Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s “13 Tongues” — A Sensational Cultural Experience
“With the dancers’ movement and incomprehensible chanting, a bridge to the aesthetic experience of Monga was created by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, giving us audience the opportunity to relive this collective re-imagination of one of the city’s most treasured cultural memory.”
It was a Sunday afternoon in mid-April. The writer was sitting on a lookout patio that faces the Tamsui River, sipping from a glass of pink-coloured cocktail. I was waiting for a performance to start outside the Cloud Gate Theatre, an idyllic performing arts venue located on a hill that is some distance away from the bustling crowd on the main street.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is a leading contemporary dance group in Asia. Its founder, LIN Hwai-Min, is known for bringing Eastern-inspired philosophy and aesthetics into the world of contemporary dance.
At the time of writing, the first Cloud Gate production that I’ve watched, “Songs of the Wanderers”, comes to mind. This extraordinary visual pilgrimage inspired by Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha left me with no choice but to have Cloud Gate on my radar because I didn’t want to miss out on any of its performances no matter where I am.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Tamsui, New Taipei City
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Premiered in 2016, “13 Tongues” is CHENG Tsung-lung’s debut production at Cloud Gate. CHENG, who succeeds the founder as the company’s artistic director, revisits “13 Tongues” this spring with a tour in Taiwan. Though it’s unfortunate that the tour had to come to a halt due to the COVID outbreak, the writer is pleased to have watched this wonderful performance before the semi-lockdown.
This time, my seat is only two rows away from the stage. When the room turns pitch black, I start to hear echoes of bell chime from afar. Suddenly, the only light beam appeared in total darkness, directing everyone’s attention to a figure dressed in black who strolls from one end of the stage to another, in slow motion, as she rings the hand bell. Having put us audience into a waking dream with this hypnotising chime, the curtain begins to rise and this, my gentle readers, marks the beginning of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s “13 Tongues”.
The title of this production refers to a legendary storyteller that CHENG’s mother had encountered back in the 1960’s in Wanhua. The nickname “13 Tongues” was given to this storyteller by the locals because of his ability to use different voices to portray a myriad of characters, be it male or female, old or young.
“13 Tongues” by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Based on this storyteller that CHENG’s mother had told him, the artistic director started to revisit Wanhua — one of Taipei city’s oldest districts — where CHENG spent most of his childhood.
Wanhua, historically known as “Monga”, is a place of rich tradition and culture. Despite the fact that this very district is the origin of the current COVID outbreak in Taiwan, Monga is where many older generation of Taiwanese would find traces of what the city was like before it embraced modernisation.
By revisiting this neighbourhood where he once called home, CHENG combines his childhood memory with the new discoveries he’s made throughout his on-site research, the result of which is a multi-sensorial cultural experience titled “13 Tongues”.
“13 Tongues” by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
References to tradition and culture found in Monga would have been obvious to many local audiences. The costume design, for instance, is one of the production’s highlights. While only dancers dressed in black were seen during the first part of the performance, one of these dancers was offered a coloured costume to wear half way through.
After this costume printed bold colour splashes was brought on stage, it immediately became clear to the audience that its neon-like effect provided a good visual climax to a performance that takes place in almost total darkness.
In contrast to the rest of the dancers, this particular dancer who’s got this magical cape acts as if he or she were the untouchable deity placed on an altar, encircled by believers and laymen alike.
To most people in the audience, the design of these coloured costumes must have evoked a sense of ‘localness’ or, more precisely, ‘Taiwanese-ness’ as the vibrancy of its colour seems to recreate a collage made up of local shops’ neon signs and market stalls’ lighting found in Monga at night. When this iconic streetscape was worn on the body of a group of dancers, it was as if the old district has suddenly come to life again, finding itself in sync with every move and gesture that the dancers make.
“13 Tongues” by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
For audience who has more imagination, it wouldn’t be difficult to spot that the dancers also made their effort to mimic people from all walks of life. If looked closely, some dancers’ movement even evoked that of a deity seen in a religious parade. What’s more, one of the dancers seemingly simulated a Taoist shaman who mediates between human and the spirit world.
My avid readers would have been familiar with the temple culture of this island where at least more than 10,000 temples are found. It is no surprise that Monga, as the city’s historic district, is home to some of the oldest temples in Taiwan.
While it’s clear that Taiwan’s tradition of temple culture was ingeniously weaved into the choreography, a local’s ‘hearing experience’ at some of these old temples can also be found in “13 Tongues”. For a good period of time, the dancers were chanting a Taoist incantation in Taiwanese dialect, as if trying to guide the audience into a deeper and almost trance-like state of this waking dream.
Without a doubt, this widely acclaimed production has succeeded in summoning the cultural memory of many. With the dancers’ body movement and incomprehensible chanting, a bridge to the aesthetic experience of Monga was created by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, giving us audience the opportunity to relive this collective re-imagination of one of the city’s most treasured cultural memory.
It is important to note that what the writer has written so far provides only a glimpse to what “13 Tongues” has to offer. If you — curious readers — are presented with the opportunity, I would urge you not to miss it. After you finish watching the show, you might prefer to stay in this sensorial waking dream, just like where I am now.