Taiwanese choreographer explores ‘Déjà vu’ with performance in French city

台灣編舞家在法國城市中演出「既視感」

Chang Ting-ting presents her choreography at the ‘Avignon Off’ event


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese choreographer Chang Ting-ting (張婷婷) set out to explore the feeling of familiarity and recollection through her work “Deja vu” (既視感) at the “Avignon Off” event taking place in the French city of Avignon between July 6 and 29.

T.T.C. Dance, a troupe led by Chang, staged the performance at Les Hivernales-CDCN d’Avignon in a program arranged by Centre Culturel de Taiwan as part of Avignon Off concurring with the annual Festival d’Avignon.

The is the 12th year that Taiwan has had performers participate in Avignon Off. The other three Taiwanese performing groups featured in the event include Tjimur Dance Theatre (蒂摩爾古薪舞集), The Happy Puppetry Company (真快樂掌中劇團), and Circus P.S. (方式馬戲).

“Deja vu,” a sequel of Chang’s previous work “In the Name of Poetry – A Blooming Tree (以詩之名：一棵開花的樹),” is about memories and stories of a previous life, Music Director Lin Ching-yao (林經堯) told Central News Agency. People encounter scenes and moments which strike them as familiar, evoking a bizarre sensation that the certain experiences could have occurred in their past lives.

According to Lin, the choreography features solo dances as well as group moves, as deja vu can be experienced by both individuals and society as a whole. Intermittent pauses, following music of strong beats, are designed to underscore the existence of dancers and each breath they take, while the “blanks” also imply the cruelty of history that leaves few periods where people feel a sense of relief.

Chang, who visited the U.S. for study at the age of 20, came back to Taiwan to develop her dance business after a decade. She sometimes feels as though she is an alien wandering on the streets of Taipei, a struggling mindset she decided to translate into her choreography pieces, reported CNA.