Another two 12-hour days replete with inspiration and testing of limits. We continued on four parallel tracks:
Mayuna and Tadej journeyed out to two schools in the Taichung region, teaching modern dance master classes. Today, they were surprised by the presence of 50 "observers" in addition to the 20 active participants (!) and delighted by the request that they tack on a professional development session for a group of teachers following the class.
Robin and Sean and I took the High Speed Rail with Nick and Su Lee to Kaohsiung. After a drive up into the mountains, we arrived at the Indigenous Peoples' Park to see a brilliant performance of music and dance representative of the 14 tribes of Aboriginal Taiwanese. After a great lunch of Aboriginal specialties, Robin and Sean taught a master class for the same dancers who had performed for us (and 1,000 tourists who had elicited absolutely no response to the phenomenal performance...?!) It was deeply touching to experience the exchange of cultures amongst us throughout the day.
Carmen and Bafana spent a total of 16 hours working with 20 junior high school students at the Szu Chen school. I was lucky to attend the beginning of their Dancing to Connect workshop, and to witness the end of it this evening. All of us were astonished and moved by the creativity of the students and can't wait to hear the audience's response tomorrow night when we will all perform together on the huge and beautiful stage at the Chung Shan Hall. 1,600 tickets have already been claimed and we are expecting an overflow crowd.
Barry spent the day loading into the aforementioned Chung Shan Hall -- befriending and rallying the local tech crew such that by tomorrow night, we'll have the kind of seamless show that he spoils us with everywhere! Go Barry, Go Barry, Go Barry....!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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1 comment:
Dear Jonathan and Company,
What a delicious treat to open up this fortune cookie of a blog and read such wonderful words of wisdom. The site is as beautifully constructed as one of your ballets. In this day and age of nasty blog sites that seek to ridicule and aims to the lowest common demoninator, its just a joy to see your artistry exercised throughout the world. The Battery Dance company is a jewel!!!
Sincerely,
Ron Knoth
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