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West Meets East: Meeting with Bodhisattva
Taiwan’s U Theatre uses martial arts, drums and Chinese operatic dance to explore Buddhist philosophy
Meeting with Bodhisattva (Photo: Lee Ming-Hsun)
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Over 1,000 years ago, a Chinese Zen master said that a true artist embodies Tao (vital energy) and art (artistic skills). Taiwan’s U Theatre has taken his words to heart, and continued that ancient quest with élan. This fall, as part of BAM’s 2008 Next Wave Festival, the 20-year-old troupe is performing Meeting with Bodhisattva, a musical theater presentation depicting one individual’s journey to become a bodhisattva, or “enlightened being.”
Thirteen men and women, virtuosos at song and dance, will combine drums, martial arts, Buddhist chants and Chinese operatic dance to explore age-old Buddhist insights and philosophy. The inspiration for Meeting with Bodhisattva was the teachings of Vajrasattva, the god of wisdom. U Theatre’s artistic director, Liu Ruo-Yu, and music director, Huang Chih-Chun, have produced an 80-minute theatrical wonder of precisely executed movements and sounds. The meditative piece alternates between explosive action and controlled serenity, embodying the search for calm within chaos.
Before founding U Theatre, Liu Ruo-Yu was a lead actress with Taiwan’s Lan Ling Theatre. She received an M.A. from New York University in 1986, then returned to her native Taiwan two years later where she created U Theatre; her goal: to marry Western theatrical techniques with Taiwanese and Chinese culture. To highlight her artistic imperative, Ruo-Yu chose her company’s name with care. The sound of the letter U is similar to the Chinese character that meant “superior” or “excellent” in ancient times.
Based in the Laotian mountains in a suburb of Taipei, the company lives and works together. The training is intense: Far Eastern disciplines, including meditation, tai chi, martial arts and traditional drumming, are stressed. The company’s philosophy embraces the Zen principle of balancing artistic skill with self-knowledge and spiritual strength.
Since inception, U Theatre has enjoyed critical global acclaim, performing at the Barbican Centre in London, the International Chekhov Festival in Moscow and various art fests from Brazil to Israel. For New Yorkers, Meeting with Bodhisattva is a unique introduction to the culture and sensibility of the East, as well as a multifaceted explosion of sight, sound and motion.