- Participants are required to attend all three days of the course and submit their proposals on the final day.
- The cash deposit will be refunded on the next payment date after the end of the course, none will be given to those without 100% attendance or who did not submit a proposal by the deadline.
- This workshop will feature video recordings of special events. Participants will need to sign the "Authorization for Use of Likeness" form indicating their consent to public release of their likeness and all related matters. The video recordings are for artistic promotions and non-profit purposes only.
- The organizer reserves the right to change this event.
【2022 Weiwuying Circus Platform】Workshop for Creative Producer in Circus
In 2016, Weiwuying set up a circus platform to create a friendly environment for Taiwan circuses and support regular international exchanges. Now, we have conceived our mission for the next phase of this project in response to changes in the environment—to actively promote Taiwan circus acts with a potential for ticket sales. To achieve this goal, we must cultivate creative circus producers, as they are a vital link in the chain. The purpose of the Creative Circus Producer Workshop is to publicize the production experience of Taiwan circuses at the present stage while bringing institutions, creators, and producers together to create a circus production network connecting all of Taiwan.
Workshop for Creative Producer in Circus will invite national circus experts to share their production experience, brainstorm program concepts, and develop them into proposals for Weiwuying's circus platform, to make our dreams come true. We welcome all theater program departments, municipal cultural bureaus and performance halls, art festival curators, creators, and friends interested in circus production work to participate in this workshop. Considering the inherent inclusiveness of the circus circle, we also invite producers in other fields such as dance, interdisciplinary performance, and outdoor performance to join us and brainstorm together.
Schedule
| Date | 12/9 (Fri) | 12/10 (Sat) | 12/11 (Sun) |
| Venue | Paint Shop | Exhibition Hall | Paint Shop |
| 10:30—12:00 | Course 1 The Body Culture of Taiwan Acrobats LEE, Hsiao-lei | Course 4 Unparalleled Finesse: How Creative Producers Solve Problems KENG, Yi-wei | Course 5 Propose |
| 12:00—13:30 | Break | Enjoy the Performance | Enjoy the Performance |
| 13:30—15:00 | Course 2 Between Dreams and Reality: Stories Untold on Stage LIN, Chih-wei | ||
| 15:00—16:00 | Break | ||
| 16:00—17:30 | Course 3 Gearing up for an International Future: Aspects of Circus Creation Gwen, Hsin-yi CHANG |
Course
Creative Producer Workshop course 1
Speaker: LEE, Hsiao-lei
The Body Culture of Taiwan Acrobats
If acrobatics in the past was meant to express man conquering nature, today it expresses the diversity of people of every kind and colour as a phenomenon that cannot be easily defined — a statement on the value of mankind’s existence in giving meaning to the world. To construct a narrative of the body culture of Taiwan acrobatics, we must first acquire a feel for the usage and logic of the physical body, employ perspectives on physical training from other fields, imbibe the substance of the acrobatic system, support the body systems developed by acrobats on their own, and verify the body culture that is extant in Taiwanese acrobatics.
This lecture attempts to explain how acrobats use their bodies, analyse how contemporary acrobats break through traditional temporal and spatial constraints to create new forms of social relationships. By exploring the cultivation of contemporary professional acrobats through a range of basic knowledge from practical performances, body techniques, and how bodily thinking leads to performance thinking in which techniques and movements are strung together seamlessly into a splendid artistic conception or story that resonates with the audience to achieve the result — a body culture exclusive to present-day Taiwan acrobatics.
Creative Producer Workshop course 2
Speaker: LIN, Chih-wei
Between Dreams and Reality: Stories Untold on Stage
This lecture will put the evolution of the Taiwanese circus scene over the past 60 years in context as an approach to understanding today’s Taiwanese circus and acrobatic scene.
LIN Chih-wei, the founder of FOCA Formosa Circus Art, will share his personal observations, starting with his experiences with more entertainment-oriented and non-mainstream Taiwan circuses of the past to contemporary circus that has gradually entered the realm of theater, which is better understood and accepted by the public.
By cooperating with interdisciplinary artists and adapting to the varied and malleable features of circus performers, FOCA has developed the ability to co-produce with different types of directors and choreographers. What underlying challenges exist for a producer who wishes to help different collaborators, venues, and even the public develop a better understanding of contemporary circus? Through LIN Chih-wei’s sharing, we will take a look at the stories untold on stage.
Creative Producer Workshop course 3
Speaker: Gwen, Hsin-yi CHANG
Gearing up for an International Future: Aspects of Circus Creation
Online Courses
The pandemic has shaken up the traditional framework of circus performances on a global scale, sparing none in its wake: from industrialized Canada and Australia to the Latin American scene — in full bloom despite a lack of government support — even to the well-established western and northern European circuses, and certainly to Asia, where Taiwan and neighbouring countries such as Japan and Cambodia are striving for resources through non-governmental forces.
The creative development of circuses in the above-mentioned areas seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth during the two-year hiatus, but after much struggle, has suddenly blossomed once more in a wonderful burst of innovation. From creative ideation and experimental research in the early production stages to the subsequent promotion, performances, and tour arrangements, circus creators, producers, performers, stage/light/music/costume designers, and marketing promotors, are all creating with a critical eye and a renewed sense of urgency that lends their pieces an immediacy only found in visionary works that echo the current state of society.
With a focus on issues, interdisciplinary cooperation, green creation, and environmental sustainability, this 90-minute online workshop will share current noteworthy cases from several countries involving practical action that can be taken to create with a global perspective that reflects public concerns and helps undo the status quo in favour of new ways of thinking.
Creative Producer Workshop course 4
Speaker: KENG, Yi-wei
Unparalleled Finesse: How Creative Producers Solve Problems
A producer is a battlefield strategist, cheerleader, and firefighter all in one. The creative capacity of circus producers to solve problems is needed as early as the planning stage, especially when it comes to getting resources in the bidding process. Then, once rehearsals start, the producer has to help the director deal with the myriad of possible personnel disputes. Finally, the producer has to market the show so that prospective ticket-buyers will know what it is about and want to see it. This course will help producers understand the secrets to creativity and problem-solving.
【2022 Weiwuying Circus Platform】Workshop for Creative Producer in Circus
In 2016, Weiwuying set up a circus platform to create a friendly environment for Taiwan circuses and support regular international exchanges. Now, we have conceived our mission for the next phase of this project in response to changes in the environment—to actively promote Taiwan circus acts with a potential for ticket sales. To achieve this goal, we must cultivate creative circus producers, as they are a vital link in the chain. The purpose of the Creative Circus Producer Workshop is to publicize the production experience of Taiwan circuses at the present stage while bringing institutions, creators, and producers together to create a circus production network connecting all of Taiwan.
Workshop for Creative Producer in Circus will invite national circus experts to share their production experience, brainstorm program concepts, and develop them into proposals for Weiwuying's circus platform, to make our dreams come true. We welcome all theater program departments, municipal cultural bureaus and performance halls, art festival curators, creators, and friends interested in circus production work to participate in this workshop. Considering the inherent inclusiveness of the circus circle, we also invite producers in other fields such as dance, interdisciplinary performance, and outdoor performance to join us and brainstorm together.
Schedule
| Date | 12/9 (Fri) | 12/10 (Sat) | 12/11 (Sun) |
| Venue | Paint Shop | Exhibition Hall | Paint Shop |
| 10:30—12:00 | Course 1 The Body Culture of Taiwan Acrobats LEE, Hsiao-lei | Course 4 Unparalleled Finesse: How Creative Producers Solve Problems KENG, Yi-wei | Course 5 Propose |
| 12:00—13:30 | Break | Enjoy the Performance | Enjoy the Performance |
| 13:30—15:00 | Course 2 Between Dreams and Reality: Stories Untold on Stage LIN, Chih-wei | ||
| 15:00—16:00 | Break | ||
| 16:00—17:30 | Course 3 Gearing up for an International Future: Aspects of Circus Creation Gwen, Hsin-yi CHANG |
Course
Creative Producer Workshop course 1
Speaker: LEE, Hsiao-lei
The Body Culture of Taiwan Acrobats
If acrobatics in the past was meant to express man conquering nature, today it expresses the diversity of people of every kind and colour as a phenomenon that cannot be easily defined — a statement on the value of mankind’s existence in giving meaning to the world. To construct a narrative of the body culture of Taiwan acrobatics, we must first acquire a feel for the usage and logic of the physical body, employ perspectives on physical training from other fields, imbibe the substance of the acrobatic system, support the body systems developed by acrobats on their own, and verify the body culture that is extant in Taiwanese acrobatics.
This lecture attempts to explain how acrobats use their bodies, analyse how contemporary acrobats break through traditional temporal and spatial constraints to create new forms of social relationships. By exploring the cultivation of contemporary professional acrobats through a range of basic knowledge from practical performances, body techniques, and how bodily thinking leads to performance thinking in which techniques and movements are strung together seamlessly into a splendid artistic conception or story that resonates with the audience to achieve the result — a body culture exclusive to present-day Taiwan acrobatics.
Creative Producer Workshop course 2
Speaker: LIN, Chih-wei
Between Dreams and Reality: Stories Untold on Stage
This lecture will put the evolution of the Taiwanese circus scene over the past 60 years in context as an approach to understanding today’s Taiwanese circus and acrobatic scene.
LIN Chih-wei, the founder of FOCA Formosa Circus Art, will share his personal observations, starting with his experiences with more entertainment-oriented and non-mainstream Taiwan circuses of the past to contemporary circus that has gradually entered the realm of theater, which is better understood and accepted by the public.
By cooperating with interdisciplinary artists and adapting to the varied and malleable features of circus performers, FOCA has developed the ability to co-produce with different types of directors and choreographers. What underlying challenges exist for a producer who wishes to help different collaborators, venues, and even the public develop a better understanding of contemporary circus? Through LIN Chih-wei’s sharing, we will take a look at the stories untold on stage.
Creative Producer Workshop course 3
Speaker: Gwen, Hsin-yi CHANG
Gearing up for an International Future: Aspects of Circus Creation
Online Courses
The pandemic has shaken up the traditional framework of circus performances on a global scale, sparing none in its wake: from industrialized Canada and Australia to the Latin American scene — in full bloom despite a lack of government support — even to the well-established western and northern European circuses, and certainly to Asia, where Taiwan and neighbouring countries such as Japan and Cambodia are striving for resources through non-governmental forces.
The creative development of circuses in the above-mentioned areas seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth during the two-year hiatus, but after much struggle, has suddenly blossomed once more in a wonderful burst of innovation. From creative ideation and experimental research in the early production stages to the subsequent promotion, performances, and tour arrangements, circus creators, producers, performers, stage/light/music/costume designers, and marketing promotors, are all creating with a critical eye and a renewed sense of urgency that lends their pieces an immediacy only found in visionary works that echo the current state of society.
With a focus on issues, interdisciplinary cooperation, green creation, and environmental sustainability, this 90-minute online workshop will share current noteworthy cases from several countries involving practical action that can be taken to create with a global perspective that reflects public concerns and helps undo the status quo in favour of new ways of thinking.
Creative Producer Workshop course 4
Speaker: KENG, Yi-wei
Unparalleled Finesse: How Creative Producers Solve Problems
A producer is a battlefield strategist, cheerleader, and firefighter all in one. The creative capacity of circus producers to solve problems is needed as early as the planning stage, especially when it comes to getting resources in the bidding process. Then, once rehearsals start, the producer has to help the director deal with the myriad of possible personnel disputes. Finally, the producer has to market the show so that prospective ticket-buyers will know what it is about and want to see it. This course will help producers understand the secrets to creativity and problem-solving.
- Participants are required to attend all three days of the course and submit their proposals on the final day.
- The cash deposit will be refunded on the next payment date after the end of the course, none will be given to those without 100% attendance or who did not submit a proposal by the deadline.
- This workshop will feature video recordings of special events. Participants will need to sign the "Authorization for Use of Likeness" form indicating their consent to public release of their likeness and all related matters. The video recordings are for artistic promotions and non-profit purposes only.
- The organizer reserves the right to change this event.
