In one of my classes, I gave this instruction to students: “Try to imagine that a ball is rolling around your body; in front, behind, below, on the side, on top....” I asked them: “Is the ball heavy or light?  big or small? Is it…” “If you had to launch it, where and how would you do it?  far, near, high, or close…?”  While practicing with students, I also found that, in the past I tended to use certain spaces and qualities, and through this exercise I actually discovered new possibilities.   Using the opportunity of an upcoming performance, I challenged myself to explore more elements and create a new piece.

One of Yu-Feng’s compositions “The Sleepless Cuckoo (in 8/9 time)” has been on my new choreography list for a while.  I have always liked asymmetric meters; that one beat somewhere in the meter seems to lead me to swing back and forth, to jump over the symmetrical even numbers of beats. And this particular composition not only presents beautiful melody, but it also amazingly weaves three different string instruments together (Mandola, Nyckelharpa, and Pipa).

IInitiating from the concept of the sphere, in this new choreography, I used the motives of the movements taken from NanBeiLaJi (南北拉極) of TaiChiDowYin (太極導引), XiaoWuHua (小五花) and YunShou (雲手) of Chinese classical dance to launch various flow directions, and composed the main phrase.

Meanwhile, I listed the elements to be explored randomly, then grouped to respond to each part of the music, either in echo or contrast.

In addition to Tai Chi and Chinese dance, the dance vocabulary is also developed from Sufi whirling, modern, Central Asian dances and others. The imagery alludes to dewdrops forming, falling, bouncing, evaporating, accumulating, or erupting from the tip of leaves. Occasionally, water drops spin, blast or splash with Pipa's tremolo.

Thanks to Yu-Feng, to let me immerse, swing and collide with her magical music!

前陣子的課堂上，我讓學生們試著用球的意象表現空間與質感: 想像一顆球緊貼著身體滾著，或上下前後左右、或大小輕重、或接擲拋落。帶著學生練習的過程中，突然發現自己過去明顯偏好特定空間、動線或質感。趁著鎮上休閒社團期末展演邀約，挑戰自己拓展元素，試作小品。

音樂選了自己非常喜歡的 "九拍子—杜鵑徹夜未眠" (鍾玉鳳) 作為靈感來源之一。其實個人一直很喜歡奇數拍；那某處的一拍，總引著我前後游動，跳躍於對稱偶數間前行。而這首奇數拍的樂曲除了旋律優美，更奇特地將彈撥樂器琵琶、曼陀拉和擦弦 Nyckelharpa 三種絃樂器編織得分外流動。

以球體為發想起點，從太極導引中的南北拉極、中國古典舞的小五花和雲手開始，先構思動作的動機，與設定組合的形體空間與流動方向。其次列出欲嘗試的變化元素如擺盪、拋甩、刺洩、提沉、失衡、直切、緊實、鬆放、脆巧、輕飄、膠滯、凝結、大小、起動肢體部位等。接著，對應樂曲主奏樂器流瀉出的獨特質感，或配合或對比，帶入變化元素構成段落主題。除了太極拳架與中國舞，舞蹈語彙亦發展自蘇菲旋轉、現代和中亞舞蹈等。意象似露珠自葉尖成型、沉浮、彈跳、灑落、蒸發、或匯流急湧。偶爾，跟著琵琶的輪指流珠飛旋、或爆破噴濺。

感謝玉鳳，讓我跟著她精彩的音樂，盡情搖擺碰撞!