Meditative Dance Theatre in Contemporary Taiwan: U-Theatre, Legend Lin Dance Theatre, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and the Eastern Body Aesthetics [Hardcover]

Introduction 1. Old Concepts and New Practice in Contemporary Taiwan Dance Theatre 2. U-Theatre on the Path of Jerzy Grotowski: Theatre of a Perfect Performer 3. Creating the Dance, Re-creating the Myth: Meditative Dance Theatre of Lin Lee-chen 4. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. From Narrative to Abstraction: Calligraphic Writing with the Dancers Body

This book explores the most unique contemporary forms of Taiwanese dance theatre and the theatre of movement created by renowned choreographers whose productions are committed to the Eastern body aesthetics (dongfang shentiguan).

Izabella Aabdzka is Professor of Sinology and Theatre Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland, specialising in the history and aesthetics of Chinese theatre and drama, comparative literature and contemporary Chinese poetry and prose.

This book explores the most unique contemporary forms of Taiwanese dance theatre and the theatre of movement created by renowned choreographers whose productions are committed to the Eastern body aesthetics (dongfang shentiguan).

By examining the shared backgrounds of the creators of these forms of contemporary dance theatre, the book reveals how native traditions have inspired the formation of these contemporary dances, whether from the Taiwanese islands, mainland China or other Asian countries, to create innovative performances simultaneously inspired to some extent by Western dance theatre. In doing so, the book reveals how Taiwans rapidly modernising and increasingly technologically advanced society has made such a radical turn towards the Eastern traditions of corporeality. Ultimately, it highlights the significance of contemplative art in the over-aesthetised reality of our time and how dance serves as a vehicle for the transformation and renewal of human beings in a technocratic and technology-driven world.

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