Auckland, New Zealand, March 15 (CNA) After four years of talks, preparations and trips to Estonia and Taiwan, David Malacari finally landed Taiwan's U theatre for the biennial Auckland Arts Festival, and he believed the audience will love it.
"It was a show that you found very hard to forget, " said Malacari, the artistic director of the biennial arts event, recalling his impression after seeing U Theatre perform for the first time, in Hong Kong in 2006.
He first heard about the company in a speech in Hong Kong in the same year and immediately fell in love with the group, which combines contemporary Western theatrical techniques with Zen Buddhist philosophy, Malacari told the Central News Agency in an interview on the sidelines of the festival, which runs from March 2-20.
He flew to Tallinn, Estonia to see U Theatre perform "Sound of the Ocean" again before deciding to bring the company to Auckland, he said.
"It's taken two festivals to finally bring the company to Auckland," Malacari said as he described the enormous amount of time, energy and funding needed to invite big artistic companies because of the airfares involved as well as getting the timing right and finding the right venues.
U Theatre will be one of the featured groups in the last week of the festival, and Malacari believed that the audience would immediately connect with it during its four performances of "Sound of the Ocean" from March 15-18 at ASB Theater in Aotea Center.
U-Theatre's work is rooted in ongoing exploration of indigenous Taiwanese and Chinese culture and deep respect of the natural environment, and the "Sound of the Ocean, " which plays on those themes, was highly praised by Malacari.
He especially lauded its drumming, which "gives audiences a visceral quality with almost a contemplative and meditative feeling that is so compelling."
The festival, launched in 2003, aims to feature Pacific Rim and Asia Pacific artists because of the multicultural environment of the Auckland community, which has a large East Asian and Pacific Island population, according to Malacari.
The festival's director said he had met with several Taiwanese artists and groups when he last visited Taiwan and was hopeful to bring more Taiwanese artists to the world stage when opportunities permitted.
Malacari has over 30 years experience in the cultural sector in various roles, including 12 years with the Adelaide Festival. He joined the Auckland festival in 2004 and was the event's director in 2005, 2007, and 2009.
The experienced organizer said his biggest gratification from organizing arts events is to introduce people new art forms and groups and to "open up people's eyes and teach them something about the part of the world that they're not familiar with."
He also found some similarities in Taiwan's indigenous culture and Polynesian culture, which scientific research has confirmed as having shared connections. (By Chris Wang) Enditem/ls