If circus is about spectacle, then the festival Spotlight on New Circus has done it up right. The first of its kind in Asia, the festival kicks off its weeklong program tonight with a parade that includes a staggering array of circus performers. Following this march of talent, will be the opening and commissioned performance of Jerry Snell's Flash.
With a mixture of foreign and Taiwanese artists, Flash is a pastiche of live musicians, live video, pre-recorded video, hip hop, break dancing, kung fu, acrobatics, and contemporary dance. The show's theme is an examination of conflict, though not necessarily in a negative sense. "It's [also] an examination of the energies that [we] saw on the streets of Taipei," said assistant director James Tanabe.
The entire festival takes place in the plaza between the National Concert Hall and the National Theater at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. There will be a main and small stage, a circus tent (imported from South Korea as there are none in Taiwan), and street performances.
