About the Show
Far in the East lies an island once known as Formosa—a place shaped by mountains and sea, and by the cultures and stories of different communities woven together over generations. Taking Taiwan as its starting point, Heart of Asia brings the island’s diverse histories, peoples and cultural landscapes onto the circus stage, in search of a circus language that Taiwan can call its own.
Rooted in the physical vocabulary of Western circus, the production incorporates Eastern traditions and elements drawn from Taiwanese culture, allowing different aesthetics to meet, collide and transform onstage. The performance unfolds in four chapters—Spirit of the East, Hakka Mountain Songs, Indigenous Stories and Coming Together—moving through the music, movement and collective memories of different communities to gradually assemble a vivid portrait of Taiwan’s cultural diversity.
In Heart of Asia, Western circus encounters the cultural heritage of an Eastern island. Circus skills become more than displays of virtuosity: they become a physical language through which stories of the land can be told. Between mountains and sea, tradition and the contemporary, and the meeting of different cultures, the production creates a circus landscape uniquely rooted in Formosa.