The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will perform “Wild Cursive,” a blend of ballet, Chinese opera movement and martial arts that interprets the rigor and aesthetics of the 3,000 year-old Chinese calligraphy tradition.
Black ink flows downward onto streams of white rice paper as they cascade to the stage floor.
The movement of dancers echoes the serpentine lines and abstract patterns of the ink. Their breath, voices and feet accompany sounds of cicadas, wind, rain and temple bells.
They are the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, performing “Wild Cursive,” a blend of ballet, Chinese opera movement and martial arts that interprets the rigor and aesthetics of the 3,000 year-old Chinese calligraphy tradition.
At 8 p.m. Sept. 28 and 29, they will share all of the above at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carolina Performing Arts will present the two engagements in the Beasley-Curtis Auditorium of Memorial Hall.
In tandem with the performances, UNC’s Ackland Art Museum is presenting “Spirit of the Brush: Chinese Calligraphy and Painting,” an exhibition of items and artworks from its own collection, on display now through Nov. 25.
Visitors will see tools used in Chinese calligraphy, including the ink stick, brush, paper and more; fine examples of the craft; and Chinese paintings that include inscriptions in calligraphy.
On Sept. 27 from 1-2 p.m., the Ackland and Carolina Performing Arts will host a free public discussion of Chinese calligraphy and how it informs Cloud Gate’s choreography. The speakers will be Lin Hwai-min, the dance company’s founder and artistic director; Chang Qing, the Ackland’s curatorial fellow for Asian art, who curated the exhibition; and Li-ling Hsiao, UNC assistant professor of Chinese language and literature. Advance registration is required; call (919) 966-5736 to reserve a spot.
Rooted in Asian myth and folklore and infused with a contemporary universality, “Wild Cursive” will open Carolina Performing Arts’ 2007-08 dance series, which also features Urban Bush Women with Compagnie Jant-Bi on Feb. 22 and Merce Cunningham Dance Company on April 18.
Founded in 1973 by choreographer Lin Huai-min, Cloud Gate has performed on five continents. “Wild Cursive” completes a story begun in Cloud Gate’s preceding works, “Cursive” and “Cursive II,” which also focused on Chinese calligraphy.
The new work explores how artistry is structurally grounded, said Emil Kang, UNC’s executive director for the arts. For Cloud Gate, ink is that paradigm.
“‘Wild Cursive’ is a stark and painfully beautiful performance,” Kang said. “It is emotionally charged, while retaining a sense of innocence and purity.”
Tickets for the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s “Wild Cursive” are available online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org, by calling (919) 843-3333 or at the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Prices range from $40 to $20. Tickets for Carolina students are $10. Tickets for all other performances in the 2007-08 Carolina Performing Arts season also are on sale.
“Spirit of the Brush” features works produced between 1669 and 1983. Besides examples of the art form and related art works, the exhibition showcases the experts’ tools: ink stick, ink stone, brush, brush pot, brush stand, brush washer, seal, red paste and more. Illustrations help visitors recognize the many styles of Chinese script, including oracle bone, semi-cursive, regular and cursive. Chinese bronze and ceramic objects, about three thousand years old, hint at multiple circumstances in which scholars apply the art.
“Traditionally a gift of friendship, calligraphy serves a similar purpose in ‘Spirit of the Brush’: inviting an American audience to experience the rich traditions of Chinese culture and art firsthand,” said Ackland Director Emily Kass.
The Ackland, on South Columbia Street near Franklin Street, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. The museum also is open until 9 p.m. on the second Friday of every month. Admission is free. For more information, call (919) 843-1611 (recorded information), (919) 966-5736 (museum office) or (919) 962-0837 (TTY).
Photos and information: http://www.carolinaperformingarts.org/media
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Web site: http://www.cloudgate.org.tw/eng/
Ackland Art Museum Web site: www.ackland.org
Carolina Performing Arts contact: Jennifer Warner, (919) 966-3834, jenniferwarner@unc.edu
Ackland Art Museum contact: Nic Brown, (919) 943-3675, nic_brown@unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589