Tjimur Dance Theatre is coming to DanceEast’s Jerwood DanceHouse

Taiwan’s premiere contemporary dance company is bringing a show dedicated to exploring and expressing the identity of the indigenous Paiwan people.  It is also the first UK tour by any mid-scale dance company from Taiwan, which is a significant international cultural milestone.

Their show, bulabulay mun? (which translates as “How are you?”), tells the moving story of a community suddenly confronted by the immense power of wind and waves, awakening a heightened awareness of how far they have drifted from nature. It draws on the historic Mudan shipwreck incident of 1874, a traumatic chapter in Taiwanese history, to reflect on the relationship between human actions and their unforeseen consequences. Through traditional Mudan songs and dance, bulabulay mun? seeks to heal historical wounds and revive ancestral memory, embodying the resilience and spirit of the Paiwan people.

Tjimur Dance Theatre was founded in 2006 in Timur, a Paiwan community in Sandimen Township, Pingtung. It is the first professional contemporary dance company in Taiwan dedicated to exploring and expressing Paiwan identity through movement. Recognised as one of Taiwan’s top performing arts groups for fifteen consecutive years, the company is led by Artistic Director Ljuzem Madiljin and Dance Director Baru Madiljin. With the development of a unique movement methodology known as Tjimur Physical Skills, the company transforms Paiwan cultural memory into contemporary body language, giving shape and voice to the spirit of a living tradition.

DanceEast

Foundry Lane Ipswich IP4 1DW

We are one of the UK’s leading national dance organisations. Our mission is to remain at the vanguard of artistic, participatory and educational practice in dance.

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• The Magic Flute | Protein Dance
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• The Cheeky Devils Club- Burlesque!
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Over the past nineteen years, Tjimur has staged more than 150 performances across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, appearing at renowned platforms such as the Cervantino International Festival (Mexico), GUIdance Festival (Portugal), and TANZ – Munich International Dance Festival (Germany). Their innovative work has earned them nominations for the Total Theatre Awards (UK) and the Taishin Arts Award (Taiwan). In 2018, they launched the Tjimur Arts Festival and the cultural initiative In-depth Exploration of Timur, intertwining community, tradition, and contemporary creation.

Baru Madiljin, the choreographer director, said,

“Many people think this is a work about war, but for me, bulabulay mun ? is not about recreating a battle. Its starting point is a simple yet profound greeting from the Paiwan people: “How are you?” Through this work, I want to ask this question on a broader scale to greet the world itself. To reach out to countries that have been wounded, and to places still enduring pain today. To greet those who have suffered in any form, and those who are at this very moment experiencing harm.

“This is not a political statement. It is an act of embodied empathy. Through the dancers’ bodies, we speak what words cannot express. When this piece travels to London and theatres across the UK, I don’t want the audience to see only a fragment of Paiwan history from Taiwan.  I hope they can feel the weight and warmth of that greeting—a question offered to anyone who has ever known pain, a bodily way of asking: Are you okay?

“I don’t expect every audience member to fully understand the historical or cultural context. But I hope they can listen with their bodies and voices, to sense that our greeting comes from the land itself, carried by the breath of memory.

“Touring this work in the UK, so far from where I was born, feels fragile yet deeply meaningful. Because it means we are trying to build a connection with the world, and in our own way, softly say: bulabulay mun? How are you?”

Who wrote this about Ipswich?

Helen Oldfield

Helen Oldfield is Director of a PR & communications consultancy called Affinity PR & PR Coaching. She’s been self employed for 20 years. A former Citizens Advice CEO, now she’s Co-Director of the neurodiversity movement, Neurodelicious CIC. Helen’s PR business focuses on not-for-profits, state education, travel & tourism, arts & culture, community health & wellbeing.