Street performers seek government action
Are these motionless human statues real or fake? That’s the question that often crosses the minds of pedestrians passing by Vieshow Cinema Square in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
Their doubts are quickly answered if they toss a coin or bank note in the direction of these statuesque figures, who suddenly spring to life and do a little dance or gesture playfully.
Visually stunning, these mime artists who pose as statues and react to audiences to create moments of comedy, drama or shock have become a special feature of the Taipei street scene, even if Taiwan has yet to embrace the art.
The fledgling profession got its start in Taiwan about five years ago when Chang Wang (張忘), founder of Headspring Theatre, persuaded Taipei City and the Vieshow management to allow buskers to perform at Vieshow Square on holidays for free.
Since then, Chang, an interdisciplinary artist who works in a variety of media, has created an ensemble of 50 characters called “Meander,” drawing inspiration from nature and the extraterrestrial world in designing roles, styles and costumes for the group’s characters.
Since 2006, flamboyantly and sometimes grotesquely dressed performance artists from Headstring Theatre have “meandered” around Vieshow Cinema Square adding new color and fanfare to local street life.
Many of those characters have fans who visit the Xinyi area on weekends or holidays to interact with their idols. Riding a wave of street fame, Chang’s troupe has received a stream of invitations for private engagements or public performances at home and abroad. Nevertheless, Chang still feels frustrated and worried about the group’s future.
The popularity of street shows measures how cosmopolitan a city is, he says. But local authorities, and at times audiences, seem less receptive to the concept than in other countries.
Chang says when he performed in Europe, he often met police officers who guided street performers to areas where they could perform legally. In La Rambla in the Spanish city of Barcelona, city authorities demarcated spaces for different types of buskers to perform separately and avoid overlapping and disturbing each others’ performances, he says.
By comparison, Vieshow Square and the adjoining walkway are overcrowded and chaotic.
Singers often croon loudly beside the silent and motionless living statues, and retail stalls are sometimes erected in the square to sell farm produce, turning the location into a traditional marketplace or night market.
“We hope the government can demarcate a clear space for street performances and develop the Xinyi shopping district into a special hub for the trade,” Chang said.
If Taipei is not as welcoming as Chang would like, the environment is even worse outside the nation’s capital. The troupe tried its luck at Green Garden Boulevard in Taichung City for a year, but had to quit because of the minimal financial rewards.
That’s unfortunate, Chang says, because street performance, more than any other art form, spreads the seeds of art through its spontaneity, proximity to the audience and low threshold for new entrants, but it also depends on the generosity of viewers.
Members of Chang’s troupe come from a myriad of social classes and businesses, and some are motivated by the need to make money.
“I don’t think it’s bad to have such a motive. On the contrary, I always remind them that as a human sculpture, cash donations are the key to their acting or movements,” Chang said.
He said that Taiwan needs to embrace the principle that people should pay for art or performances rather than always expecting free art.
Chang’s Meander ensemble survives through earnings from private engagements and indoor theater performances. The job can be grueling, he says, and troupe members must practice taichi or shadow boxing and yoga, from which they can acquire flexibility and stamina. They also meditate and visualize themselves as a tree or a stone to obtain inner tranquility, forgetting themselves, he said.
“Through rigorous training, troupe members who originally could only stand still for 10 minutes can now hold on for more than an hour without getting tired,” Chang said.
Wang Chien-wen, the troupe’s “Moon” god, acknowledged that performing as a living statue is a tough job. “If your goal is just to make money, you won’t be around for long.”
But Wang said she enjoys the profession.
“When I performed in Barcelona, I met a Hong Kong traveler who said ‘I’ve seen you in Taipei.’ When I returned to Taiwan, a French tourist told me ‘you’re the one who played this role in the streets of Avignon,’” Wang said.
“It is this kind of borderless love for the arts that has given me the greatest gratification and enjoyment,” Wang said.
In her view, creativity is critical if Taiwan really wants to develop tourism.
“Street performance has become a creative industry in Europe, but when will our dream of having a La Rambla in Taiwan be realized?” she said.
Vanessa Huang, the troupe’s manager, believes that the art form is catching on with younger fans, creating a ray of hope for the future.
Many children like to visit the square to interact with the living statues, Huang said. The challenge for the troupe now is how to create the same cosmopolitan atmosphere in Taiwan that it has experienced while performing overseas, she said.
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