7:30 PM, Nov.17 and 18, the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will perform “Wild Cursive”, a blend of ballet, Chinese opera movement and martial arts that interprets the rigor and aesthetics of the 3,000 year-old Chinese calligraphy tradition in Hangzhou.

Wild Cursive

Black ink flows downward onto streams of white rice paper as they cascade to the stage floor.

The movement of dancers echoes the serpentine lines and abstract patterns of the ink. Their breath, voices and feet accompany sounds of cicadas, wind, rain and temple bells.

By Li Hui