Tokyo will host the 2014 Asian Performing Arts Festival which will see artists from 11 countries in Asia perform works together.
Taiwan’s Century Contemporary Dance Company has been invited to perform for the third time and is working with Japanese director Sasaki Toru in the musical “Laughter in Amnesia”.
The company’s Art Director Yao Shu-Fen said that Toru tends to use a unique sense of humor to express perspectives on life. But Taiwanese choreographer Chen Wei-ning has a psychology background and favors a more serious approach. Yao said the two have spent a lot of time trying to communicate and choreograph their musical.
Yao said, "The two discussed the rehearsals, the plot and the absurdity of the interaction between Japanese actors and Taiwanese dancers. So a very complicated story came out of all of this."
The musical has 3 Japanese actors and 3 Taiwanese dancers who don’t speak each other’s languages. That leads to some challenging situations during rehearsals. Yao said they decided on “a play within a play” format to display the interesting language gap between performers.
"Laughter in Amnesia" will premiere in Taipei on August 13 and 14 and will be performed in November at the festival in Tokyo.