2019 NTCH Ideas Lab

The NTCH has long been devoted to supporting innovative talents. This year, the NTCH launched a new programming platform that integrates the previous Innovations Series (drama, dance and music) into NTCH Ideas Lab. It is also one of the four major seasons of NTCH.

In order to give full support to the artists, the NTCH connects NTCH Ideas Lab with the Art Base Programme (artists in residency) and other festivals, maximising the effect of the artistic creation. In the course of the creation process from research during the residency at the beginning until the completion of a production, NTCH gives artists the strongest support. Whether it is a small production in the Ideas Lab or a grand performance in TIFA; at each stage of the creation, the artists have the abundant venue resources to implement all their ideas.

Photo credit: National Theatre & Concert Hall

In 2019, a total of seven performances have been planned, covering music, drama and dance. The NTCH invites Taiwan’s most potential artists to bring their energetic creative forces to the work, and break the boundaries of the art fields.

Skein Relations by Lin I-fang

24 – 26 May

Most people in the world are like parallel lines that will never cross one another. Only when facing severe challenges or conflicts do the waves of emotion become contagious. France-based artist Lin I-fang teams up with five male dancers who specialise in contemporary dance or street dance and possess different body types. Together, the dancers give a candid presentation of the tangles, struggles and mutual dependency in interpersonal relationships and emotional empathy.

Skein Relations (Photo credit: National Theatre & Concert Hall)

Dinning On the New Year’s Eve by Po You Set

31 May – 2 Jun

After the Battle of Changban, soldiers from the Cao Camp were trapped in the dark battlefield. Hungry and lost, they still believed in what Prime Minister Cao had said, “Not a single soldier would be lost”. However, instead of Prime Minister Cao coming to their rescue, they only saw ravens which clean the battlefield. Those dead soldiers’ personal belongings thus became footnotes of their lives. With the New Year approaching, how should the dinner on the New Year’s Eve proceed?

Taiwan Made by Lin Yu-ju

21 – 23 Jun

Experiences from a trip abroad inspired contemplation on the issue What is Taiwan for choreographer and dancer Lin Yu-ju. With Taiwanese as their creative concept, Huang Huai-te, Su Pin-wen, Hsiao Tung-yi, Lee Lu, and Wang Chu-hua join hands in the co-creation of this performance. While all were born and raised in Taiwan, the five artists bring vastly different experiences and performance styles to the table, using their bodies to explore and reflect on Taiwan’s existence as well as the origins of our current physical states.

Clone by Over Diamond Art Studio

12 – 14 Jul

Re-young project aims to tackle the lack of teenagers in Earth 2019, a parallel universe with our Earth. Due to advanced genetic engineering, human beings on Earth 2019 are able to leap over the youth period and become adults rapidly. Therefore, teenagers have been almost absent for generations. However, the authorities have recently received several reports of spotting entities with teenagers’ characteristics and the Genetic Control Administration urgently convenes a meeting with experts to find out a solution….

Misreading by 3peoplemusic & Hsu Wei-en

13 Jul

What you see is not what you hear. What you hear is what you have misread, and your misreading is an innate creativity you are born with.

3peoplemusic is a rising chamber music and songwriter ensemble featuring the instruments guzheng, zhongruan, and Chinese flutes. In this concert, the ensemble teams up with winner of the 2010 Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition Hsu Wei-en. Based on the concept of misreading, the four musicians use their unique perspectives to instill new life into the music.

Allegory of the Cave by Hsueh Yung-chih

19 – 21 Jul

Rewriting Plato’s Thousand-year-old Allegory with sounds inspired by Plato’s Allegory of Cave, up-and-coming percussionist Hsueh Yung-chih experiments with various objects, electronic music, human voices, and collaborates with dancer Wang Wen-ning in presenting sensuous experiences at different stages with sounds. Blending the theatrical elements, they showcase the interchangeability of reality and fiction with sounds, lights and shadows.

Are you brave enough to walk out of your comfort zone?

In fact, you are very likely to encounter another world by simply turning around!

Allegory of the Cave (Photo credit: National Theatre & Concert Hall)

All The Sex I have Ever Had by Mammalian Diving Reflex

26 – 28 Jul

The only “aged” production in the 2019 NTCH Ideas Lab! Handpicked by Canadian director Darren O’Donnell, a group of amateur performers over 65 years old in Taiwan, inspired by performing arts, are going to open their minds and reveal the wonderful sex and love experiences in their lives. Old as they may be, their stories are fresh and new! Every bit is sincere and genuine. There is no fabrication in the NTCH Ideas Lab!

2019 NTCH Ideas Lab will start from 24 May to 28 July. For more information please visit the website here.