fulbright Taiwan online journal

This Invitation

“It began with an invitation from the Fulbright Program to spend a year in Taiwan and now an invitation for the audience to enter into the choreographer’s world: an invitation to dream, to wonder, to be innocent, to feel pain…to sacrifice, learn, re-learn, let go…to die, to live…”

Created as the culmination of her year as a Fulbrighter in Taiwan, this work titled This Invitation represents Amber Kao’s journey of returning to the country from which her family came, and her discordant experience as an outsider in a culture where she looks like she should belong.
This works alludes to two influential figures in the choreographer’s life that unintentionally led her back to Taiwan this year: her grandmother who immigrated to the United States to raise her and her piano instructor and artistic mentor, Professor Logan Skelton.
The dual influence of tai chi dao yin and contemporary dance technique is interwoven throughout this theatrical and choreographic work.  This piece comprises a sound score that includes voices of young children and a recording of a poem, both of which the choreographer composed and compiled.

This Invitation

I have for you this invitation,

Feel free to accept or decline.

I’d like for you to imagine,

Close your eyes, if you wish,

And imagine balloons raining down from the sky.

Balloons pouring endlessly,

Balloons of many colors,

Balloons filling the stage, and spilling over,

Balloons covering my ankle bones.

Close your eyes, if you wish,

I’d like for you to imagine.

Feel free to accept or decline,

I have for you this invitation.

一個邀請

我想給你一個邀請

接受或拒絕,請隨意

我想給你一個想像

如果你想, 請閉上你的雙眼

想像氣球如雨般不停從天空落下

想像多種顏色的氣球充滿並溢出我的舞臺

想像多種顏色的氣球充滿並蓋住我的腳踝

如果你想, 請閉上你的雙眼

我想給你一個想像

接受或拒絕,請隨意

我想給你一個邀請

Good pieces need to be seen.

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Picture of Amber Kao 高恩倍

Amber Kao 高恩倍

Amber Kao graduated from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor with an M.F.A. degree in dance performance. She has also studied musical performance for both piano and violin. 高恩倍於美國密西根大學取得藝術創作碩士學位,主修舞蹈表演。今年度她獲得傅爾布萊特獎學金,於國立台北藝術大學和音樂系作曲家顏名秀教授共同合作致力於藝術和民族認同之研究。本演講將討論台灣的現代舞蹈和民俗舞蹈的趨勢,同時透過她在雲門舞集的舞蹈訓練體驗與在台北藝術大學的合作計畫經驗所帶來對於民族的認同。

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