2020 Theater Art Experience and Education Program
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) is the only national-class performance venue in southern Taiwan and shoulders the responsibilities of ensuring cultural equality and strengthening the field of performing arts. In 2019, Weiwuying introduced theater art experience and education, attracting participants comprising more than 710 students/teachers from 16 high schools/technical high schools in southern Taiwan. In 2020, Weiwuying launched the Theater Art Experience and Education Program, offering pre-performance lessons, performance-viewing experience, and post-performance discussions to schools. Such a program transforms classrooms into theaters to familiarize students with performances, realizing the goal of theater art and aesthetic education.
Program opened to
- High school students: This year, the program (spring session) will primarily be opened to high school and technical high school students (Grades 10 and 11) in southern Taiwan (admission priority will be given to students from Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Pingtung County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Taitung County, remote rural areas, socially vulnerable families, and eastern Taiwan). The program will be offered in the form of one class or multiple classes (tentatively). Applications to this program are to be made by teachers, who must also attend the Co-learning Workshop .
- Teachers: The program is opened to all teachers (i.e., not limited to teachers in art-related fields), who are encouraged to experiment and innovate their courses to develop diverse and applicable school-based courses with distinguishing features, “revitalizing” education, providing appropriate and balanced learning materials to students, and achieving the goal of art experience and education.
Program Content
This program offers pre-performance lessons, performance-viewing experience, and post-performance discussions to facilitate the communication, sharing, and transmission of ideas between students and to help them appreciate art in different ways and from different perspectives.
Pre-performance lessons: Two classes for a total of two hours. Lesson schedule is discussed between and determined by the teachers applying to this program and the co-learning workshop lecturers.
performance-viewing experience: To be determined according to the lesson results.
Post-performance discussions: Two classes for a total of two hours. Lesson schedule is discussed between and determined by the teachers applying to this program and the co-learning workshop lecturers.
Performances
There will be six performances in 2020.
| Performance Type | Name of the Performance and the Performance Team | Performance Information |
|---|---|---|
| Circus | Thunar Circus“ HUNG Tung's Fantasy” | Performed by the Thunar Circus, Hung Tung’s Fantasy was delivered in Weiwuying’s circus platform to celebrate its opening in 2018; the performance was very well-received. In 2019, the Thunar Circus was invited to deliver the same performance at the International Circus Festival of Italy, becoming the only performance team in Asia to receive such an honor. In 2020, the Thunar Circus introduced a theater version of Hung Tung’s Fantasy. The new performance still centers around Taiwanese painter Hung Tung; however, Lin Zheng-zong, the circus director of the Thunar Circus, invites Cirque du Soleil dancer Billy Chang, puppetry performer Xue Mei-hua, and circus curator Zhou Ling-zhi to produce a new, childlike Taiwanese circus using various objects including woven fabrics, Cyr wheels, and high-altitude devices. Hung Tung’s Fantasy introduces a celebration-like game world, where childlike, innocent lines and colors are joined together to evoke a sense of “rhapsody paradise.” Fantasy-like performances such as juggling and flexible leaping movements are presented to refresh viewers’ minds and take them on a journey into the life of Taiwan’s legendary painter Hung Tung. As viewers’ thoughts and imagination are inspired, they revel in a realm of mystery created using contemporary circus, deformed objects, stage lighting, and electronic music, enjoying the fun of reality plus fantasy. |
| Drama | 3/22(Sun.)14:30 | A female king created to challenge Shakespeare? After introducing opera adaptations of Shakespeare’s works such as Bond and Measure, Measure!, the Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company works with Professor Chen Fang and Peng Jing-xi, authorities in the field of Shakespeare’s plays, to produce a trilogy (called “Questioning Heaven”) based on King Lear. Questioning Heaven is directed by Lü Bo-shen and stars National Award for Arts winner Wang Hai-ling. The opera performance touches on a variety of topics including family affection, homelands, selfish desire, justice, human relations, and destinies. The poems in the opera performance are wonderful and touching, and its satirical styles are unique. The fights and schemes against the characters and the slaughtering between siblings depict, in detail, the sadness, joy, good, evil, and retribution in life, exploring the subjects of love, greed, forgiveness, human nature, and existence. Wang plays a female version of King Lear, where she masterfully showcases a woman going mad after power and family affection-induced tribulations and subsequently achieving enlightenment. |
| Music | Ensemble Fabrique Normande （In）-Real Sound Surroundings | Contemporary electronic music performances generally involve musicians playing electronic instruments that generate music controlled by computer engineers. However, the Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra breaks this tradition by controlling such music themselves using their own computers. By allowing original and electronic music to come together, the Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra discovers new possibilities for the union of traditional chamber music and twenty-first century cutting-edge technology. The Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra that combines musical instruments and electronic music together using a special electronic instrument called “Karlax.” After five years of research and development, in 2019, the Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra wrote six songs based on varying contemporary aesthetic concepts and that connected original and electronic music together. These songs will remind the audience about the friendliness, loveliness, and “readability” of music that they have slowly forgotten. |
| Dance | Yuval PICK “Vocabulary of need (En ré mineur)” | “When listening to BWV1004, I am overcome with a sense of destitution and homelessness as well as the need to move. I also feel a sense of flexibility, as if something has been pulled and let go.”—Yuval Pick. Partita in D minor for solo violin (BWV1004) is considered by many violinists to be one of the greatest violin works of all time. The partita, emotional and powerful, has inspired choreographer Yuval Pick to create this dance performance, where the “core” of the music is explored and the physical movements of eight dancers are utilized to connect dances and orchestral music together, bringing the audience and the dancers together for a mesmerizing orchestral experience. Yuval Pick draws his inspiration from “meeting the needs of others,” using the “emotional tension” of music as a guide to create dance performances. He reinvented the way individuals prove their existence in groups: they can be alone, in groups, or with others. |
| Music | Grand Tour - Impressions on Western and Eastern Early Music 5/31(Sun.)14:30 | Doulce Mémoire (a performance team that focuses on reproducing the Renaissance spirit) and the XinXin Nanguan Ensemble (a performance team that believes ancient music can be reinvented to become modern music) joined forces for the first time, using the name of “grand tour” (a famous nanguan music); the concept of traveling; and the unique sound of Eastern and Western music to bring the audience on a journey of Western and Eastern music. Made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1999, Denis Raisin Dadre, the artistic director of Doulce Mémoire, collaborated with Wang Xin-xin, the artistic director of XinXin Nanguan Ensemble and the most prominent nanguan music innovator, for the first time to break tradition and find the common bond between Eastern and Western music. As the two performance teams arranged different melodies together, they discovered the common bonds between Eastern and Western ancient music (i.e., tranquility and transcendent) and brought these two music types together. |
| Drama | Puppet & Its Double Theater The Great Fall 6/7(Sun.)14:30 | Arts Award (category: Top 10 Performing Arts of the Year) in 2009. The performance tells the story of a “ghostwriter” who can only be heard and seen through the mouths and actions of others, respectively. The performance, presented in the form of a monodrama and involving a man and puppets, introduces a variety of characters. Wei Jun-zhan plays multiple roles (e.g., a ghostwriter) and uses his puppets to showcase the transformation from an entity to other entities. The antithesis between a man and its puppets and the irony of real life are “violently” and “sharply” revealed through puppets. In this performance, the stereotype of puppet shows is broken and inanimate puppets are brought to life, creating a captivating experience for the audience. |
Application Schedule
This program is opened to high schools and technical high schools in southern Taiwan (admission priority will be given to such schools in Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Pingtung County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Taitung County, remote rural areas, socially vulnerable situations, and eastern Taiwan). Applications are for classes and to be made by teachers.
- Online application is open until 1/10 (Fri.)
Approved applications (Stage 1) will be announced before 1/15 (Wed.)Application results
Stage 2 application is open until 1/30 (Thurs.). Please fill out the Stage 2 application form
Approved applications (Stage 2) will be announced before 1/31 (Fri.)
From 2/5 (Wed.) to 2/7(Fri.) 10:00-17:40, the approved classes (and those on the waiting list) will be required to attend the Co-learning Workshop .
Notices
The unit of application is “class” and a maximum of three applications can be made per class; only one application will be approved per school.
The program will be held over three days/in three different times (for a total of approximately 320 minutes). Please make sure that there is a teacher (or a designated person) accompanying the class during the event.
A maximum of 50 participants (teacher plus students) is allowed per application.
Qualifications for schools in remote rural areas are based on guidelines officially announced by the Ministry of Education.
Once an application has been approved, the applicant should, to the best of its ability, attend the event unless human-caused force majeure occurs. In the event of a natural disaster-caused force majeure, Weiwuying reserves the right to make relevant adjustments and will try to notify the approved applicants the rescheduled dates in advance.
For program-related subjects not fully covered in these special notices, Weiwuying reserves the right of adjustment and interpretation.
Program Contact Window
Weiwuying Marketing Department: (07)262-6918 and (07)262-6912
Presented by: National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
Major sponsors
Co-sponsors
2020 Theater Art Experience and Education Program
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) is the only national-class performance venue in southern Taiwan and shoulders the responsibilities of ensuring cultural equality and strengthening the field of performing arts. In 2019, Weiwuying introduced theater art experience and education, attracting participants comprising more than 710 students/teachers from 16 high schools/technical high schools in southern Taiwan. In 2020, Weiwuying launched the Theater Art Experience and Education Program, offering pre-performance lessons, performance-viewing experience, and post-performance discussions to schools. Such a program transforms classrooms into theaters to familiarize students with performances, realizing the goal of theater art and aesthetic education.
Program opened to
- High school students: This year, the program (spring session) will primarily be opened to high school and technical high school students (Grades 10 and 11) in southern Taiwan (admission priority will be given to students from Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Pingtung County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Taitung County, remote rural areas, socially vulnerable families, and eastern Taiwan). The program will be offered in the form of one class or multiple classes (tentatively). Applications to this program are to be made by teachers, who must also attend the Co-learning Workshop .
- Teachers: The program is opened to all teachers (i.e., not limited to teachers in art-related fields), who are encouraged to experiment and innovate their courses to develop diverse and applicable school-based courses with distinguishing features, “revitalizing” education, providing appropriate and balanced learning materials to students, and achieving the goal of art experience and education.
Program Content
This program offers pre-performance lessons, performance-viewing experience, and post-performance discussions to facilitate the communication, sharing, and transmission of ideas between students and to help them appreciate art in different ways and from different perspectives.
Pre-performance lessons: Two classes for a total of two hours. Lesson schedule is discussed between and determined by the teachers applying to this program and the co-learning workshop lecturers.
performance-viewing experience: To be determined according to the lesson results.
Post-performance discussions: Two classes for a total of two hours. Lesson schedule is discussed between and determined by the teachers applying to this program and the co-learning workshop lecturers.
Performances
There will be six performances in 2020.
| Performance Type | Name of the Performance and the Performance Team | Performance Information |
|---|---|---|
| Circus | Thunar Circus“ HUNG Tung's Fantasy” | Performed by the Thunar Circus, Hung Tung’s Fantasy was delivered in Weiwuying’s circus platform to celebrate its opening in 2018; the performance was very well-received. In 2019, the Thunar Circus was invited to deliver the same performance at the International Circus Festival of Italy, becoming the only performance team in Asia to receive such an honor. In 2020, the Thunar Circus introduced a theater version of Hung Tung’s Fantasy. The new performance still centers around Taiwanese painter Hung Tung; however, Lin Zheng-zong, the circus director of the Thunar Circus, invites Cirque du Soleil dancer Billy Chang, puppetry performer Xue Mei-hua, and circus curator Zhou Ling-zhi to produce a new, childlike Taiwanese circus using various objects including woven fabrics, Cyr wheels, and high-altitude devices. Hung Tung’s Fantasy introduces a celebration-like game world, where childlike, innocent lines and colors are joined together to evoke a sense of “rhapsody paradise.” Fantasy-like performances such as juggling and flexible leaping movements are presented to refresh viewers’ minds and take them on a journey into the life of Taiwan’s legendary painter Hung Tung. As viewers’ thoughts and imagination are inspired, they revel in a realm of mystery created using contemporary circus, deformed objects, stage lighting, and electronic music, enjoying the fun of reality plus fantasy. |
| Drama | 3/22(Sun.)14:30 | A female king created to challenge Shakespeare? After introducing opera adaptations of Shakespeare’s works such as Bond and Measure, Measure!, the Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company works with Professor Chen Fang and Peng Jing-xi, authorities in the field of Shakespeare’s plays, to produce a trilogy (called “Questioning Heaven”) based on King Lear. Questioning Heaven is directed by Lü Bo-shen and stars National Award for Arts winner Wang Hai-ling. The opera performance touches on a variety of topics including family affection, homelands, selfish desire, justice, human relations, and destinies. The poems in the opera performance are wonderful and touching, and its satirical styles are unique. The fights and schemes against the characters and the slaughtering between siblings depict, in detail, the sadness, joy, good, evil, and retribution in life, exploring the subjects of love, greed, forgiveness, human nature, and existence. Wang plays a female version of King Lear, where she masterfully showcases a woman going mad after power and family affection-induced tribulations and subsequently achieving enlightenment. |
| Music | Ensemble Fabrique Normande （In）-Real Sound Surroundings | Contemporary electronic music performances generally involve musicians playing electronic instruments that generate music controlled by computer engineers. However, the Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra breaks this tradition by controlling such music themselves using their own computers. By allowing original and electronic music to come together, the Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra discovers new possibilities for the union of traditional chamber music and twenty-first century cutting-edge technology. The Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra that combines musical instruments and electronic music together using a special electronic instrument called “Karlax.” After five years of research and development, in 2019, the Nomadic Factory Chamber Orchestra wrote six songs based on varying contemporary aesthetic concepts and that connected original and electronic music together. These songs will remind the audience about the friendliness, loveliness, and “readability” of music that they have slowly forgotten. |
| Dance | Yuval PICK “Vocabulary of need (En ré mineur)” | “When listening to BWV1004, I am overcome with a sense of destitution and homelessness as well as the need to move. I also feel a sense of flexibility, as if something has been pulled and let go.”—Yuval Pick. Partita in D minor for solo violin (BWV1004) is considered by many violinists to be one of the greatest violin works of all time. The partita, emotional and powerful, has inspired choreographer Yuval Pick to create this dance performance, where the “core” of the music is explored and the physical movements of eight dancers are utilized to connect dances and orchestral music together, bringing the audience and the dancers together for a mesmerizing orchestral experience. Yuval Pick draws his inspiration from “meeting the needs of others,” using the “emotional tension” of music as a guide to create dance performances. He reinvented the way individuals prove their existence in groups: they can be alone, in groups, or with others. |
| Music | Grand Tour - Impressions on Western and Eastern Early Music 5/31(Sun.)14:30 | Doulce Mémoire (a performance team that focuses on reproducing the Renaissance spirit) and the XinXin Nanguan Ensemble (a performance team that believes ancient music can be reinvented to become modern music) joined forces for the first time, using the name of “grand tour” (a famous nanguan music); the concept of traveling; and the unique sound of Eastern and Western music to bring the audience on a journey of Western and Eastern music. Made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1999, Denis Raisin Dadre, the artistic director of Doulce Mémoire, collaborated with Wang Xin-xin, the artistic director of XinXin Nanguan Ensemble and the most prominent nanguan music innovator, for the first time to break tradition and find the common bond between Eastern and Western music. As the two performance teams arranged different melodies together, they discovered the common bonds between Eastern and Western ancient music (i.e., tranquility and transcendent) and brought these two music types together. |
| Drama | Puppet & Its Double Theater The Great Fall 6/7(Sun.)14:30 | Arts Award (category: Top 10 Performing Arts of the Year) in 2009. The performance tells the story of a “ghostwriter” who can only be heard and seen through the mouths and actions of others, respectively. The performance, presented in the form of a monodrama and involving a man and puppets, introduces a variety of characters. Wei Jun-zhan plays multiple roles (e.g., a ghostwriter) and uses his puppets to showcase the transformation from an entity to other entities. The antithesis between a man and its puppets and the irony of real life are “violently” and “sharply” revealed through puppets. In this performance, the stereotype of puppet shows is broken and inanimate puppets are brought to life, creating a captivating experience for the audience. |
Application Schedule
This program is opened to high schools and technical high schools in southern Taiwan (admission priority will be given to such schools in Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Pingtung County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Taitung County, remote rural areas, socially vulnerable situations, and eastern Taiwan). Applications are for classes and to be made by teachers.
- Online application is open until 1/10 (Fri.)
Approved applications (Stage 1) will be announced before 1/15 (Wed.)Application results
Stage 2 application is open until 1/30 (Thurs.). Please fill out the Stage 2 application form
Approved applications (Stage 2) will be announced before 1/31 (Fri.)
From 2/5 (Wed.) to 2/7(Fri.) 10:00-17:40, the approved classes (and those on the waiting list) will be required to attend the Co-learning Workshop .
Notices
The unit of application is “class” and a maximum of three applications can be made per class; only one application will be approved per school.
The program will be held over three days/in three different times (for a total of approximately 320 minutes). Please make sure that there is a teacher (or a designated person) accompanying the class during the event.
A maximum of 50 participants (teacher plus students) is allowed per application.
Qualifications for schools in remote rural areas are based on guidelines officially announced by the Ministry of Education.
Once an application has been approved, the applicant should, to the best of its ability, attend the event unless human-caused force majeure occurs. In the event of a natural disaster-caused force majeure, Weiwuying reserves the right to make relevant adjustments and will try to notify the approved applicants the rescheduled dates in advance.
For program-related subjects not fully covered in these special notices, Weiwuying reserves the right of adjustment and interpretation.
Program Contact Window
Weiwuying Marketing Department: (07)262-6918 and (07)262-6912
Presented by: National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
Major sponsors
Co-sponsors
