Identity and Diversity ─ Celebrating Dance in Taiwan

Reflecting the breadth and diversity of dance in the Asia–Pacific region, this volume provides an in-depth and comprehensive study of Taiwan’s dance history. Taiwan is home to several indigenous tribes with unique rituals and folk dance traditions, with an array of eclectic influences including martial arts and Peking Opera from China, and dance forms such as contemporary, neo-classical, post-modern, jazz, ballroom, and hip-hop from the West. Dance in Taiwan, led by pioneers such as choreographers Liu Feng-shueh and Lin Hwai-min, continues to have a strong presence in both performance and educational arenas. In 1973, Lin Hwai-min created Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, the country’s internationally acclaimed modern dance company, and simultaneously produced a generation of dancers not only trained in modern dance and ballet, but also in Chinese aesthetics and history, tai-chi and meditation.

Including the voices of dance professionals, scholars and critics, this collection of articles highlights the emerging trends and challenges faced by dance in Taiwan. It examines the history, creative development, education, training, and above all, the hybrid practices that give Taiwanese dance a unique identity, making it central to the renaissance of Asian contemporary dance. In describing how the intersections of dance cultures are marked by exchanges, research and pedagogy, it shows the way choreographers, performers, associated artists and companies of the region choose to imaginatively invent, blend, fuse, select and morph the multiple influences, revitalising and preserving cultural heritage while oscillating between tradition and change.

Wang Yunyu is Professor of Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts, and President of the World Dance Alliance Asia–Pacific.
Stephanie Burridge lectures at Singapore Management University, LaSalle College of the Arts, and is a dance critic, author and editor.

Introduction: Identity, Hybridity, Diversity: A Brief View of Dance in Taiwan Chen Ya-ping 1. ‘Holding Hands to Dance’: Movement as Cultural Metaphor in the Dances of Indigenous People in Taiwan Chao Chi-fang 2. A Study of Banquet Music and Dance at the Táng Court (618–907 CE) Liu Feng-shueh 3. Colonial Modernity and Female Dancing Bodies in Early Taiwanese Modern Dance Chen Ya-ping 4. Looking into Labanotation in Taiwan Wang Yunyu 5. Dance Education in Taiwan Chang Chung-shiuan 6. Taiwan’s Female Choreographers: A Generation in Transition Wang Yunyu, Danna Frangione, Chou Su-ling and Nicole Bradley Browning 7. Bridging the Gap through Dance: Taiwan and IndonesiaSal Murgiyanto 8. The Spectacular Dance: 2009 World Games in Taiwan Ping Heng 9. Roots and Routes of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s Nine Songs (1993) Lin Yatin 10. An Introduction to Dance Technology Lin Chyi-cheng, Wang Yunyu, Shen Jeng-fu and Huang Yi-ching 11. ReOrienting Taiwan’s Modern Dance: The New Generation of Taiwanese Choreographers David Mead Artist Voices and Biographies Mo Lan-lan