新古典舞團

回首向陽天

1976年3月20日，劉鳳學博士懷抱「化身體為春秋筆、寫盡人間情與理」之千古情懷，和一群獻身舞蹈文化的學生於台北市創「新古典舞團」，稟「尊重傳統、創造現代」的精神，以深度的人文內涵，融會西方藝術，將歷史春秋之情化成天下之舞，透過研究、創作和演出，呈現多元化的風貌。

舞團雖僅有二十七年歷史，但其成立的遠因要追溯到半世紀前，當劉鳳學找到自己的創作方向，以研究及再創傳統舞蹈開始。她曾先後以「古代與現代」、「傳統與現代」為題，於中山堂發表《拔頭》、《蘭陵王》、《春鶯囀》、《崑崙八仙》等重建唐樂舞的作品，同時提出中國現代舞的名稱、理論及實驗作品《旅》、《女性塑像》、《沉默》、《現代三部曲》等。

1972年劉鳳學自西德歸國後，即埋首於創作與訓練團員，終於四年後促成舞團成立。此後新古典不但足跡遍及台灣全島，更受邀至美國、德國、法國、奧地利、新加坡等地演出，其中應法國政府之邀，參加庇里牛斯民俗舞蹈節，共演出22場，觀眾累計達十萬人次。1980年因創辦人及部分團員出國進修，舞團對外演出銳減，但培育新生代舞者的工作並未中斷。

十年後，劉鳳學博士卸下所有行政工作，全心全意投入舞蹈創作與舞團發展。次年，新古典應國家戲劇院之邀，推出「她，走過四十年」舞展，演出《冪零群》、《招魂》、《圓》、《檔案》。1993年又應文建會之邀，至紐約文化中心台北劇場演出，獲得紐約時報資深舞評極高的評價。2001年，新古典於俄羅斯新西伯利亞「國際青年創舞大賽」獲得最佳團體獎，團員亦分別獲得民族舞蹈金牌獎及現代舞銀牌獎的肯定。

身為新古典舞團藝術總監，劉鳳學博士的舞作多趨向於抽象及舞作本質的深入探討，如動作、時間、空間、質感等；就題材及內容而言，除致力於發揚與重建中國傳統素材外，亦融匯聲樂、歌劇、西方及原住民文化，將舞作之氣勢表演得更加磅礡盡致。

新古典舞團的團員來自四面八方，這些專攻舞蹈、心理、繪畫、音樂、教育、大眾傳播、體育及語言學的青年舞者們群聚一堂，相互激盪，在舞台上一次又一次的閃爆美麗動人的火花，使「新古典舞團」的聲響更見撼動。

THE NEO-CLASSIC DANCE COMPANY

Uniting the past and the future: opening up a new path for modern Chinese dance

On March 20, 1976, Dr. Liu Feng-Shueh, based on an everlasting spirit of “transforming the body into a pen of annals, and writing all sentiments and senses in the world of men,” founded The Neo-Classic Dance Company with her dedicated students in Taipei. She intended to create modernity with a respect for traditions, that is, to shape the historical sentience into the dance of the world by well blending Chinese humanist cultivation and western art, and to present a diverse body of modern dance through study, creations, and performances.

Despite of its 27 years performance, the Neo-Classic’s initial conception and stylistic origins can be traced back to as early as in 1950’s, when Liu had found her creative direction in studying and reconstructing traditional dance over years of practice. During that period, she presented a series of reconstructed works of Tang (618-907) Music and Dance: Pa Tou, King of Lan Ling, the Singing of Spring Orioles, and The Eight Immortals of Kun Lun Mountain, as well as posed appellations, theories, and experimental works of modern dance: Journey, Female Statues, Silence, and Modern Trilogy under respective titles of “ancient days and modern times” and “traditions and modernism” at Chungshan Hall.

As soon as Liu returned form her study in Germany in 1972, she had immersed herself in choreography and dancer’s training, which eventually contributed to the inception of the Neo-Classic Dance Company four years later. Since then, the Neo-Classic has not only performed all over Taiwan, but made tours to the United States, Germany, France, Austria, and Singapore. Among them were the 22 performances given at Festival Folklorique International des Pyrenees under the invitation of the French government, in which more than 100,000 spectators enjoyed their presentations. Since 1980, when Liu and some dancers went abroad for further study, the number of performance dropped. Despite so, the Neo-Classic never stopped fostering and training talented young dancers. 

A decade later, Liu Feng-Shueh, then a Ph.D. in dance, had returned and retired from all administrative work and was devoting herself to choreographic creations and the development of the Neo-Classic. In the following year, Dr. Liu did a retrospective at National Theater entitled “40 years of Contribution to Dance,” in which Nilpotent Group, The Séance, Circling, and Document were performed. In 1993, the Neo-Classic was invited to perform at Taipei Theatre, New York, and was highly praised by New York Times. In 2001, the Neo-Classic won the best group medal in International Choreographers’ Contest, Novosibirsk; her dancers also won gold in folk dance and silver in modern.

As an artistic director, Dr. Liu attends to investigate the abstract and the nature of dance, such as movement, time, space, and dynamics in most of her works. She endeavors to reconstruct and exalt traditional Chinese materials and harmonize them with vocals, operas, western and aboriginal cultures to present the works to their full majesty.

Dancers in the Neo-Classic are of a variety of backgrounds. Their expertise includes dance, athletics, painting, music, mass communication, psychology, education, and linguistics, which makes a beautiful combination that sparkles on stage and enhances the name of the Neo-Classic.