ONE NIGHT ONLY at the Segerstrom in Costa Mesa @ 7:30pm on Wednesday October 26, 2022 :   

13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theater Company

It is rare to be able to experience a dance performance where you can preview how the choreographer and dancers create their magic on stage.

If you are familiar with the dance-works of the UK-based Akram Khan Company, where the classical Indian roots merge with contemporary and classical ballet dance training to produce universally relevant and spiritually deep expressions for the human body and emotions, then experiencing the 13 Tongues performance by the Taiwan-based Cloud Gate Dance Theater Company will be a comparable cultural treat.

Since I appreciate Qi Gong for both health and as a spiritual practice, I can imagine how these dancers could certainly harness and express qi in their movements. I share here the 37-minute video from their first participation in the World Ballet Day livestream in 2021 because it demonstrates the series of qi-gong incorporated dance movement exercises. You can see how the dancers harness the qi throughout the body from rooting to the earth through the spine to shooting energy through your fingers and feet. It also shares their rehearsal for 13 Tongues and you can see significant portions of the 13 Tongues stage performance - much longer segments than any YouTube preview segments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdZQUShSJOE&t=2241s

This World Ballet Day video from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre starts with qigong

exercises to energize the body by rooting to the earth qi while being relaxed, It also incorporates martial arts routine to harness the dancers' energy and strengthen balance training for the dancers. It ends with the rehearsal process of 13 Tongues in 2021.

I would also like to share a second video focusing on the choreographer's creative process and the genesis of this dance. It starts with how the name of 13 Tongues was derived from his mother's memory of a gifted story teller who brought many characters alive with his many voices in a specific district of Taipei. This video also discusses how the colors of the costumes and the visual technology is incorporated into the choreography. I am very impressed by the respect and cultural sensitivity the choreographer demonstrated in his process of dance creation. Even within his own Chinese Taiwanese culture, the appropriation of spiritual utterances and religious motives was done with prior permission from the temple. It is indeed rare to be able to see this aspect of the choreographer's creative journey and to see how the dance is grounded in Chinese cultural experience but yet speaks to the common human experiences as projected in dance movements that can be universally accessed by the audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5pfgGziofE

With these two videos, we can more fully appreciate and enjoy this one-night only performance of 13 Tongues by the Cloud Gate Dance Theater company. I hope you can join our group purchase of tickets for this one-night performance that is too good to miss even on a Wednesday night.

Details below:

I am organizing the purchase of group-priced discounted tickets for an astoundingly good ONE_NIGHT ONLY performance titled 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theater Company from Taiwan.

If you have dancers in your family or a budding choreographer, or if you just enjoy dance, this evening will be impactful.

Dance Performance: 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Company

Date: Wednesday evening, October 26, 2022

Time: 7:30pm (Meet around 6:45-7:15pm for ticket distribution)

Venue: Segerstrom Center for Performing Arts in Costa Mesa

Price per seat: $26 at Orchestra Terrace (all fees and etc included)

Deadline for best seats: Noon on October 1, 2022

Contact for venmo payment details: reallykf@gmail.com

Overview from the Segerstrom's website:

"“Astoundingly good! A sensationally big, indulgent and visually arresting expression of cultural memory.” - The Times

“When you're talking about Cloud Gate, magic is not too strong a word.” - Time

One of Asia’s foremost contemporary dance companies, Cloud Gate was founded in 1973 by choreographer Lin Hwai-min. The company, named after the oldest known dance in China, combines martial arts, Qi Gong, modern dance, and classical ballet. In 2020, Chen Tsung-lung succeeded Lin as the company’s Artistic Director, bringing together his creative works with traditional roots and excitingly innovative perspectives from the digital and globalized world.

In 13 Tongues, Cheng Tsung-lung transforms his childhood memories of the streets of Bangka into a fantastical, dreamlike world, fusing ancient superstitions, religious rites, and modern Taipei culture. Beginning and ending with the sound of a single handbell, the music accompanying 13 Tongues ranges from Taiwanese folk songs to Taoist chants to electronica. On a stage awash with projections of colors, shapes, and images, dancers gather, interact, separate, and then come together again in a vibrant representation of the clamor of street life.

13 Tongues features all the magic, beauty and astonishing ensemble dancing that hypnotized audiences when Cloud Gate made their Center debut in 2018."

Since I appreciate Qi Gong for health and as a spiritual practice, I can imagine how these dancers could certainly harness and express qi in their movements. I share here the 37-minute video from their first participation in the World Ballet Day livestream in 2021 because it shares a series of qi-gong incorporated dance movement exercises where one energizes qi through the body from rooting to the earth through the spine to shooting energy through your fingers and feet. It also shares their rehearsal for and you can see portions of the 13 Tongues performance - longer than any YouTube preview segments.

How to get to Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts:

https://www.scfta.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Directions-Parking.aspx