Bulareyaung pagarlava biography
“Insane” Choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava Finds His Way Home
During his three years in high school and four more at the then National Institute of the Arts (now the Taipei National University of the Arts), Bulareyaung wasin denialabout the self that was in his blood. Things began to change only in 1995, just before graduation, when Lo Man-fei, who was Bulareyaung’smentor, requested him to do some choreography for her. In order to produce a work that would be authentically his, Bulareyaung ended up back with the old question, “Who am I?” As a first step in answering it, he decided torevertto using his Aboriginal name. “Handsome and Intelligent” (the meaning of his Chinese name Junming) thus became “Happy Warrior”—Bulareyaung Pagarlava in Paiwan.
So he had his name back, but what about his inner self? Bulareyaung, who had been away from his community for such a long time, had put on a label of Aboriginal identity, but his works continued to be drawn from Western dance concepts. He was deeply versed in Western dance theory, but if the subject of tribal traditions ever came up, “I was empty; I didn’t understand a thing.”
The young Bulareyaung was eager to prove himself, and to realize his dream of becoming a dancer. He had no choice but to shelve any deeper search for his identity. He became a dancer with Cloud Gate, and achoreographerfor Cloud Gate 2. He was invited to be a guestchoreographerwith the Martha Graham Dance Company of the US. With one work after another he established himself first on the national stage, and then proceeded toward the international. Nonetheless, though he now was surrounded by ahaloof success, at the end of 2010 he came to a kind of crossroads.
In anticipationof the big New Year’s Eve fireworks show at the Taipei 101 building, he and some students of his climbed a hill near the school to get a view of the skyscraper. Yet, as thepyrotechnicsburst overhead, he took st
10 Questions With…Bulareyaung Pagarlava
Today we have 10 Questions With… choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava…
1. How did you become involved in dance?
When I was 12, I saw a performance by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, though I didn’t know it was Cloud Gate until some years later. It was so inspiring that I made up my mind to become a dancer.
2. What are you currently doing in dance?
Mainly choreographing.
3. Can you explain your approach to choreography?
I don’t create work for the sake of creation. I am not a movement-oriented choreographer interested in analyzing physical moment.
All my choreography reflects my thoughts and emotion. Choreography is a medium of expression. It is my way of connecting to the world.
4. What role does the music play in your choreography?
In my work, music plays a vital role. It offers a room for imagination. In my earlier works, choreography began after I found my music. So the works were often built upon the structure of the music.
In recent years, new choreographic ideas come first, followed by the body moments, then I match them with music. When music comes into place, it’s like there’s a spark.
For the audience who does not enjoy my choreography, they can at least enjoy good music with their eyes closed.
5. Do you have other choreographers that you admire? If so, who and why?
After I started choreographing, I realized what a difficult job it really is. So I appreciate every performance I see. There are many choreographers whom I admire, such as Lin Hwai-min from Taiwan, Pina Bausch and Jiří Kylián from Europe and (the late) Martha Graham from the US.
Martha Graham was more than a choreographer, she’s a legend. Her works are no less astonishing even when we see them in 2012. Extremely solid structure, clear and complex; plus a very descriptive plot; every character on stage stands out. As for many works today, dancers are often overshadowed by the choreography itself. Reacting to society BDC has many faces, from the masculine valor of Qaciljay and the quirky appeal of Colors to the troupe members singing madly at the Taiwan Pasiwali Festival, using familiar old songs to energize the atmosphere at the event. When asked which of his works is most representative of the company, Bulareyaung tilts his head, at a loss for an answer. “Our performers dance, and sing, and also speak and act, so we’re hard to define. We seem to combine all the performing arts. The most important thing is that we never turn our back on traditional culture.” One can learn something about BDC from each individual work, but from any given piece one can only learn a part of who they are. By his own account, in the past Bulareyaung never paid attention to social issues, and still less to indigenous issues. He felt that as an artist his greatest contribution to society was simply to produce good works. But since returning to Taitung, he has been surrounded by the past, present, and future of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Their concerns have become part of his life, and caused him to leave his comfort zone. As a result, BDC productions are often responses to the contemporary environment. During the 2017 occupation of Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard in protest over the issue of traditional indigenous territories, BDC came north several times to show their support. At that time they were in the middle of rehearsals for a new production, Stay That Way, so they were unable to stay with the protestors. But when they began performing the piece, they transported some of the colorful rocks that had been brought to Ketagalan Boulevard from various indigenous communities to their performance space and shared the protest with audience members. Three women indigenous singers were invited to take part in the work, and there was thrilling interplay between their life stories and ringing voices, and the movements of By Diane Baker / Staff reporter Bulareyaung (Bula) Pagarlava is a man who is has been straddling disparate cultures for decades. Now he is on a journey into his past, seeking to reconnect with the county he grew up in, with his Aboriginal culture, while forging connections between the contemporary dance world that made his career and the world he left behind to do so. Bula is also trying to run his own modern dance company with all the administrative, choreographic, public relations and travel requirements that involves — from Taitung. Born 42 years ago in the Paiwan community of Jialan Village (嘉蘭), Taitung County, the last child in the family, Bula left home as a young teen for high school in Kaohsiung. He then studied at Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA, 國立臺北藝術大學), where he met dancer Sheu Fang-yi (許芳宜), who would be both his partner and muse for many years, and was a dancer with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門) before becoming a choreographer full time. Photo courtesy of Bulareyaung Dance Company Bula credits Cloud Gate 2’s (雲門2) first artistic director, Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲), one of his teachers at TNUA, for encouraging him to choreograph. He later became the troupe’s first resident choreographer before turning freelancer. HOMECOMING However, after spending the more than two decades in Taipei, Bula decided two years ago to head home to Taitung County. It was something he had been thinking about since he was at the Lincoln Center in New York City in 2011 as the Martha Graham Dance Company performed his work Chasing. He said he had made a vow then to give young Aborigines an opportunity to “strut their stuff on the world stage.” Photo courtesy of Bulareyaung Dance Company In 2012 he team
Dancing All the Way Home
Encouraging Aboriginal youth to dream big
Choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava is on a major voyage of discovery — going back to find what he lost and looking for ways to encourage Aboriginal youngsters to pursue their dreams