Taiwan Today

Taipei Capital Ballet is winning recognition for infusing the classical dance form with local
cultural elements.

Taipei Capital Ballet (TCB) in Taipei City’s Shilin District is gearing up to celebrate a major milestone: its 30th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the troupe plans to stage a remake of its 2005 work “The Postman” this October through December. “We’re bringing back most of the piece’s original production team for the reunion performance, some of whom have become quite famous in Taiwan in the intervening years,” company manager Yu Li-jung (尤儷蓉) said. “At the same time, we’re taking design elements like lighting and costumes to a whole new level.”

Over the years TCB has steadily gained prestige for its homegrown works showcasing the country’s distinctive heritage. Last year the ballet company’s contributions to the local art scene earned it a Taipei Culture Award, which is granted annually by Taipei City Government to outstanding individuals and groups in the capital’s cultural community. Credit for the success of the longest-running ballet troupe currently operating in Taiwan goes to husband-and-wife team Hsu Chin-fong (徐進豐) and Lee Shu-hui (李淑惠), the group’s co-founders and current director and artistic director, respectively.
 
An economics major in university and former bank employee, Hsu got his first taste of ballet at private dance institutes in his free time after work, while Lee became a professional dancer after completing a classical education in ballet. The pair joined Theater Ballet, Taipei (TBT), established by American dancer Marsha Wales-Brown in 1981. Under Wales-Brown’s tutelage, Hsu improved rapidly and his appreciation for ballet deepened, leading him to pursue a career in dance. Although the seven-member company disbanded following its founder’s return to the U.S. in 1985, Hsu and Lee’s time with TBT set the stage for the birth of their own troupe five years later.
 
Today TCB plays an important role in Taiwan’s performing arts sphere, where modern dance is prevalent, by providing valuable opportunities for those striving to master the classical style. The 12 members of the troupe are devoted to their profession, spending three days a week at the studio undergoing rigorous training in the morning and rehearsal in the afternoon. “A ballet dancer needs to have great passion as it requires ceaseless practice to excel,” Hsu said.

Taiwan Style

Hsu and Lee pride themselves on producing original works, with the troupe putting on nearly 1,000 performances of some 80 such pieces to date. In this way the founders can fulfill their objective of presenting works with a uniquely Taiwan flavor. For Chao Yu-ling (趙玉玲), professor of performing arts at National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) in New Taipei City, the troupe’s ambition to infuse indigenous influences into works choreographed by Lee, a member of the Amis people, is especially laudable. One such melding of Western and local cultures is “Amis Images,” which debuted a year after the troupe’s founding and features traditional costumes, music and ritual gestures of the indigenous group. TCB’s performance of the piece in New York City in 1999 drew attention from senior dance critic Anna Kisselgoff, who praised the group’s energy in a review for The New York Times.
 
Lee went on to impress audiences again in 2001 with another work inspired by her heritage. Depicting the ­coming-of-age custom observed by Amis youths, “Spring Ritual—Following Ancestral Spirits” incorporated indigenous students from an agricultural senior high school in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County. The performance invoked the group’s ancestral spirits and preserved their traditions, Lee said.

While Lee’s pieces seek to conserve the past, Hsu’s works prompt viewers to reflect on current events and social problems, Chao said. A notable example of this is “The Postman,” which portrays a young couple separated by war and forced to remain in touch through a cynical mail carrier. One of Hsu’s favorite creations, the ballet and its anti-war message were inspired by cross-strait tensions with China. Also helping to define Hsu’s identity as a choreographer is “Media Tycoon.” The 2007 work is a harsh indictment of local media’s propensity for provocative headlines and unbalanced reporting, according to the company.
 
Ever Evolving

Hsu and Lee also collaborate with outside choreographers as part of their efforts to foster local talent and expand TCB’s repertoire. Featuring among these  works performed by the company is “Surround” by Lai Tsui-Shuang (賴翠霜), a TCB member during the troupe’s early years who went on to found New Taipei-based Lais Creative Dance Theater in 2011. Blending ballet and modern dance to weave a narrative comparing life to a labyrinth, the piece won a prestigious Taishin Arts Award in the performing arts category. France-based Taiwan choreographer Lily Cheng (鄭莉莉) has likewise created multiple ballets for TCB, including the well-received “Bon Voyage,” which portrays protagonists nostalgically reminiscing about times gone by over the course of a train journey.

TCB additionally produces a four-part experimental performance called Ballet Pageant every few years, with sections designed mainly by guest choreographers known for their exploratory approaches integrating folk, jazz, pop and modern dance. Since the inaugural edition of the event in 2002, four subsequent pageants have been staged. According to Lu Hsing-yi (呂馨怡), a veteran dancer with TCB since 1993, the unconventional productions help dancers attain new heights. “The diverse range of styles I’ve explored through TCB has helped me realize my full potential,” said Lu, who has been using her expertise to coach younger members of the company as a rehearsal assistant since last year. NTUA’s Chao also sees TCB as a nurturing ground for emerging talent. “The company is sowing the seeds of the next generation of accomplished dancers and choreographers,” she said.

At the same time, TCB aspires to deepen appreciation for ballet among the public, reserving the first half of each year for visits to schools and cultural ­centers before embarking on its annual performance tour in the fall. “We don tutus and perform short sections from well-known classical pieces to satisfy people’s existing impressions of ballet,” Hsu said. “Then we introduce variations and our original works to demonstrate the wonderful versatility of the style.” The troupe has also been invited to ­perform at Taipei Children’s Arts Festival every summer since 2008, further bolstering its educational campaign.
 
Although ballet remains far from mainstream in Taiwan, the style is ­growing in visibility in the country’s dynamic ­performing arts scene. According to Chao, its rising popularity owes much to the vision of dedicated enthusiasts like Hsu and Lee. “Cultivating an outstanding ballet dancer is challenging, and ­producing an original ballet is even more so,” the scholar said. “TCB’s devotion to ­raising the profile of ballet in Taiwan over the past three decades is truly extraordinary.”

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw