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Cheng Tsung-Lung ╳ Cloud Gate: 2 22° Lunar Halo to be Premiered at Weiwuying Creating a Cloud Gate Sensation with Iceland Rock Band Sigur Rós
Cloud Gate 2’s new production 22° Lunar Halo will embark on their international tour, the first stop being National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) at Saturday, April 13th and Sunday, April 14th. Cheng Tsung-Lung, artistic director of Cloud Gate 2, traveled to Iceland in search of inspiration and successfully invited Icelandic Rock and Roll band Sigur Rós to compose the music for the dance production. Along with Jam Wu, recipient of the first prize of the Louis Vuitton Cultural Space Audition, and Wang Yi-Sheng, winner of the World Stage Design, 22° Lunar Halo presents three large screens composed of 139 LED panels that are combined with a precisely-carved mirror stage, creating a technology tribe along with the wild, primitive body languages of the dancers. 22° Lunar Halo hopes to explore the question: “What will happen when technology converses with the body?”
Inspired by nature, Cheng Tsung-Lung describes his dance production as “technology tribe.” There is an ancient mandarin saying that when the moon halo appears, accompanied by the wind, it means something is about to happen, igniting a sense of alertness and fear among the people. Dance digs into the restlessness and greed in the hearts of men. Solo dance conveys a sense of loneliness, while dance duets express desire. Group dance, on the other hand, is like an ecstatic ceremony of rebirth. The stage displays an atmosphere as if portraying the distant future, a time of rebirth after the apocalypse. Having witnessed the emergence of the pager, cell phones, and smartphones growing up, Cheng recognizes the convenience of the rapid development of technology but also reflects on whether we should move away from the fall and indulgence brought about by technology products.
Cheng was enchanted by the music of Sigur Rós back in 2011. In 2017, with the support from National Performing Arts Center Project, Cheng reached out to Sigur Rós for collaboration, and they agreed to work together, producing works that both parties were satisfied with. Sigur Rós will be issuing 2,000 sets of limited-edition vinyl records worldwide on April 14th, the premiere of22° Lunar Halo, which is also Record Store Day.
The stage of 22° Lunar Halo is created by Jam Wu and Wang Yi-Sheng, presenting enlarged images of the dancers’ bodies through the three largescale screens. The bodies of the dancers are displayed as beautiful landscapes, mixed with natural scenery to present a Utopia that is perfect but illusory. The large screen is like another dancer on stage, intertwined with the wild movements of human dancers in perfect harmony. The stage costumes are designed by Chen Shao-Yen, a designer who has frequented London runways, and uses materials including pieces of paper with metallic appearance, leather that are designed to look worn, and thick heavy weaved ropes to express the characteristics of the 14 dancers and create an eerie but harmonious atmosphere that expresses fashion and primitiveness at the same time.