The graceful dance titled 'Peacock Forest' cleverly plays on the traditional Chinese fan dance, with young girls wearing green and purple costumes and holding shimmering fans that resemble peacock feathers. The peacock is an auspicious Chinese symbol of beauty, and the dance expresses a respect for life and peace. The dancers press their thumbs and index fingers together to resemble the bird's head, creating a stage filled with peacocks praising nature.
This is just one of many dances in the Lan Yang Dance Troupe's repertoire. The troupe takes ancient Chinese folk stories as its starting point and weaves them into dance patterns. Although this is a Taiwanese troupe, with its personal ethnic history, the choreography is universal in its appeal.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the troupe's founding. The troupe, which comes from Ilan on Taiwan's northeast coast, devotes itself to classical Chinese folk and aboriginal dance. Over the years it has made 16 international tours and won numerous awards. One of the most engaging aspects about the troupe is that all the dancers are between the ages of 10 to 18. It may be an amateur troupe, but the performances are professionally delivered.
There are two groups of dancers, one in Lotung and the other in Taipei. Both groups practice five days a week after school and long hours on the weekends. Lin Mei-hong (artistic director) has choreographed for the troupe for many years. She graduated in 1985 from the College of the Performing Arts in Italy, and in 1989 from Germany's Aachen Folkwang College of Arts Kinetographie Laban Research Institute.
Lin Mei-hong's abilities come to the fore in the dance titled 'Lien Hsiang.' Hitting the lien hsiang is an old Chinese folk art in which two pipes, each three feet long and coated with copper, are brandished about to the music and rhythm of a carefree dance. Indigenous to Szechuan province, the ' Lien Hsiang' dance is still performed at festivals today where groups of people gather to dance and sing. The troupe's dance combines skillful movements, tremendous energy, and beautiful costumes.
Ever since antiquity, plums have been a favorite subject of the Chinese literati. Plums have been praised by poets, painters, and composers for their resilience, becoming even sweeter in the cold, hard winter. The 'Plum' dance is divided into four sections, each expressing a different facet of the fruit: standing alone, delicate beauty, indomitable pride, and red plum blossoms and white snow.
The dance titled 'Drums to Celebrate Peace' is the most athletic. The drum has always been an indispensable percussion instrument in Chinese music. Four kinds of drum are used in this dance: the awe-inspiring drum, the lively fengyang flower drum, the strong Taiping drum, and the light undulating drum. Three girls in black and orange costumes jump onto the stage and dance in fast, syncopated movements. After beating red drums in bold fast and slow rhythms, the dancers carry the drum sticks and step through a speedy repertoire of slick movements ending in the splits.
The 'Tunhuang Silk Dance' is possibly the troupe's most lyrical and dream-like dance. The Tunhuang caves in China's Kansu province are famous for their ancient murals depicting Buddhist scripture, artifacts, and deities. The costumes, expressions, and movements of the figures painted on the cave walls serve as the starting point for this dance. The piece incorporates the traditional ribbon dance, with its gentle floating movements and brightly colored silk ribbons.
The Youth Center's activities included sports, Chinese classical music, painting, and folk dancing. Father Michelini organized summer camps and bands for children and encouraged them to learn about traditional Chinese arts. In 1966 he founded the Lan Yang Dance Troupe in Ilan-Lotung. Father Michelini's principal aim in founding the troupe was to preserve and transmit the richness of Taiwan's minority cultures. Dance, he believed, would be a vibrant and joyful way to keep tradition alive. His secondary aim was to promote international cultural exchange and improve national diplomacy.
Performing at the Vatican
Over the last 30 years, the troupe has blossomed in a way perhaps only Father Michelini might have predicted. His vision and efforts to make the troupe a success were rewarded in 1973 when he was able to take the dancers to Italy. The troupe performed in the Vatican and were received by Pope Paul VI. Since then the troupe has been received by the Pope seven more
times. Its third tour abroad, to Latin America in 1976, also marked a turning point for improved national diplomacy. At that time all the other countries on the itinerary did not have diplomatic relations with the ROC, but the troupe's charm forged new artistic links with Latin America. The troupe has gone on to perform in Europe, the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong.
One of its finest achievements came in 1991 when it performed in the International Folk Dance Festival in Spain. Competing with 56 troupes from 31 countries, the Lan Yang Dance Troupe won third prize. In October 1995 the troupe received the Medal of Cultural Heritage from the ROC Senior Jaycees Club.
The Lan Yang Dance troupe is putting on a Ballet Night at the Social Education Hall in Taipei on August 15th and 16th. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the troupe will perform a special performance of Ilan's history on November 23rd and 24th at the same venue. For more information, contact the Lan Yang Dance Troupe: (02) 722-4044.