Corporeal translation across borders: Indigenous choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava and his Warriors

Abstract

Abstract This article looks into a genealogy of the multiple versions of the work Warriors (2010–2014) choreographed by Bulareyaung Pagarlava (also known as ‘Bula’). I discuss the evolution of the work alongside the search for his indigenous identity over the past few years as a freelance choreographer after having created works for dance companies from Taiwan such as Cloud Gate 2 and LAFA & Artists, then collaborating with performers from various institutions such as his alma mater the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA), the Martha Graham Dance Company, and the American Dance Festival (ADF), as well as the Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe from Taiwan, leading up to the founding of his own Bulareyaung Dance Company (BDC) in 2014. Borrowing from Japanese cultural theorist Naoki Sakai’s concepts of subjectivity and translation, I trace how Bulareyaung gradually developed his indigenous creative voice after years of working with dancers of different ethnicities and nationalities from around the world, and how he chose to return home and set up an ensemble in his rural hometown of Taitung in southeastern Taiwan, gradually developing new movement vocabularies in tune with his indigenous subjects.