[中][ENG] 淺談國家兩廳院「舞蹈秋天」 Taipei’s Dancing In Autumn

放眼舞林 An Eye on Dance 淺談國家兩廳院「舞蹈秋天」 Taipei’s Dancing In Autumn

迪米特里．帕派約安努《偉大馴服者》Dimitris Papaioannou’s The Great Tamer;

攝Photo: Julian Mommert

十一月中， 朋友在面書有一則英文留言，引述 「There will be a Hong Kong invasion this weekend: a legion of arts aficionados will decend upon Taipei, craving to watch dance spectacles!! These diehard spectators claim they are starved for good artistic performances…」我和很多香港行家、藝術家和朋友就是那班「arts aficionados」（藝術愛好者），在那個週未專程來到台北的國家兩廳院欣賞兩年一度舉辦的「2017舞蹈秋天」的節目。他此網上留言，忽然啓發我思考一些問題：（一）香港真是沒有邀請 「好」的作品演出嗎？（二）或是藝術節定位和策展方向出現了問題？（三）如何策展舞蹈節？今期我以「舞蹈秋天」為例，淺談其策展方向。

In the middle of November, a friend posted a Facebook comment, “There will be a Hong Kong invasion this weekend: a legion of arts aficionados will decend upon Taipei, craving to watch dance spectacles!! These diehard spectators claim they are starved for good artistic performances…” Like many other Hong Kong artists and friends, I was one of those “art aficionados” flown to Taipei National Theater & Concert Hall over the weekend to enjoy the biennial festival Dancing in Autumn. This post got me thinking: 1) Does Hong Kong not invite ‘good’ productions anymore?; or, 2) Is there a problem with the curatorial direction of Art Festivals?; 3) How to curate an Arts Festival? In this issue, I will talk about the curatorial direction of Dancing in Autumn as an example.

台北國家兩廳院培育現／當代舞觀眾已三十多年，早期以引進歐美名氣大的舞團，從而延伸至探索其他海外的舞蹈團，都是比較「單打獨鬥式 」地穿插分佈於全年其他節目之中上演。平珩老師當總監時雖曾有「舞蹈春天」等藝術節，但方向亦隨不同總監有所改變。直至2009 年，台灣國際藝術節（TIFA）正式啟動後，國家兩廳院藉此再次聚焦角色，制定方向，慢慢發展出集中的藝術節檔期和具主題方向策展的 「舞蹈秋天」。

Taipei National Theater & Concert Hall has been cultivating Contemporary Dance audiences for more than three decades. In the beginning, it brought in famous dance companies from Europe and American as a way to explore other international companies, usually the invited production was distributed amongst other programs. Under the former Artistic Director, Ping Heng, the festival Dancing in Spring was created, but its direction changed with different Artistic Directors. In 2009, when Taiwan International Festival of Arts (ITFA) was created, Taipei National Theater & Concert Hall took the chance to reshape its direction and to develop Dancing in Autumn.

高谷史郎《靜止》 Yoshikazu Inoue’s Still; 圖片由國家兩廳院提供。Photo provided by National Theater & Concert Hall.

藝術總監李惠美和她的團隊分享策展經驗時，一句「要擁抱市場或是挑戰市場？」道出玄機。前者會令團隊保守策展，以安全和滿足票房主導節目選擇。後者雖具風險，但著重帶領市場探索，以反映時代創作為方向，亦因此藝術節面對更大的票房風險和壓力，可是此卻為改變 市場推廣方法的新動力。以迪米特里．帕派約安努《偉大馴服者》為例，演四場，星期四首演當晚網絡媒體上散播、分享、口碑推介等策略，餘下三場即滿，網上平台更有問票的留言。

When current Artistic Director Lee Huey-mei and her team shared their experiences, they questioned whether "To embrace the market or challenge the market?" The former leads to a conservative curatorial direction but a secure box office. While the latter is risky, it focuses on market exploration to reflect current creative directions. As a result, the festival faces greater box office risks and pressures but it also contributes new impetuses for changing marketing strategy. Let’s take Dimitris Papaioannou’s Great Tamer as an example, it was scheduled for four performances and on the première evening on Thursday, there were network broadcasts, online sharing, and word of mouth promotion strategies. Straightaway, the remaining three performances were sold out and afterward, there were even requests for tickets to the online platform.

一當代舞團／蘇文琪《全然的愛與真實》YiLab/ Su Wen-chi’s Unconditional Love and Fact; 攝 Photo: 李欣哲 Hsin-Che Lee

國家兩廳院亦將一些較主流的舞圑安排於TIFA節目中，令「舞蹈秋天」更能 騰出空間引進一些具新體驗和聚焦於以各種元素 、媒介和身體語言，來探索舞台空間的跨領域或打破領域的舞蹈作品。今年於八星期內便呈現八個作品。一些作品更會令你思考作品的類型是舞蹈、是形體劇場或是視覺藝術。舞蹈可能變得模糊，要重新定義！

Furthermore, Taipei National Theater & Concert Hall also arranged some more mainstream dance companies within the TIFA programs, to free-up spaces for Dancing in Autumn to introduce dance pieces that give new experiences and focus on exploring various elements, media and body language, transdisciplinarity, or breaking ground in the field of dance. Eight productions were presented over eight weeks this year. The format of some productions made you think about whether they were dance, physical theater, or visual arts. The definition of dance might become blurred and be in need of redefinition!

「舞蹈秋天」以反映時代的舞蹈精神為軸心方向。認同節目與否在此討論並不重要，因乃是各人「口味」的選擇。但「舞蹈秋天」定位明確、聚焦，以挑戰和帶領市場（即觀眾）為使命，亦能引起業界和觀眾爭論，總比只是「 Bums on seats」或落幕掌聲即逝的藝術節，更值得深思。結語引述藝術總監在我們開懷暢談中一句 「You can’t please everybody, which means you please no body」。

Dancing in Autumn reflects the dance spirit of the times as its core direction. It is not important here to discuss whether the program is likeable or not, because everyone has their own tastes and preferences. However, Dancing in Autumn has a clear positioning and focus with a mission to challenge and to lead the market (i.e. the audience). It can generate controversy between the arts industry and audiences and is merits deeper consideration than just how many bums are on seats or the flashes of applause. In conclusion, to quote the artistic director "You cannot please everybody, which means you please nobody."

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陳頌瑛 Anna CY Chan

西九管理局表演藝術主管（舞蹈）

Head of Dance, Performing Arts, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA)