Daniel Jones Diary: Ballet Tour to Taiwan July/August 2006

August 28, 2006

Ballet Tour to Taiwan July/August 2006

Chopper Dreams

When I was growing up in Cross Heath, Newcastle-under-Lyme, riding around on my chopper bike (pretending it was a BMX) in the early 80’s, I would often dream that one day I would travel further away than the fish and chip shop at the top of the hill. But at no time, was Taiwan one of my travelling fantasies. However, thanks to whoever decided, agreed and paid, English National Ballet toured Swan Lake to the National Theatre in Taipei, Taiwan and so I was to visit this country that in my imagination, was full of factories that made everything.

Are We There Yet?

No, we’re not there yet, and we didn’t get there until twenty four hours later. The journey from Tooting to Taipei was indeed one of the longest journey’s ever. The Daniel that left London, was a day older by the time he arrived in Taipei, but he felt like ten years older, and according to the shaky aeroplane mirror, he looked twenty years older.
There were four parts to the journey -
• Getting to the airport – I took the tube, there was a heat wave, and so I cooked, as air conditioning hasn’t yet been invented in London.
• The flight from London to Bangkok – I started reading the book ‘The boy who fell out of the sky’ by Ken Dornstein, which probably wasn’t a wise choice as I don’t like flying, and I was sitting on a plane. According to my imaginary statistics, the more times I fly, the more chance there is that something may go wrong, so my fear is slowly getting worse.
I have to say though that the airline that we flew with was fantastic. The staff were very helpful, the entertainment was superb, and we arrived alive. Excellent.
• The flight from Bangkok to Taipei – On landing in Bangkok I noticed people playing golf on a golf course that was less than fifty yards away from the runway. But when we took off, the heavens had opened and soaked the bunkers which caused the Thai golfers to vanish and also made for a wobbly take-off.
• The coach journey to the hotel – Even though it was very dark outside, (it was late at night in Taipei), and I was completely exhausted,(I’d been travelling for about twenty three hours) I couldn’t resist playing the game ‘Who’s the first to spot the world’s tallest building?’ I can’t remember who won but I saw it, and what a surprise, it’s huge.
When I finally arrived at the Holiday Inn - Asia World, I set my mobile phone alarm to wake me up early, as the next day was a day off to recover from the jet lag, but I was determined to use the free time exploring this country that according to my Taipei guide book, had so many things to do.

Taipei 101 – the tallest building in the world. Photo © Daniel Jones

Snakes and Lifts

When I woke up in Taiwan I had no idea where I was. I looked at my watch, it was midday, I looked at my mobile, it said it was 3am. I had set the alarm but forgot to change the clock on my phone. D’oh!
So much for getting up early, however, there was no time to waste, so I jumped straight out of bed and stretched my travel stiff body in the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool. Back in the hotel room, I prepared to head towards the strangely magnetic Taipei 101 (currently the World’s tallest building), that was attracting me and making me feel compelled to get inside and whiz to the top.
As I walked towards the giant, man-made, bamboo look-alike, I watched it slowly grow taller and wondered what the builders had felt like when they finally put the last piece on top.
When I entered Taipei 101, it was like walking into Brent Cross shopping centre. A very large shopping centre with a lot of names that I recognised. I wasn’t there to shop though, I was there to go up, so I followed the signs to the lift and stood in the queue.
The lift to the top actually travels at around 40mph (that’s faster than London underground) - just 38 seconds to travel 90 floors. Impressive? Well, it is, but it meant that I didn’t get a sense that I had travelled so high. In England it takes 38 seconds for the lift doors to close, so when I got out and saw the panoramic view of Taipei through the giant glass windows, it felt slightly unreal.
There were more stairs to climb to visit the outside deck. Once outside, as well as seeing the peak above my head, I could feel the strong force of the wind. And then, I started thinking about aeroplanes, so I started my journey back to the ground.
Taipei 101 for me was more inspiring to look at than to be inside. It is an incredible piece of architecture that I am happy to have visited.
After travelling so much vertically, I then travelled horizontally to the Taipei’s nightmarkets. Huaxi street (nicknamed Snake Alley), and Shilin market – Taipei’s largest and most popular market.
At Snake Alley there was a very authentic atmosphere, but I was more than shocked when I saw a man gather a crowd of curious people, while a cobra sat staring at the audience in front of him. He then pulled a six foot snake out of a box and swung it around like a rope before smashing it’s head on the floor – twice!
The snake man hung the almost dead snake on a hanging hook and sliced it down the middle. He then squeezed out a red substance from the snake into a glass of water, followed by a green substance.
Finally, while smiling, he offered the drinks to the audience, for a price of course.
It was horrific. I didn’t stay to see if anyone attempted to drink the fresh cocktail as I would have produced another substance that would have been just as appetising.

Cobra Karaoke. Photo © Daniel Jones

Where’s the Theatre?

The National Theatre (Guojia Xiju Yuan) was where we were to perform eight performances of Swan Lake. During the week I was scheduled to perform the Waltz in act one twice, the Spanish dance twice, the Lead Czardas twice, and Rothbart three times at various performances. If there were any injuries to other dancers this could all change, so every show I had to be ready for anything.
Finding the theatre was more difficult than I thought as I was looking for a building that looked like a theatre. But Taipei’s National Theatre looked more like a giant Chinese temple, and I walked past it a few times before I saw Kevin Darvis (the company pianist) enter into the side of the building. Curiously, I followed him, and sure enough I saw the familiar English National Ballet headed notices on a board, telling me where my dressing room was, and my schedule for the week.
Backstage of the theatre was much like any other, although it wasn’t as grand as what I’d hoped. A common trait in theatres is that backstage is not as important as in front of the stage, and this was just as obvious here as anywhere.
However, the stage, and front of house was enchanting and I was looking forward to getting on stage and hearing how a Taiwanese audience would react to our production.

Daniel Jones Capturing the National Theatre, Taipei. Photo © Kei Akahoshi

Swan Lake Act 5, Curtain Calls

The journey to Taiwan had taken it’s toll on my body and so when I did my first ballet class in Taipei I felt stiff and disorientated. It was a shame we didn’t have more time to recover, but like anything else, time is money and it wasn’t long before it was curtain up on the opening night.
It wasn’t until the third performance that I got to hear what an appreciative audience the Taiwanese were. I was playing Rothbart and so I was on the front row of the curtain calls with Elena Glurdzhidze (Odette/Odile), Arionel Vargas (Prince Siegfried), and Mr Gaynor (the Conductor). We had three curtain calls and it sounded wonderful.
Afterwards I overheard some of the swans chatting -
Swan “They should do Swan Lake Act 5 where we just call it curtain calls.”
Another Swan “Yeah, they should at least let us change feet, the curtain calls are a killer.”
Funny, I bet the audience don’t realize that the more they clap, the more pain for the swans.
Overall, the eight performances went well, and with such a busy week, (one technical rehearsal, one dress rehearsal, seven ballet classes, and eight performances in seven days) the week flew by. I did manage to do some sight seeing during the week, and a little bit of shopping (I bought a foldable bike for around £60, an incredible bargain), but I had been looking forward to having a day off which was to be my last day in Taipei.

Left to Right - Elisa Celis, Laurent Liotardo, Daniel Jones, Begoña Cao in Spanish mode. Photo © Daniel Jones

Once Every 32 Years.

Monday began with the hotel breakfast in the hotel dining room that resembled a scene from the film Blade Runner. While eating, you could sit and watch transparent lifts torpedo people up and down the hotel. The choice at breakfast was quite varied, my favourites were miso soup, sliced ham, special rice, sausage, baked beans, water melon, coffee, and mango juice. Quite a mixture I know, but it did the job and prepared me for the day.
Firstly, I headed for Beitou, north of the city, and home to Taipei’s well known hot springs. On the MRT, (Taiwan’s air conditioned tube train) the journey took about forty five minutes. Once there, the hot springs were easy to find. There were various hot springs, ranging in price from 800 Taiwan dollars to 40 Taiwan dollars. On recommendation, I decided to head for the 40 Taiwan dollar option and I was very happy that I did. There were four various pools, ranging in different temperatures from very cold to exceedingly hot, and there was about four other people bathing. It took me about ten minutes to get into the hottest pool as it was almost painful to get inside. After bathing in the hottest and the coldest a few times, I felt completely relaxed and refreshed. I only wish I could do it more often, but once every 32 years is still lovely.
From Beitou I travelled further North to Danshui, the Blackpool of Taiwan. Although there is no Blackpool tower, one of Danshui’s specialities is their giant tower ice cream cones. The ice cream is over a foot high (green tea and strawberry flavour) and because of the heat I had to lick it very quickly, although I still managed to make a mess.

Another speciality available was black eggs (or iron eggs). I did try a taster of the eggs which are black, cold, and spicy, but I didn’t feel the urge to bring any back home.
There were lots of market stalls selling various products from massagers to jellyfish. I could easily have spent the whole day exploring Danshui, but as it was the last day I decided to head back to the city to visit the electrical market (I love gadgets and this was a mini gadget heaven) near Zhongxiao Xinsheng station, where I bought a hard case for my ipod, and a robot dog.
I was now getting quite tired, but knowing that tomorrow I would be stuck on a plane for 16 hours, I decided to go back to the hotel for a final swim in the outdoor pool.

The Vanishing Market

Feeling refreshed I headed for Shilin market to spend what was left of my per diem. (our per diem was 1710 Taiwan dollars per day. Equivalent to 45 euros a day.)
Once at the market, I searched for something to eat, and I found a real Taiwan treasure. An all you can eat, help yourself restaurant which in the middle of the table had a hot plate to cook the meat, a stove to cook the soup and finally the hot plate turned into an ice cold plate so you could make your own ice cream. It was delicious and the service was amazing.
I had a tremendous bargain hunt in the market and I was shocked when I saw all the stalls in the middle of the street suddenly disappear, and there, walking slowly in the middle of the street was a Taiwanese police officer. Illegal trading I guess, but sure enough, five minutes later, and the police officer nowhere to be seen, all the stalls rapidly reappeared. It all happened so fast, it was as if it all in my imagination.

The Power Massage

Massage parlours were very popular in Taipei. Foot massages appeared to be the most popular but half body and full body massages were available.
For my final Taiwan experience I paid for a lower body massage (lower back and legs) for 400 Taiwan dollars at a 24 hour massage parlour on the edge of Shilin market. It turned out to be a kind of all over body massage (head, upper back, lower back and legs) in a hospital style booth with a very strong Taiwanese lady. Using hot towels, and powerful elbows, it was quite a relaxing experience, and it was the perfect preparation for my last minute packing and twenty four hour journey back to London that would commence in three and a half hours.

Left to Right - Laura Bruña Rubio, Kei Akahoshi, Maria José Sales, Fernando Bufala, Esteban Berlanga in the hotel, two hours before they left Taipei. Photo © Daniel Jones

My tour to Taiwan was a busy but exhilarating experience. In general, the Taiwanese people had been very friendly and helpful, which made me wish I could speak Chinese, but I don’t. This was most evident when I got lost and couldn’t find my way back to the theatre. As I wandered around helpless, with no map, and all the streets looking the same, I had no choice but to ask a local for some help.
“Please could you help me, I’m looking for the theatre?” I asked
“Oh sorry, you want train station?” he replied.
“No, the theatre, (miming ballet) ballet, (miming singing) opera, the the – a –tre”
Local, “Ooh, you want pub?”

Posted by Daniel at August 28, 2006 08:48 PM