BAM to Present 'U Theatre' of Taiwan as Part of Next Wave Festival

As part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival, BAM welcomes the return of U Theatre, one of Taiwan's most celebrated theater companies, in Meeting with Bodhisattva-a music-theater work that depicts an individual's journey toward becoming a Bodhisattva or 'enlightened being' in Buddhism. This U.S. premiere features a whirlwind of drumming, martial arts, Buddhist chanting, and Chinese operatic dance. With a cast of thirteen percussionists and one vocalist, Meeting with Bodhisattva is age-old Buddhist insight remade in rhythm, song, and dance.

BAM will present three performances of Meeting with Bodhisattva at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Avenue) on October 29, 30, and November 1 at 7:30pm. Tickets, priced at $20, 35, and 45 may be purchased by calling BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100 or online at BAM.org.

About Meeting with Bodhisattva

After years of practicing tai-chi, martial arts, and meditation, U Theatre's Artistic Director Liu Ruo-Yu and Music Director Huang Chih-Chun were inspired by the teachings of Vajrasattva, the god of wisdom, to create Meeting with Bodhisattva. The work is a rhythmically propelled physical exploration of one man's journey towards enlightenment. The story derives from four Buddhist verses that ponder the cudgel-an ancient club-like weapon used by Shaolin Monks: "One cudgel, like the sword of Wisdom; one cudgel, like looking for a snake in the grass; one cudgel, like the roar of a lion; one cudgel, which is not a cudgel." These verses were developed to illustrate a warrior's path to self-actualization.

Intricately layered and intensely dramatic, Meeting with Bodhisattva comprises six parts: Receiving, Sword of Spirits, Confronting, Conquering, Sword of Wisdom, One Cudgel, and One Cudgel Which is Not a Cudgel. These six distinct yet interwoven scenes span 80 seamless minutes and move with a quiet and steady force. Theatrical tension builds via highly structured and precisely executed movements and sounds that evoke natural, physical, and spiritual environments. The performers alternately explode in movement and repose in controlled serenity evoking the fierceness of martial arts and the elegance of tai-chi exercises.

In 2003, Meeting with Bodhisattva was awarded Taiwan's greatest honor in the performing arts-the inaugural Taishin Arts Award. According to the jury, "Meeting with Bodhisattva combines theater, dance, music, drumming, martial arts, chanting and other elements outside of theater into a unified whole and thereby successfully creates a brilliant performance that is both rich in spiritual insight and intriguing to watch."

Meeting with Bodhisattva was first performed in 2002 at the Taipei National Theatre and has traveled to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, France, Belgium, and the Philippines. The company's current U.S. tour includes stops in Houston and Boston prior to the BAM engagement with additional performances in Kenneth Square, PA; Carmel, CA; and San Jose, CA.

About the artists

Liu Ruo-Yu first gained prominence as a lead actress with Taiwan's Lan Ling Performance Theatre and as host of the acclaimed children's television show Little Mask.  In 1986, Liu traveled to the U.S. to study at New York University where she received an M.A. and worked with legendary Polish theater director Jerzy Grotowski. Upon graduation, Liu was one of fifteen students selected to train and study with Grotowski for an intensive one-year period. This life changing experience led Liu to return to her native Taiwan to establish U Theatre with the wish to combine contemporary Western theatrical techniques with Taiwanese and Chinese culture.

In 1993, Liu invited Huang Chih-Chun, who had nearly 20 years of percussion experience, to instruct the members of U Theatre in music and especially in drumming. Huang suggested to Liu, "To learn to play the drum, one must first learn meditation." Since then, meditation and Chinese martial arts have become central to the training sessions of U Theatre. Born in Malaysia, Huang began drumming at age six and began formal training under a master of Chinese martial arts at age ten. His additional studies have included dance and meditation in both India and Tibet.

U Theatre, a collective of performers that was founded by Artistic Director Liu Ruo-Yu in 1988, makes its home on Laochuan Mountain (on the outskirts of Taipei). The sound of the letter 'U' from which the company takes its name is similar to that of the Chinese character that means 'superior' or 'excellent;' in ancient China, that symbol also means 'professional actor.' U Theatre's philosophy embraces the Zen principle of balancing artistic skill with self-knowledge; the company seeks to elevate the quality of life and discover spiritual strength through the practice of modern theater. Living and working together, U Theatre's performers undergo intense physical training based on Far Eastern disciplines, including meditation, tai-chi, martial arts, and traditional drumming. Aesthetically, U Theatre's work is rooted in an ongoing exploration of indigenous Taiwanese and Chinese performance history and practice, as well as in a deep respect for the natural environment. The company most recently appeared at BAM with The Sound of Ocean during the 2003 Next Wave Festival.

About the Next Wave Festival

BAM's Next Wave Festival, which enters its 26th season in 2008, has permanently changed the landscape of culture through breakout performances, landmark productions, daring experiments, and once-in-a-lifetime moments. The Festival originated as a fall series entitled "The Next Wave/New Masters." In November 1981, Philip Glass' new opera, Satyagraha, was presented as one of four productions under the Next Wave moniker. A more ambitious series followed in 1982, including a two-evening performance work by Laurie Anderson-United States: Parts I-IV.

From the seeds of these two rich years grew an idea for something bolder and riskier. The Next Wave Festival, dedicated to exciting new works and cross-disciplinary collaborations by promising young artists, was launched in October 1983. Pieces that previously had been presented in downtown lofts and small "black box" theaters were staged in the exquisite 2,100-seat BAM Opera House (later renamed the Howard Gilman Opera House), a renovated 1,000-seat playhouse (the Helen Carey Playhouse, now home to BAM Rose Cinemas), and a flexible 300-seat performance venue (the Lepercq Space). In 1987, with Peter Brook's Mahabharata, BAM opened another large stage-the 874-seat Majestic Theater-since renamed the Harvey Theater in honor of Harvey Lichtenstein (former president and executive producer). Since 1999, BAM has been led by President Karen Brooks Hopkins and by Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo, who curates the Next Wave Festival and served as the producer of the inaugural festival.

Credits
Meeting with Bodhisattva and Les écailles de la mémoire are part of Diverse Voices at BAM presented by Time Warner Inc.

BAM 2008 Next Wave Festival is sponsored by Altria Group. Leadership support for the Next Wave Festival is provided by The Ford Foundation.

Programming in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House is supported and endowed by The Howard Gilman Foundation.

Leadership support for BAM Theater is provided by The Shubert Foundation, Inc. and The SHS Foundation.
BAM thanks its many donors and sponsors, including:  The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; New York City Council; Estate of Richard B. Fisher; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Starr Foundation; Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; Carnegie Corporation of New York; Time Warner Inc.; The Howard Gilman Foundation; The Skirball Foundation; The SHS Foundation; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; New York State Assembly Brooklyn Delegation; Friends of BAM and BAM Cinema Club.  Sovereign Bank is the BAM Marquee sponsor. Yamaha is the official piano for BAM. R/GA is the BAM.org sponsor. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for BAM.
 
General Information
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafé, and Brownstone Books at BAM are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn's only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, is open for dining prior to Howard Gilman Opera House performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a special BAMcafé Live menu available starting at 8pm.

For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.