Meditation in Performance
U-Theatre is famous for their adaptation of meditation and spiritual practice into their rehearsal and performance. Because of my religious and art background, IATC asked me to write a review after their upcoming performance in November, Meeting with Vajrasattva, in the Festival of New Vision in Hong Kong. The introductory conversation this afternoon after the press conference with the two leading figures, Liu and Huang, was quite an exhilarating experience.
"Zen is a bit too evasive and abstract to be expressed through artistic means, we are happy to discover after "The Sound of Ocean" that part of the Tibetan Buddhism provides a channel for even better integration of theatre and religious practice. The hand postures, rituals and all the rich colours give us a lot of inspirations to connect our target to the audience."
ITAC: Does it mean a compromise, a step-down for the audience when you adapt a more narrative approach for "Meeting"?
"Art is a language afterall and, however powerful the performer is, achieved by meditative practices, he needs movements and appearance to visualise it through forms. Grotowsky once said, "Don't perform meditation.""Liu's air was less serene, that kind of a monk, but more ready to share as compared to the first time I met her in 10 years ago. That time, I almost considered joining the group after a "dynamic meditation" workshop on Lantau Island, at 7am in the morning on a hill. Somehow oddly, that was Hon who actually went to Taiwan and joined U years later.
I found it intriguing that such an internationally renowned group would admit so frankly it's only in their last piece, after more than a dozen of years (of fame), that they started to grasp the heart of their art. Seemingly the way to "bridge" the audience and certain kinds of aesthetics is much longer than I have expected, especially when it comes to true enlightenment.
Huang the master drummer said the new piece would not include as much drumming as the previous works. Great news for me. Not that I don't like the mesmerising beats of spirit, but it is not easy to rid of its quality too pleasing, if not exotic. Anyway, the meeting was more assuring than what have been said about the group in recent years, about their marketisation. As least the "unmediated" charm of the practitioners' presence does not need a designed posture.
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