Well, this performance cost me 75 dollars, and the reason I'm counting on that is that I would not care at all if it doubles or even more than that, it's not something that can be valued like that. At least for me not, it's something treasure, something beautiful and adorable, something that can be so faithful in your soul.

 

The Cloud Gate Theatre of Taiwan, Lin Hwai Min, have you heard of these names, I have for many years since my interest exchanges from computer and basketball to the word ART(look, it's in capital, coz it is captial), and I had dreamed about it before coz being in Australia means more opportunities to see some show cases.

 

It was one night before Valentines Day, and there was a couple sitting besides me, they started looking for their parking card before the seconds of the whole dance started. There was a kid crying during the show as well which is annoying, but I understand their existence was forced by their parents.

 

If not this, I wouldn't believe there is a high-class society in this city. When I came in, I found that it seems everybody knows each other, they shaked hands, talked exactly the same way as most of businessmen. It was just so fake, well maybe that's how they communicate, and after that I reminded myselft that it was true such a play would be a good place to socialise for them rather than a cheap pub with sweaty smell and beers.

 

Let's drag the focus back to the dance, I was surely not there for socialising. The dance just started while nobody is ready, I sitted on the wrong seat, the couple besides me as I said was seeking their parking board, somebody is still struglling with the uncomfortable seat, somebody is talking.

 

All in a sudden, the lights ceased into dark, totally dark, not even the EXIT green light, or there might be but everything just vanished in front of me, swear to god, I was a bit blind at that moment, if you like that explanation. Qu Hsiao Song's music fits in that darkness, while nearly a minute later, one of the dancers cruises out with a light slow step, made no noise.

 

Soon more and more dancers are saw flowing out from both sides of the stage, dancers are more communicating with the music while sometimes the music is still, the movement is heavy, or the other way around, and sometimes they are just so harmonious. Lin Hwai-min describes this first part of the triology as a serious work concretely related to its origins. The dancers experience the kinetic energy arising during the act of calligraphy writing and follow the diverse ink flows.

 

What we see here are the complex movements and appearence of human bodies, activated by the amazing mixture of Chi Kung, Martial Arts, Tai Chi, Ballet and modern dance.

 

Well, the more I write about this, the poorer I found myself in the knowledge, I'd rather quote this from a Chinese website, written by Chow Hwi-Chuan, first published on <Yue You> issue Jan 2003

 

Just before that, another amazing is that I could clearly hear the breath of the dancers sitting on the second row, and the atmosphere contributed by the perception-alterted music and light makes me hardly breath, I was so concentrating on that, and even now while I am thinking about it, I still can not work out why.

 

 

云门舞集继《水月》之后，林怀民把他构思了二十年之以书法入舞理念，在新作《行草》展现出来。2002年 11月8日至10日是《行草》在香港文化中心大剧院的海外（在台湾以外）首演，我观赏了8号的演出。

开始时；舞台无声无动静亦无明灯，几位舞者轮流慢慢以气带出动作，至明晰的永字八法，揭开了《行草》的表演序幕。

顿挫有力，慢中又带劲，气运丹田而流注于头、颈、臂、手、腿、脚尖。表演者形神合一，呼气吸气，然后以气带意，动作起于臂，而力度由腰腿为支点。

音乐随起划开了黄羲之、苏东坡、颜真卿、张旭等之行草走笔龙蛇书法。一幅幅放得非常巨大的字帖，在灯光投射底下，书法飘然游动于舞台，舞蹈的灵气犹如挥笔墨染，把行草静态、动态和它的跳跃奔腾活动于台板之上。

跟《水月》有别，《水月》是以太极入舞，舞的线条非常阴柔婉枵甙阎逯棵??通和它的脉搏律动，与巴赫音乐的苍郁高绝，配合得圆融俊美。舞者、巴赫、林怀民，《水月》印证了艺术到了高处，是可以互相呼应。

跟《水月》相反，《行草》之美，是以张力为形，气韵为神，舞者的肢体有时在伸、廷、转、合、奔、跃之中给人感到如书法的勾、捺、点、撇。而舞姿在收放处，令人意味到水墨之高奇有致，并且变化莫测。林怀民的编舞，是有意吸呐行书之神态墨色和笔力，为其舞蹈语言。

评论《行草》，如果不以书法作思考根据，无论怎样都说不过去，虽然林怀民在终场跟观众对话时说「舞者不是以身体来写书法，而是把书法行草元素入舞，希望观众不要用书写行草来看他们的舞蹈。」这说法，我相信大部份华人观众都做不到，原因林怀民很多时把行草书法字迹铺盖半边舞台，灯光投射在书法上面，舞台马上呈现各家各法之书法美和他们的墨气和笔气。就算不善毛笔者，都会呼吸到草书之精妙和丰采。

西方人士倒符合林怀民的说法，他们不明白何谓行书，他们看到一大幅如画的字，又看到如诗的舞姿，他们真的看得口瞪目呆，既感觉新鲜，又被一班舞艺不凡的演员所吸引，他们是舞蹈的纯欣赏者，对于放大了的书法，我听到坐在我背后的一对外国夫妇说：「多奇妙的字艺」又专心看舞去了。

相对来说，我们都知道草书是甚么，知道台上所跳的是呼应不同的书法家之笔意和字义。舞之律动以气带劲，气在舞先，跟书法之「意在笔先」同出一辙。全部舞者所跳的都是源出书法的灵感，也许把字少放一些，把舞多些自己的表达，观众会抽离各位书法家的运笔走势，而去专心欣赏舞中有书法的艺术意境。

当晚的完场谈话，有一位由深圳专程来港欣赏《行草》的男士，他说自己不是艺术家，是一位商人，他觉得中国某些很优秀的文化，都在林怀民的精神与魄力底下开拓了新的艺术领域，他觉得《行草》很出色，很有艺术造诣，可惜把行草跳得太凝重，书法有的地方该令人看得很开心的……

我也就《行草》向林老师表达了自己对当晚的音乐和舞一些意见；我看到台上的演员，把全部生命力都贯注到每一个动作，以精深的舞姿去演绎《行草》，真的令人感动。刚才那位先生说以书法入舞很精彩，但太凝重了，我也有同感，瞿小松的音乐跟舞蹈，两者都表现出艺术之质朴和自然空间感，不过音乐跟舞所传达的是两种不同的质朴味道。瞿小松的音乐，有一股来自自然界的虚空味，西方近代音乐味浓而书法味少，音律很朴素很有原始味，带一点土着的自然气息。音乐的进行虚中有强节奏，我觉得它表现混沌初开，有点土人对大自然的莫名恐惧多过书法的虚中有实，瞿小松的音乐带给我这份感觉，是我在观舞当中的心理回响。

《行草》舞蹈所表现的质朴，是艺术性的，是有创造的，是艺术化了的质朴。换言之，这次音乐跟舞蹈只有形似，而神韵则各自表述。瞿小松的音乐内涵是属于荒野间之自然律动，林怀民的编舞和舞者所跳出的律动是集太极、武术、现代舞、芭蕾、行书，和打坐所衍生的自然气韵。

作曲家许翔威说，如果演奏大提琴不是德国人，而是中国人，在落弓收音之间放松一点和收得慢一些，音乐可能会多点中国韵味。他的意见，我很同意，西方音乐重情节意境，演奏时有一定的精密度，中国则讲究气与韵，有时真的可意会而不能言传。

此外，七十分钟的演出，时而慢中带劲，时而狂怪有度，舞出一位又一位书法家的精、气、神，和他们的运笔走势和墨意。

演员的精采「舞艺」与灵性，是值得观众喝采致敬的。不过，正如那位商人所说，太凝重了些。我觉得用太多巨型的书法，让台上营造出墨迹与舞的互动效果，有时反而给人在视觉和感觉上负担太重。如果《行草》多增一分潇洒舞味，那就更加完美了。

Here is a link of that.