Prof. Craig Quintero, the artistic director of Riverbed Theatre, conducted an intensive workshop in December, introducing students to the field of performance art through a series of participatory exercises, videos, and self-created performances.

Riverbed Theatre was founded in Taipei in 1998. The company's image-based, Total Theatre productions blur the boundaries between visual and performing arts. Critics have praised the organic, sculptural quality of Riverbed's "subconscious" theatre.

The workshop, with classes running from Friday to Sunday for two weeks starting from December 11, required students to write, direct, design, and perform three original performances.

The workshop culminated with the 17 participating graduate students from different departments presenting an evening of site-specific productions throughout the campus.

Throughout the workshop, students learned to engage performance as the object and method of their study as they critically examined the artistic limits of contemporary theatre and art.

The workshop stressed participatory learning, motivating students to kinesthetically explore performance as a vehicle for social, cultural and personal change.

Prof. Quintero also invited Ms. Chan Hui-ling from Critical Point Theatre Phenomenon to give a dance workshop on December 19, introducing the students to cross-boundary performance concepts blending dance and theatre.

Creating their works, the 17 students borrowed elements from different sources, such as Dutch artist M. C. Escher, Thai film director Apichatpon Weerasethakul, and U.S. poet Sylvia Plath. But they were able to transform the elements and integrate them into their performances.