Dance Review: Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers, Dance Base, Edinburgh

As a child, Taiwanese choreographer Po-Cheng Tsai would attend the annual Ghost Festival with his father. Writing his wishes on a lantern, he would let it sail down the river, hoping they would come true.
Floating Flowers draws inspiration from Buddhism's Ghost Festival.Floating Flowers draws inspiration from Buddhism's Ghost Festival.
Floating Flowers draws inspiration from Buddhism's Ghost Festival.

Taiwan Season: Floating Flowers, Dance Base, Edinburgh * * * *

As a child, Taiwanese choreographer Po-Cheng Tsai would attend the annual Ghost Festival with his father. Writing his wishes on a lantern, he would let it sail down the river, hoping they would come true.

With his father’s death, his desire to attend the festival died too. Until a need for catharsis inspired him to make Floating Flowers, a vibrant piece recalling the Buddhist celebration.

Eight dancers, dressed in flesh-coloured leotards/pants and large white hooped underskirts, become living embodiments of the festival’s lanterns. Gliding across the stage, they are the picture of serenity, arms held aloft like the corps de ballet from a classical ballet. Then, grabbing the skirt with angry hands, they briefly shift the mood to something more troubled and urgent.

READ MORE: 10 top-rated theatre and dance shows returning to Edinburgh in 2019Fusing Taiwanese movement styles with martial arts and contemporary dance, the choreography may change but the focal point remains the same – those skirts. Whether they’re spinning them, lifting them above their heads or hiding under them to carry a fellow-dancer on their shoulders, the layers of white netting are the dancers’ constant companion.

What strikes most here, however, is the energy.. At the end, the rousing applause is as much for the athleticism as the aesthetics.

Po-Cheng founded his company, B.Dance shortly after graduating and now, aged 31, he’s a force to be reckoned with. Floating Flowers could stand to lose a few minutes, but for the most part his ability to constantly change direction and re-energise both the dancers and us is superb.

Until 25 August

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