About i．dance Taipei

＊i·dance Taipei (IDT) is a festival of performances, workshops, panel discussion, outdoor showcase as well as gala performance, initiated and organized by Taipei-based dance company Ku & Dancers. While the name “i·dance” implies its emphasis on dance improvisation, the festival is not limited to dance form only. By gathering local and international improvisers of various disciplines, IDT aims to create a dynamic community of teachers, students, performers, audiences, groups as well as individuals that are devoted to the practice of improvisation, recognizing its contribution to the artistic diversity as well as its potential for making positive social change. Happening in conjunction with the biannual festival i•dance in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, IDT will also be a biannual event.

＊ i·dance stands for “improvisational dance”.

It is a practice in which listening and the freedom of expressing are equally valued.

＊ i·dance implies its “independent” and “interconnected” nature.

It is a community strengthened by both idiosyncrasy and group work.

＊ i·dance is “international”.

We hope to form a global community of dance researchers, practitioners, teachers, students, performers, audiences and simply dance lovers.

Ku & Dancers was founded in Taiwan in 1993 by dancer, choreographer, teacher Ming-Shen Ku. The Company had its debut performance the same year in the National Theater in Taipei. Ku & Dancers is best known as the only professional dance company devoted to the development and exploration of improvisation dance performance in Taiwan. The practice of improvisation and contact improvisation form the company's training core. Many internationally renowned improvisers have been invited to participate in the performances and workshops hosted by the company, including Steve Paxton, Nancy S. Smith, Chris Aiken, Kirstie Simson, etc.

The company is also known for its collaboration with artists of various disciplines, such as interactive video programmer/designer Hsin-Chien Huang, digital animation director Yau Chen, UK-based video artist Thomas Gray, Belgian composer/musician Pieter Thys, fashion designer Yen-Lin Hsu, etc. Other than regularly performing in Taiwan, Ku & Dancers tours extensively throughout Asia, Europe, USA and Australia.

In 2010, Decode 2010, a 70-minute-long improvisation performance that has no structure except for two “conditions” received fervent response from the audience and was seen as a landmark piece in the nearly 2 decades of the company’s development. Following that year, the company organized the first international improvisation dance festival in Taiwan, i·dance Taipei 2011, a nine days’ festival consisting thirteen events featuring more than thirty artists of eleven nationalities. Since then, i-dance Taipei becomes an important biannual festival of dance improvisation in Asia. The company’s production in 2012, Voltar, staged in a hundred year old house in Daxi, Taoyuan, is a combination of dance, puppetry, 3D projection and live music, marking the twentieth anniversary of Ku & Dancers.