2024 TPAC Circus Festival: From the moment I arrived.

10.09 (Wed.) 12:00 TPAC Member pre-sale
10.16 (Wed.) 12:00 Tickets can be purchased

★ Between norms and freedom, they use their bodies to write perfect stories of imperfection!
★ What does it matter if you are different? Let every moment become an opportunity for self-discovery!

From the moment I arrived.
Starting with the asking of questions about what “the circus” and “the spirt of the circus” are, we use the circus to understand how a group of people becomes a group, how the rules of a group operate and bind, and how to think about the differences and similarities among individuals in a group.

As the nature of the circus is“adventurous,”“dangerous,” “alternative,” and “unusual,” circus performers need to practice for a long time to be able to present their ideas about and creativity in the circus arts. In this highly physical process of self-pursuit, they face different values and societal norms, going back and forth to examine, search, and dialogue. The circus has a fixed image. However, in terms of contemporary creative development, it has not been typecast. Circus creators desire to break free from conventional intentions, but end up touching upon physical and spiritual aspects. In this work, a group of creators has initiated an exploration of multiple themes: health and pathology, examination and provocation, boundaries and challenges, and normality and abnormality.
Starting with the above-mentioned thought process, five performers developed creations corresponding to their respective personalities and areas of expertise. They interacted with one another, with questions and secrets that could only have emerged from their time together. They have their respective determinations and fragilities, scars and persistence, nakedness and methods of escape, innocence and imagination. In round after round of battle performances, there may not be anything superb or extraordinary, but rather a diligent response of a “problem child” to the world, while asking the definition of failure in a performance that is not like a circus act.

This is a production about standards, rules, and frameworks that performers face. Between obedience and resistance, they share their imperfections with the audience. Their physical determination and skill are expressed through circus choreography and games, in addition to their relationship with the world, challenging breakthroughs, feelings of being exposed, and existential thinking. Perhaps, being a “problem child” is also an alternative exploration of understanding and imagination of the absurdity of this world and life.
 

Concept : Chen Wu-Kang

Wu-Kang was born in Taiwan. He started his 12-year collaboration with New York based choreographer Eliot Feld in 2001, whose practice influenced him greatly. In 2004, he co-founded HORSE as artistic director ; significant works of the company include Velocity (2007, Taishin Art Award)and 2 Men (2012, Kurt Jooss Preis). He co-created and performed Dances for Wu-Kang Chen, Taipei Art Festival in 2020 (2021 Taishin Performing Arts Award).

Recent works: Thank You So Much for Your Time, Thank You For Staying Home, 14 online streaming, Two Men, Ten Years Later, Choreographing Story, Closed Tomorrow, Dance a Dance to Remember.

 

Concept : Chow Ling-Chih

Independent curator, art critic, dramaturg, writer, and creative aesthetics instructor.

In addition to special topic planning for books, magazines, lectures, and workshops, she participates in the curation, research, and planning of arts festivals, performing arts creations, exhibitions, groups, and venues.

 

Co-creation and Performance: Wang Chien-Ming

From Puli Town in Nantou County.

Earned an MFA in Acting from the Graduate Institute of Theatre Performance and Playwriting at Taipei National University of the Arts; actor, Dr. Rednose Association.

As a people person, he loves to perform.

It is the diversity and inclusiveness of the circus world that he loves, as well as its possibilities for constant exploration.

He is a circus enthusiast and a member of Taipei Juggling Club’s Monday Juggling Meeting.

To him, failure is a creative context and he likes to search for those corners that have been neglected or forgotten.

Recent works:

2024 Solo performance: Loser Emperor - Art Wonderland, Taipei Children’s Arts Festival

2023 Solo performance: My TONE 2.0 - Taipei Fringe Festival (Taipei Fringe Choice Award)

 

Co-creation and Performance: Zhu hen-You

Zhu Chenyou / ugly show, vaudeville circle, choreography

A native of Taipei, he worked in cooking in his early years. He is a chef and is also nicknamed Chef.

In 2015, he studied at the National Taiwan Theater Academy, Department of Folklore Arts, and began to learn and get in touch with the circus ecology.

The core and central idea of ​​the creation is "black humor, absurdity and abruptness, abnormal behavior, irony and ridicule, and daily life." He uses circus to tell the current social events he has observed before, as well as his own personal life experiences and interesting things in life. Arrange and create using irony and black humor.

 

Co-creation and Performance: Wu Zheng-ying

Originally from Kaohsiung, he graduated from the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. He is currently engaged in circus performance creation and theater performance at Circus Gate. In the early days of his career, he was involved in fire dancing and street performing. Then, he turned to comedic circus works, gradually developing circus performances based on real life themes.

In 2018, he presented Ba Ha Ga! at Street Act Lab. This work was later performed at the Taipei Children’s Arts Festival and Taoyuan Land Art Festival, as well as for the Weiwuying Circus Platform. In 2022, Ba Ha Ga! began touring, with performances at four major art and cultural venues in Taiwan.

From 2022-2023, he participated in the Taipei Performing Arts Center-organized Open Studio circus program. There, he accumulated rich creative experience and developed experimental circus performances using juggling sticks.

 

Co-creation and Performance: Chen Yu Jen

Born in Kaohsiung, he grew up in Tainan, and currently resides in Taipei. After graduating from the Department of Acrobatics at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts, he was admitted to the Master’s degree program in Dance Creation in the School of Dance of Taipei National University of the Arts, but is currently on planned leave.

 His experience covers the fields of performance art, theater, dance, and circus arts. He is a talented mime and clown and is committed to creating performances 

 

Co-creation and Performance: Huang Yi

Circus performer/freelance artist

Recently, he has explored the treasures found in “moments of introspection” while practicing diablo tricks from childhood to adulthood. He attempts to use circus objects to transform his fragmented worldview, constructed from the constant asking and answering of questions between himself and himself, since the start of his life as Huang Yi, and to produce a dialogue with the world in which he has evolved.

Recent works and appearances:

2024 One Meteorite in a Room - DANCE×Scrum!!! Festival, Japan; 2023 Circus Youths 1 + 1-The Diablo Has a Name - Cloud Gate Theater;

guest artist, Israeli Juggling Convention; speaker/performer, TEDx NDHU “Amor fati”

 

Rehearsal Master: Wu Ho-Ju

Ho-Ju is originally from Taipei, Taiwan. She received an M.F.A. in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ho-Ju joined Indah Walsh Dance Company in 2014, then slowly shifted her career path as a rehearsal assistant and joined HORSE as company rehearsal assistant in 2019.Recent works she has participated in include: HORSEDance a Dance to Remember, Closed Tomorrow, Choreographing Story, Two Men, Ten Years Later, unCloud-Meiyun X Wukang, Your dance your way, Center Center, 14, One Danced, Thank you so much for your time; Jérôme BelDances for Wu-Kang Chen, The show must go on; Ming-Hwa YehDancing Ballet, The house behind the wall, 17 Years Cicada; Igal PerryBetween Shadow and Light; Google Experiments in Storytelling Face Us; Cube Life.

Executive Production: Ella Jheng

Ella JHENG is currently a freelancer with years of experience organizing international and domestic programs. She is skilled in theater production, cross-disciplinary production, and collaborations with creators and groups in the fields of dance, theater, visual arts installations, and cross-disciplinary experimental works. She previously worked in the Programming and Planning Department of the National Theater & Concert Hall and has implemented international programs, projects, and activities with various organizations and agencies.

In recent years, she has been involved in the 2019 Setouchi Triennale and Taiwan International Contemporary A Cappella Festival collaboration; 2019 Taoyuan Land Art Festival (artwork production coordinator); 2022, 2024 Dusseldorf Internationale Tanzmesse NRW (project manager); 2023 Creative Expo Taipei (C-LAB exhibition area project manager); 2023 Nuit Blanche (performing arts coordinator); and 2024 Creative Expo Taipei (cultural curator and coordinator).

Sound & Music Designer: Lai Chi-hsia

Lai Chi-hsia is a Taiwanese sound artist / percussionist. She has been artist in residence at GRAME (Lyon), Het Entrepot (Bruges), and Taipei Artist Village, developing sound installations, music and new media performance works. Her recent music and sound design works include Reverberation: Muyu, FreeSteps AR Yours, Parallax archeology, .trace, Reverberation: Pulsating, remake: reflecting in three ways, and etc.

In 2015 Chi-hsia founded One Litre Sound, and currently she works as a sound creator, music designer, performer, concert producer and educator.

Space Design:Yu Ray-Pei

Pei was born in Taiwan, majored in Drama and Theatre with specialisation in Stage Design at National Taiwan University, and received his MA in Performance Design and Practice at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. He works as a scenographer/technical director/artist and has done various projects in different countries. As an active set designer and art practitioner, Pei designs sets for many different genres, including drama, modern dance, film, exhibition, TV shows, concerts and events. Also, he works as a scenic artist, a photographer and a program manager. He constantly pushes the boundaries and never stops challenging himself.

Lighting Design:Wang You-Jyun

Born in Taiwan in 1994, WANG You-Jyun graduated from the National Taiwan University of Arts with a degree in Drama.

WANG is adept at the use of light and shadow to create a sense of space. Integrating unique colors, she emphasizes atmosphere and emotions to highlight the tension of a scene. In her works can be seen different perspectives based on close collaborations with artists, as she creates a distinctive vocabulary of light and shadow.

She has designed lighting for theater and dance productions, musicals, band performances, and exhibitions, including for overseas festival performances in Canada, the US, and France. She was nominated for a 2022 World Stage Design Award in the up-and-coming lighting designer category.

Costume Design: Teng Yu-Fang

TENG Yu-Fang is a veteran costume director and stylist for films, TV shows, film festivals, commercials, and large-scale events. She has worked with big names, such as CHANG Chen, SHU Qi, Charlie YEUNG, and Kai KO, and on important films, such as Touch of the Light, Big Three Dragons, and Three Charmed Lives: Inchworm.

In 2018, she joined Horse Dance Theater as an operations consultant and costume designer and was involved in its production of 2 Men. In 2023, she was invited to participate in Chen Wu-kang & Pichet Klunchun’s collaborative work Choreographing Story for Artquake in Autumn, as well as 2024 National Taichung Theater (NTT) Arts NOVA, and 2023-2024 NTT Artists-in-Residence CHEN Wu-Kang’s Dance a Dance to Remember. Her other interests include costume design for Nihon-buyō and development and promotion of the dance arts.

Stage Manager: Barrett Lin

LIN Hsing-Wu graduated from the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts with a degree in Theater Arts.

Since 2021 he has served as technical coordinator for Random Trigger and since 2023 as project manager for BlackRice Studio.

From 2018 to May 2023, LIN worked at the National Performing Arts Center’s National Theater & Concert Hall, where he was responsible for technical coordination and stage management for a 2019 Dancing in Autumn micro work, 2020 Life Is Jazz, Play It Now performance series, and a 2021 TIFA production A Thousand Stages, Yet I Have Never Quite Lived. From 2015 to 2017, he was a producer and technical coordinator at Shanghai Zhang Jun Kunqu Art Center and Kunshan Contemporary Kunqu Theater, participating in the China tour of a new adaptation of the Kunqu opera Spring Blossoms on the Moonlit River, world tour of I, Hamlet, and repertory theater performances of The Peony Pavilion.