衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

Together Alone

Together Alone is a solo in dancing together, which counter the individual loneliness with the power of being together.
 

Deprived of all external concealments and decorations, the two of them return to the primitive in dance and face each other with the most naked selves. In this intimate space and time, they communicate with each other and learn to move forward through compromises and cooperation.

Through constant giving and receiving, they explore the invisible border between the seemingly close bodies. By consistently linking up and then separating, they find harmony in conflicts and again trigger conflicts in harmony. Through unceasingly merging, transferring, destruction, and then reconstruction… eventually, they squarely face their respective loneliness, together.
 

The procedure of the choreography is another type of “together alone.” Two individuals with completely different training backgrounds and physical styles start from exploring the original question: “Why do we dance?” and proceed to physical movements arising from the need for each other. From the purest motive, they embark on a journey to exchange energies through their interactions and transform the energies into organic physical expressions, from which diversities derive. As time goes by, the production begins to take shape and continues to reshape itself, accumulating refined alternations along the way. In the journey, they find the tracks for them to walk together, but meanwhile identify with the more independent selves.

※ Supported by｜Kommunitas Salihara, Darwin Festival

Medium

Rianto is a specialist in the Central Javanese form of Lengger, a cross- gender dance form from Banyumas. In Medium, Rianto recalls the term Lengger as derived from elinga ngger, which means the “advice to be aware, to remember”.
 

After the success of Soft Machine, Rianto returns to his hometown and relationship with the Lengger masters. He strives not only for the survival of this form, but especially for the space it holds beyond binary opposites—a space between manhood and womanhood, between customs and religious principles, between conscious control and trance. Medium is Rianto’s universal call for freedom, for eschewing dogma and embracing the contradiction, mysteries, and layered diversity that is at the heart of Javanese tradition.
 

A series of studies into the relationship among his religious body, social body, political body, and traditional body. Rianto’s virtuosic movement language is combined with a powerful live vocal and percussion score by Cahwati, also from Banyumas. Together they unfold the relationship between movement and sound that lies at the core of the Lengger tradition.
 

Together Alone

Choreographer/Dancer｜Lee Chen-Wei

Graduated from the Dance Department of Taipei National University of the Arts, Lee Chen-Wei has worked with Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company (2009-2014) and been acclaimed by its artistic director, Ohad Naharin as “one of the most attractive dancers I've seen.” She has collaborated with many renowned choreographers, such as Ohad Naharin, Jérome Bel, Adolphe Binder, Yasmeen Godder, Sharon Eyal, and Marcos Morau. Her energetic outburst in physical movements has won the praise from The New York Times as “a sexpot soloist.” Chen-Wei started her own choreography during her time with the Batsheva Dance Company. Her Elephant(s) in 2010 was selected by The Jerusalem Post as “the stand-out performance of the year”. She was twice acknowledged by the LO Man-fei Dance Fund respectively in 2009 and 2015 (shortlisted). In 2011 and 2014, she took part in MeimageDance’s New Choreographer Project and presented her works, The Bright Side and The Black Box. Chen-Wei is currently residing in Belgium and continuing her creation and performances as an independent artist.
 

Choreographer/Dancer｜Vakulya Zoltán

Vakulya Zoltán studied acting and directing during 2005-2006 and choreography at the Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy during 2006-2008. He graduated from the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) with the support of Leonardo Da Vinci Scholarship and was a danceWEB scholarship holder in ImPulsTanz in 2011. Zoltán performed in several productions at different theaters between 2002 and 2006 and worked as an artist at Merlin International Theater, Budapest. At the same time he was active as a professional foil fencing sportsman as well. Since 2011, he has worked with other choreographers, composers and visual artists such as David Zambrano, Francesco Scavetta, Karl Van Welden, Benjamin Vandewalle, Albert Quesada, Kendell Geers, Joris Blanckaert, Gabor Kasza, Vera Tussing, and Georgia Vardarou. He created Keep on Using Me in 2011, a solo research called PAUSE in 2012, and One Two Three One Two in collaboration with Albert Quesada in 2015.

Medium

Choreographer/Dancer｜Rianto

Born in 1981 in Kaliori Village, Banyumas, Rianto has been trained in classical Javanese dance and Javanese folk dance from a young age, specializing in the cross-gender form of Lengger. As a graduate from ISI Solo, the leading Indonesian Institute for Performing Arts, Rianto has been based in Tokyo, Japan since 2003, where he founded the classical Javanese dance company, Dewandaru Dance Company. He has worked with a spectrum of international choreographers, performance makers, and companies whilst remaining dedicated to his training and own voice for contemporary Javanese performing arts.
 

Since 2017 Rianto has joined Akram Khan Company, taking over Akram’s role in Until The Lions. He continues to tour along with SoftMachine, a solo work under the direction of Choy Ka Fai. Further projects include the work with Korean choreographer Sen Hea Ha performed in Seoul, Singapore, Belgium, Netherlands, and Austria, Chen Shi Zheng's opera at Shubert Theatre (Boston) and the London Coliseum with the English National Opera, serving as guest artist for Gulliver & Swift and Garibaba’s Stange World by Japanese dance theatre company Pappa TARAHUMARA, the 24-hour solo work in celebration of International Dance Day, collaborations with Keiko Nakano on Yumme for Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, the Dance Opera Gandari by Tony Prabowo, and To Belong choreographed by Akiko Kitamura.
 

Artist residencies include deSingel (Antwerp), Staatstheater Darmstadt, Nottle Theatre Company (Korea), Attakkalari India Biennial, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), and most recently, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts (Honolulu). In 2007, Rianto received an ANA grant to present his own choreographic works in Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, and Japan.

Production Team
Together Alone
Choreographer and Performer｜Lee Chen-Wei, Vakulya Zoltán

Stage Design｜Wang Ding-Yeh

Lighting Design｜Wang Cheng-Yuan, SHYUE Joanne

Music Design｜SHENG, Yamila Rios

Music｜Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman, Impermanence by Chloé-Rose Cutler, Do Not Stress by Clarinet Factory
Commissioned by｜National Performing Arts Center - National Theater & Concert Hall

Medium

Choreographer｜Rianto

Performance｜Rianto, Cahwati

Dramaturg｜Garin Nugroho, Tang Fu Kuen

Vocals + Percussion｜Cahwati

Scenography and Lighting Design｜Iskandar K. Loedin

Sound Design｜Yasuhiro Morinaga

Production Co-ordinator｜Putri Pramesti Wigaringtyas

Producer｜Jala Adolphus
Co-commissioned by｜

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (Singapore), Performance Space, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), deSingel Internationale Kunstcampus, Staatstheater Darmstadt

Sponsor