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攝影│李麟
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攝影│李麟
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攝影│李麟
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攝影│李麟
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攝影│李麟
Stay That Way
Bulareyaung Dance and Cultural Foundation＿Performing Arts Award Winner
Venue：Cloud Gate Theater
Comments on the finalist artworks
Since his return, this piece is Bulareyaung’s heaviest work that intervenes into the reality in the deepest way. It exposes the dark sides that have never been understood or exposed in new social movements that are seemingly peaceful, healthy, and even somewhat carnivalesque. It also reveals the potential contradictions and paradoxes among the three roles of performer, spectator and participant in the process of demonstration. The work goes beyond the viewpoint of the indigenous people and offers indirect yet a trenchant critique of different identity politics. The arrangement might appear to be spontaneous at first, but is actually the result of an elaborate design, insightfully pointing to the misunderstanding and discrimination faced by indigenous people in real life. The performance by the singers and dancers is remarkable. The structure of the dance is complete and displays rich emotional layers, showing the courage of experiment and innovation. (Commentator: KUO Chiang-Sheng)
Jury’s Comments for the 16th Performing Arts Award Winner
‘Stay That Way’ employs gestures and situations from daily life to undermine preconceptions about indigenous dance. Its direct theatrical qualities convey dimensions of community life and personal expression, within a cosmology linking sky, earth, and particular location. The production makes palpable the spiritual root of indigenous people’s dance and song. The choreographer’s influences from different dance traditions have fallen away in this work where he establishes his own rhythm and vocabulary, creating a tension between land, body and contemporary dance language.
In this reflexive work, Bulareyaung responds to the realities that indigenous people face with a unique artistic approach. ‘Stay That Way’ embodies self-awakening and courage. Bulareyuang has emerged as a unique voice within the contemporary performing arts.
About the Artwork
Choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava was awestruck upon hearing a vocal performance by Senayan, Muagai and Ivi from the Sakuban Village of the Puyuma tribe at the Cloud Gate Dance Company performance Nine Songs in 1993. He was able to meet each of these “three divas” by 2011, and realized a long-held ambition with Stay that Way in 2017.
The work includes three voices, three landscapes, which transcend time and space, and language and culture, bringing us to search the soul’s source of origin. Bulareyaung chooses the ”one person, one tale theater” in an attempt to introduce the audience to the life history of the three individuals. With “empathy” as a point of construction, he allows the audience to deeply care about the subject matter. The ideology of “no one is an outsider” rapidly envelopes the viewer.
The interaction between dancer and singer reveals the various sad songs in the lives of indigenous people, including the forced dispersion from Ketagalan Blvd. that was occurring concurrent to the performance. Stay That Way will make you laugh, but also tugs at the heartstrings, mediating the pain between the two. With a sincere attitude toward life, Bulareyaung brings anstrong and contemplative act of resistance against hegemonic power.
About the Artist
The Bulareyaung Dance Company was established by Bulareyaung Pagarlava in 2014. As an indigenous person, the process of “identity” led him to begin a new journey. He returned home to establish the dance company which is based in the old warehouse of the Taitung Sugar Factory. In the natural environment by the sea and sheltered by a mountain, over a dozen talented dancers from the eastern region explore the unique cultural essence of Taiwan’s eastern coast, to develop a lexicon and corporeal expression for indigenous contemporary dance by developing sound and body movements, and conducting cultural field research.
