I am in Taipei!

I’m staying in Guan Du, which is the north-eastern part of Taipei. I can see the famous 101 Tower from the distance. My room has a wonderful view on the river and a bird reserve. The birds give a wonderful concert every morning at the break of day. The only one I can actually see are the white egrets which fly gracefully above the river.

Going to the centre takes a long time. A good thing that taxis are not too expensive. Coming from Paris, everything seems so cheap to me.

I have had long discussions with Yu-Gou the playwright and made some suggestions for the plot and he agreed to revise it. Until now, I only vaguely knew the main lines of the plot. As soon as they entered into the details, it struck me that I would be impossible to write music on such an incoherent story. I haven’t started myself, however my ideas are more precise. I will have to write down the score for each part, record them before putting the songs together. Two of the performers are apparently famous actors in Taiwan. I will start with their songs so the company has material on which they can build the promotion; and possibly air the songs on the radio…

NINA was just performed in South Korea two days ago at the LG Art Centre where Simon did Swan Lake a few years back. Jo wrote to me after the last performance in Michigan that he wished to focus on a new piece for Noism and not just NINA. He’s lucky though to have a piece that garners the company a good reputation and is becoming a repertoire piece. One critic from Washington noted that he would love to see NINA performed by another company. Even if the ballet is strongly Asian in essence, having other dancers than the ones from Noism perform it could be exciting. 

Speaking of which, Simon has hooked me up with a Taiwanese dancer, Fang-Yi Sheu, who is one of the most renowned dancer from Taiwan who made it big by being the principle dancer in the Martha Graham Dance Company and was highly praised by her beautiful interpretation of Graham‘s works. 

I don’t know through whom Simon managed to meet her, but she is in search of good people to work with and heard of Jo. So now there’s the prospect of creating a piece for her. I hope Jo will accept - since he declined the offer from the Brazil City Ballet…

Maybe working for a solo will be easier. I do wish he seizes the opportunity to get some fresh air out of the Noism circle. And I’m happy to have the possibility to collaborate with him again.

My life in Paris was lazy compared to what I have to do here. ‘Have to do might’ give the idea of something compulsory, but it’s not. It’s so exhilarating to run from one place to another, attend events and concerts, meet new people, create new connection. Beside Japan, Taiwan is the first place in Asia where I can feel so much activity in the art field.

And the food is delicious!