January 14, 2004 -

OTTAWA -- Taiwan's renowned Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre performs the Canadian premiere of The Life of Mandala in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre (NAC) on Friday, January 30 and Saturday January 31, 2004 at 20:30. East meets West as Taiwan-based choreographer Hsiu-Wei Lin blends contemporary dance and Chinese opera theatricality into a pure and original dance language. Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre garners worldwide acclaim for a style based on mind and body, natural and primitive ritual, and the pushing of human limbs to their utmost limits. The Life of Mandala, derived from Indian Buddhism, illuminated by candlelight, is redolent with primal, sexual, and spiritual elements: exoticism, life, birth, death, and power, capturing the amazing ability of the human spirit to replenish itself.

"Candles flicker in a valley of the dead as bodies lie with crossed arms. Ms Lin is the demon-temptress among grotesque coupling pairs ...the movement picks up ... until Nirvana is reached as a beautiful pattern dance in dyed robes."

"Ah! Life! What spiritual beauty! The audience was deeply touched. The applause just wouldn't stop!"

"This dance holds very impressive body pictures and an indecisive body language. With its precise and artistic style, this performance is one of the most impressive of the festival."

"A search for the essence of life, a transcendence of suffering, a blending of East and West and individualized meditation. At the end of the performance, the audience was on its feet cheering! "

Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre is quite literally the result of a marriage of two disciplines: contemporary dance and Peking opera. When Artistic Director Hsiu-wei Lin, formerly a principal dancer with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, married Peking opera star Hsing-kuo Wu, they established Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre and Contemporary Legend Theatre, both incorporating these two disciplines. All of Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre's female dancers have received modern dance training, while the male dancers were formerly Chinese opera actors. Hsiu-Wei Lin also trained all of the dancers in three stages of technique: soft, organic and meditative movements; animal movements using expansion and explosion; and techniques of concentration and relaxation. In searching and exploring a pure and original dance style, Lin has tried to achieve a unity of form based on her inner spirit.

The Life of Mandala was born out of tragedy but is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. When Ms Lin produced The Kingdom of Desire, a Peking opera version of Macbeth, a talented stage designer, also a friend of Ms Lin, fell from the lighting truss, resulting in his immediate death. This tragedy prompted Ms Lin to engage in deep contemplation about life, eventually inspiring the The Life of Mandala. As Ms Lin explained "That accident destroyed my belief in the idea that ‘Man will conquer Nature.'" Her consciousness fell into this state of indulgent and silent darkness until she read works of religious philosophy from India, and tried to search for a way toward self-awakening and liberation. From the Mandala images, the central image of Buddha is expanded and scattered into infinite Buddhist reflections. Finally, she realized that continuing and unceasing life is the natural and universal rule, and also the essence of artistic creation. Mandala is defined as the true word, the essence, real meaning, and sanctuary. Mandalas symbolize true vitality. Thus, Life of Mandala is a meditation on the visual beauty of mandalas, a dance work searching for the essence of life and transcending suffering in images of the human body. The work is a dance in four parts: sublimation, the world of desires, awakening, and Buddhist chanting.

Tai-gu Tales Dance Theatre performs The Life of Mandala in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre on Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31, 2004 at 20:30. Tickets are $40, $37 and $29, and $21, $19.50 and $15.50 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at (613) 755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC's web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Last-minute tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students are $9.50 at the Live Rush Centre in the NAC Foyer after 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid `Live Rush' card.

Photos for all dance events can be viewed and downloaded at: www.nac-cna.ca/media/

Information:
Gerald Morris
Marketing and Media Relations,
NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca