilarious – 10,000 people doing stretches; try this in the UK and you would get beer cans full of piss thrown at the stage – only half joking.
    Captivated
    Looking down at the amphitheatre down below
    Steve inspects the door … need one of these in my next place

    Video

    Check out this video here which introduces the performance we saw:

    [custom_field field=”Cloudgate_Video” this_post=”1″ limit=”1″ between=”, ” /]

  • Classic

    National Theatre at the Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall – my Boss’ great grand dad.

    Paul, a Taiwanese musician friend, invited me out today with a group of friends for his birthday. Rather stylishly, we saw the Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra of Moscow perform some numbers from Shostakovic (spelling I am sure is wrong) and some other dead guys. Rather special. Especially as we had front row seats – sweat off the musicians included in the price. But no bar at half time!


    Front row seats!

    NTCH Link

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Yoofs

    I had a pleasant walk through Taipei today. I am finally realising that there are in fact old buildings in Taipei and that they are not all concrete monstrocities. In fact, many of the 1-storey concrete buildings, upon closer inspection, are indeed original Japanese-era constructions clad with concrete and roofed with steel. You can see the original building poking through occasionally, or where the concrete has fallen away, revealing the old brick-work.


    Another brick in the wall

    I ended up in Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall area (see my previous visit here), where I joined most of the young people of Taipei for their weekly music and dance sessions. It’s funny, and very different from home. The square is dominated on two sides by large halls that house the national theatre. In front of these halls are large windows, and in front of them are areas covered by the awnings of the roof.

    In the reflections of these windows you will find team upon team of dancers, using the area to practice. Next to where I was there was a large acrobatic squad chucking girls high into the air, break dancers and RnB kids busting their grooves. It was an amazing sight. The sounds, however, were what made it memorable. In the square at the same time was a large brass band competition and the tiny Getto Blasters could certainly not compete. As a result, the scene I remember is of hip hop kids spinning out to the beats of … brass.


    In the red corner … brass band


    Gravitational Effects


    In the blue corner – hip hoppers


    Kids enjoying the scene

    One of the most interesting things is the way that the kids are doing the youth culture thing. It seems to be subtley different. Here you get one ‘alpha’ kid doing the dance moves and teaching it to the others, right down to the small shoulder flicks and attitude. In Europe I think it would be more like freestyle and people competing. I have heard many time the ‘confucian’ attitude to doing things (master and student) is what explains some of the cultural differences. I have maybe even seen it in their attitude to copying electronics goods – you learn from the master, copy him, and when you master it you can express your own ideas. Perhaps.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

    This is one of the major landmarks in Taipei. And here is a kid who cares more for bubbles and running around in circles. If you turn up at this place in the morning you will find legions of Tai Chi people appearing like some slow motion Kung Fu movie. And in the evenings you can find the yoofs all break dancing and listening to music – although for some reason it is all rather more friendly and less confrontational than urban subcultures in the UK. If you see a punk, they will be immaculately roughly dressed in branded punk clothing… more a style statement than anything political, I think.

    In the same location you can find two large halls. National theatres that show operas and… well I could maintain my aura of being well versed and cultural in these aspects, but it is all a lie. And you can see the Mitsukoshi department store tower in the background.

    When the doors of the memorial shut (exactly what happened as soon as I arrived, as it happens) everyone rushes off, without hanging around at all. It’s a hilarious habit of the Taiwanese that they only do activities for the shortest possible time, before running on to the next thing (usually eating). For example, at the beach, while us Euros are hanging around staring at clouds, all our Taiwanese friends sit down (avoiding the sun) ‘do’ the beach, tick it off the list and run to the next activity. It’s hilarious, and quite bemusing for us guys who like to chill and practice doing nothing!

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…