Songs of the Wanderers

There are not many moments that you are proud to be Taiwanese. who cares or even knows about this tiny little island in the shadow of a goliath? This shunned pariah caught in the excesses of superpower politics? Who knows about the history of a people being passed from one coloniser to another, and not being able to voice or mould ones own future and destiny?  

 But then, out of nowhere comes this deep and unique sense of humanity, of humanness, this sense of beauty, warmth and depth that I cannot describe but is recognised and praised around the world-- as evidenced by a full house and loud applause and a standing ovation lasting close to five minutes. It fills your heart with such pride, such feelings of nostalgia and "home". 

Songs of the Wanderers is a piece that has toured the world for two decades, often to sold-out performance houses wherever it goes. It is perhaps Cloud Gate Dance Theatre's most famous piece, renowned for the simple use of falling grains of rice (three tonnes of it....) through the entirety of the performance. A monk stands there, stilll and calm as a tree reistant to the wear of the weather, with his hands in prayer before his chest. Rice grains keep on falling, and the stage is filled with the constant rustling sound of the yellow grains as they fall and fly and cascade onto piles on stage. At times, there are sudden showers of rice, falling like waterfalls on the stage. Dozens of dancers, wearing simple grabs and wielding sticks, resembling primitive men and women, tread and move elegantly on the fallen grains of rice. Their slow and beautifully choreographed movements are contrasted at times with frenzied  thrusting of their bodies and flinging of rice all over the stage like rain drops during a wild summer storm.   

Set to the music and chanting of Georgian monks, the piece is not long, but describes the wanderings of a lonely monk. Inspired by Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, and choreographer Lin Hwai Ming's own journey to the place of the Buddha's enlightenment, it speaks of human beings quest for that "something" beyond our daily lives. That "something", whether tranquility, inner peace or contentment, is to be found by wandering.