Songs of the Wanderers (1999)
1h 20min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
One might be tempted to speculate as to the global marketability of 'Songs of the Wanderers', a disc featuring a Taiwanese contemporary dance troupe performing highly stylised pieces, heavily influenced by t'ai chi, meditation and improvised movement accompanied by, er, Georgian folk music. However, this disc is absolutely approachable and absolutely captivating - it's tempting to say riveting, which seems intuitively accurate but strangely at odds with the strong Zen influence that pervades the work of the company's artistic director Lin Hwai-Min. Lin is interviewed extensively in the appended special feature, which is worth the price of the disc in itself for the insights it gives (and also for the unintentionally funny moment when Lin is compared to both Ek and Kylian, two other choreographers who just happen to feature on other ArtHaus releases). If anything, the programme seems slightly over-produced, with some of the rather touristy props perhaps being foregrounded at the expense of the wonderful dancing. Nevertheless, overall this is a splendid cross-cultural surprise and delight. - Actors:
- Wei-Ming Wang, Rong-Yu Wang, Ching-Chun Lee, Chun-Hsien Wu
- Directors:
- Misjel Vermeiren
- Studio:
- Arthaus Musik
- Genres:
- Documentary, Music & Musicals, Performing Arts, Special Interest
- Countries:
- Taiwan