The Documentary : The Development of The Body Movement
Varhung-Heart to Heart
Title : Varhung~Heart to Heart
Type: Dance (for audience aged 6 or above)
Runtime: 50 minutes (no break)
Type: Dance (for audience aged 6 or above)
Runtime: 50 minutes (no break)
Performance Introduction and Content
“Varhung~Heart to Heart” is a creative work based on the traditional Paiwan dance, transforming the form of one unity of the Paiwan dance and music into a contemporary body language. The dance movements were designed based on the songs, and the songs were written based on the dance movements, enriching the physical performances of the dancers on stage. Baru, the choreographer, designed the movement elements for this dance work with shell gingers, which are very important in tribal lives, in mind. The tribal people brought the dancers to the mountains to pick shell gingers. “All the detailed movements during this process, such as picking, drying, and pealing layer by layer became the movement elements in this work.” The dancers presented their performances at one go on stage. During the performance, every once in a while the rhythms of the four-step dance and the chanting and singing to go with the dance steps could be found. Everything, from steps, to dances, to singing, and to drama, was presented in such an intense way with strong impacts on the audience’s hearts.
This dance work aimed to have an intimate talk with the audience. The dancers were totally devoted and gave away their deepest secrets through singing, dancing, and speaking. Baru expected that this work can remind the audience their own emotional stories buried deep inside them a long time ago, and further achieve the goal of healing. One of the audience said, “the dancers’ crying and performances were intense with strong vitality, healing those unspeakable loss. The fast falling of the shell ginger leaves eliminated all the loads on the mind in a split second.” This work showed the dancers’ attitudes of firmness and restraining and is a majestic work with depth.
In this work, choreographer Baru Madiljin projects the performers into listeners and speakers. They keep on asking anemaq (what) and makudja (what happened)? These two words run through the whole dance, when the characters ask about each others’ depression in life and difficulty in love. We are always willing to listen to others talk about the things on their minds. Yet, we have no one to talk to. It is hoped that this work can be a channel for people to unburden themselves.
What are forest compartment songs?
It is very common that workers in the forestry industry must live in a block house with other workers and cannot go home for months. At night, during their leisure time, they would play their guitars and sing. Most of these workers are young indigenous people. And the songs created by workers together in forest compartments are called forest compartment songs. They were the cradle of the creative songs written by indigenous people in the early days.
“Forest compartment songs” sing about indigenous people’s joys and sorrows and the transformation from the lives of barter, hunting, and farming, to the modern life of money. Indigenous people express their feelings through “forest compartment songs”. They directly sing about their internal pains and depressions. That’s why forest compartment songs are so touching.
The “forest compartment song” sung by the dancers during the show was a song created in the old days when the tribal people worked away from home and found out that their partners had already met someone else.
The first song : What Should I Do Without You? (solo)
The second song : It’s Not My Fault to Fall In Love with You. (solo)
This dance work aimed to have an intimate talk with the audience. The dancers were totally devoted and gave away their deepest secrets through singing, dancing, and speaking. Baru expected that this work can remind the audience their own emotional stories buried deep inside them a long time ago, and further achieve the goal of healing. One of the audience said, “the dancers’ crying and performances were intense with strong vitality, healing those unspeakable loss. The fast falling of the shell ginger leaves eliminated all the loads on the mind in a split second.” This work showed the dancers’ attitudes of firmness and restraining and is a majestic work with depth.
In this work, choreographer Baru Madiljin projects the performers into listeners and speakers. They keep on asking anemaq (what) and makudja (what happened)? These two words run through the whole dance, when the characters ask about each others’ depression in life and difficulty in love. We are always willing to listen to others talk about the things on their minds. Yet, we have no one to talk to. It is hoped that this work can be a channel for people to unburden themselves.
What are forest compartment songs?
It is very common that workers in the forestry industry must live in a block house with other workers and cannot go home for months. At night, during their leisure time, they would play their guitars and sing. Most of these workers are young indigenous people. And the songs created by workers together in forest compartments are called forest compartment songs. They were the cradle of the creative songs written by indigenous people in the early days.
“Forest compartment songs” sing about indigenous people’s joys and sorrows and the transformation from the lives of barter, hunting, and farming, to the modern life of money. Indigenous people express their feelings through “forest compartment songs”. They directly sing about their internal pains and depressions. That’s why forest compartment songs are so touching.
The “forest compartment song” sung by the dancers during the show was a song created in the old days when the tribal people worked away from home and found out that their partners had already met someone else.
The first song : What Should I Do Without You? (solo)
The second song : It’s Not My Fault to Fall In Love with You. (solo)
Choreographer
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Baru Madiljin
graduated from the School of Dance of Taipei National University of the Arts. Though had lived in urban communities for ten years, Baru Madiljin did not lose the nutrients he once acquired from his mother land; he communicates his inner self to the public with his body, providing a dialogue between traditional and modern concepts through body language. He was praised by the British Internet magazine Spiked with “the choreography was strong...” while Kelly Apter from The Scotsman newspaper described his work as “Deeply touching... The passion is palpable.” |
Production Team
Artistic Director : Ljuzem Madiljin
Choreographer : Baru Madiljin
Performer : YANG Ching-Hao, Ljaucu Dapukarac, MENG Tzu-En Me
Company Manger : CHIU Shu-Ting
International Affairs Coordinator : LI I-Hsuan
Stage Manger : LI Yin-Ping
Choreographer : Baru Madiljin
Performer : YANG Ching-Hao, Ljaucu Dapukarac, MENG Tzu-En Me
Company Manger : CHIU Shu-Ting
International Affairs Coordinator : LI I-Hsuan
Stage Manger : LI Yin-Ping
Timelines
2019 : Vancouver International Dance Festival , Canada
2018 : Festival Off d’Avignon
2018 : Fringe Festival, Édimbourg, Écosse
2017 : Festival Off d’Avignon
2017 : “Odoru Akita 2017”, Japon
2016 : Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato, Mexique
2014 : Fringe Festival, Édimbourg, Écosse
2012 : Indigenous Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada
2018 : Festival Off d’Avignon
2018 : Fringe Festival, Édimbourg, Écosse
2017 : Festival Off d’Avignon
2017 : “Odoru Akita 2017”, Japon
2016 : Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato, Mexique
2014 : Fringe Festival, Édimbourg, Écosse
2012 : Indigenous Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada