Tjimur Dance Theatre

Tjimur Dance Theatre is the first dance company in Taiwan that devotes itself to the contemporary cultural aesthetic of the indigenous Paiwan people in Taiwan. It was founded in 2006 by the siblings Ljuzem and Baru Madiljin with the goal to preserve traditional Paiwan songs and dances, which are connected inseparably with one another, and simultaneously to carry them over into modern forms. For Go Paiwan they invited the choreographer Lin Wen-Chung to participate, who represents a contemporary aesthetic within the Taiwanese scene of experimental choreographic methods. The result is an interactive work that doesn't differentiate anymore between yesterday and today, but rather invites one in a playful manner to understand tradition as a part of our present times.

The handed-down songs and melodies in Go Paiwan coalescence with the movements and bodies, which constantly seek the proximity to the community. It isn't similar to a cult or a conspiracy, but rather a mutual, almost everyday practice. The performance is carried by the collective cohesion of the group, which is manifested already alone in the constant interlinking and interconnecting of the bodies – and naturally also the voices. Even the audience becomes charming and interwoven into the interactions with a complete implicitness, which functions so unexcitedly and gregarious, so wonderfully close and direct that one asks, why don't we encounter one another like this all the time? Don't worry: one will be taken by the hand in the true sense of the word!

DANCE 2023 is concentrating a focus on dance from Taiwan and presenting, along with Go Paiwan, also the solo performance FreeSteps – NiNi by HORSE in public spaces, and Fangas Nayaw's video installation La XXX Punk directly before Go Paiwan.