Taipei City Government

Jointly staged by the National Theater and National Concert Hall, the very first edition of the Taiwan International Festival was in 2009. The theme was“Vision of the Future,”and the program was bursting with over a hundred shows in great variety showing off the beauties of theatre, music, dance, and interactive parents-and-kids stage shows. The event explored the infinite world of possibility that unfolds when modern arts are skilfully blended with the best of tradition.“Vision of the Future”remains a main theme for this year's gala, complemented by the sister theme“Diversity and Sustainability.”The curtain-raising performance will once again be the master of US visual artist Robert Wilson, who last year teamed with Taiwan's Beijing opera impresario Wei Hai-ming to bring Virginia Woolf's Orlando to the stage. This year Wilson has teamed up with the U Theatre troupe and Taiwanese opera diva Tang Meiyunto bring the tale of the seventh of Admiral Zheng He's epic sea adventures to the stage in 1433 - The Grand Voyage.

Another treasure that stage-arts aficionados are looking forward to is the newest work by the celebrated Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, entitled Listening to the River , depicting the different and often violent temperaments of river waters. In the world premiere of Violett, Lila, PurPur, renowned international dance choreographer Lin Mei-hong , who hails from Taiwan's Yilan, works in concert with Germany's Tanztheater des Staatstheaters Darmstadt. And in the resplendent version of the Grimm Brothers' children's tale Snow White, the Ballet Preljocaj from France, headed by esteemed choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, is magnificently bedecked in costumes imagined by legendary fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.

Would you like to hear how a well-known film score sounds in a venue purpose-built for soaring symphonic stimulation? The National Symphony Orchestra and Taiwan National Chinese Orchestra come together for a heart-thumping performance of the Oscar-winning score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Remaining within the realm of music, the most exciting production of the year belongs to On the Road , which breaks the boundaries of artistic achievement, brought to you by the National Symphony Orchestra and Taiwan Color Music. This event also brings aboriginal folk ballads into the palace of classical music, with results that will set your mind racing.

In the demanding arena of experimental theatre, three works are to be staged that will do much to encourage female stage per formers, part of the Magdalena Project, which seeks to discover and promote excellence among female artists: Emily Dickinson by Colombia' s Teat ro la Candelar ia, Salt by Odin Teatret of Denmark, and an interpretation of the Greek legend in M.E.D.E.A. by legendary German artist Gilla Cremer. And the white-hot contemporary stage director Thomas Ostermeier brings to the Taipei stage a stimulating reinterpretation of that Shakespearean masterpiece of drama, Hamlet.

The arts can be expressed in a resounding green voice, and Spain's Sol Picó Dance Company will be here to present its thoughtprovoking work Sirena a la Plancha outdoors, using a moving stage and theatrical puppets to“perform”the ecology of the seas. The acclaimed Formosa Aboriginal Song & Dance Troupe will stage Ilisin - Amis Harvest Festival Dances , presenting timehonored ceremonial songs and dances that, via research and vetting with elders, are pure in form and true to ancient tradition. And don't miss the English film/TV-score composer George Fenton as he leads the National Symphony Orchestra and Taipei Philharmonic Chorus in rousing renditions of The Blue Planet LIVE. Fenton won an Emmy Award for the score for The Blue Planet in 2001, and during the shows imagery from the majestic documentary series will play in the background on a giant screen.

Vision of the Future is to be a celebration of the creative imagination staged by 250 artists from Taiwan and overseas, encompassing 15 shows, proudly presenting 6 world premieres and 6 Asia premieres. This will be the toast of the town and the hottest ticket in town in the cool months of February and March, a feast of the arts you should not, cannot possibly miss.