AAPPAC Session 1

How can innovation that is steeped in tradition continue in the arts?

Choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava, from Taiwan's indigenous Paiwan tribe, shares the touching story of his return to his community and the tracing of his roots. Why, at a time when his choreography for the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York was attracting so much attention, did he decide to return to his community in Taiwan's Taitung County? What was he looking for? After learning traditional songs and dances from the elders of his community, he says, "by letting go of the foundation that I thought was so great and starting over, I grew something new from scratch with the people of my tribe." Let's go back to the start of the Bulareyaung Dance Company's story, a child living in an indigenous community who loved to dance. He presents his culture's characteristics through the development of the relationship between sound and physical movement, while innovating the physical expression and vocabulary of contemporary dance. 

Kuo Jian Hong, artistic director of Singapore's The Theatre Practice, has been invited to talk about the process by which she innovates from tradition. Although The Theatre Practice has a history of more than 50 years, it continuously attempts interdisciplinary breakthroughs in the boundaries between art creation and technology. For example, in 2023, it collaborated with the National Gallery Singapore on Gallery of Secrets: The Lost Lily. A national historic monument served as the background for a new type of theater experience, with virtual and real integration of film, theater, and games. Four Horse Road was Singapore's largest mobile theater production. Audiences walked along Waterloo Street (known as Four Horse Road in Chinese, as it is the fourth of many thoroughfares), Singapore's oldest and most prosperous street. Led by guides, they observed scenes inside and outside two century-old buildings, experiencing moving stories of multi-ethnic integration and religious harmony from 100 years ago to modern times. Its premiere in 2018 was a sensation and its 2023 revival was also very well received. 

Sep 4 (Wed) 11:20 @ Globe Playhouse