australia and taiwan dancing together

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DANCE COLLECTIONS '97

AUSTRALIA AND TAIWAN DANCING TOGETHER

Featuring Dancers from

the Tsoying School, Kaoshiung and the QUT Academy of the Arts Dedicated to Tsai Jui-yueh and Lee Tsai-er

Tuesday July 29 to Saturday August 2

INTRODUCTION

BY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUSAN STREET.

Welcome to Dance Collections 1997. We are delighted to present this joint season with the Tsoying Dance School from Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Our friendship with Tsoying dates back to 1993 when the QUT Academy of the Arts performed with Tsoying on the same program at the Japan and Asia Dance Event in Tokyo. Last year, seventeen dance students and three staff visited Kaohsiung to perform and this year marks the culmination of our cultural exchange project.

We have dedicated this season to two eminent Taiwanese dance pioneers. Ms Tsai, now resident in Australia, pioneered choreography and the teaching of dance in Taiwan. Ms Lee who has also made a significant contribution to the development of dance in Taiwan, has travelled to Australia with the Tsoying School, and is a colleague and friend of Ms Tsai. We are happy to bring these two great artists together for an Historic Dialogue to talk about their careers in dance. This special event takes place at the QUT Academy on Thursday 31st July, 2.00pm in the Woodward Theatre on Kelvin Grove Campus.

We have much to learn from each other and that is what has made this cultural exchange such a wonderful experience for staff and students alike.

On behalf of the University I thank the many people who have helped us to achieve the goals of this project. Please enjoy the evening.

Associate Professor Susan Street Head of Dance

INTRODUCTION - TSOYING HIGH SCHOOL

Nestled at the foot of Mount Ban-Ping (in suburban Kaohsiung) is the internationally renowned Tsoying High School. In the summer of 1984 the first Dance Division was established to nurture the talent of young Taiwanese students.

Students study dance alongside their academic studies. Practical studies include training in ballet, modern dance and traditional Chinese operatic movement. To enrich their learning students also study music and arts appreciation.

The aim of the school is to provide an integrated dance education which allows the effective transition from high school to that of university dance studies.

The Dance Division has established an outstanding reputation, not only in the region but internationally for the artistic and technical standard of its graduates.

This program is proudly sponsored by the

Cultural Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia

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Tsai Jui-yueh

Tsai Jui-yueh has created more than 1,000 works in various styles throughout her distinguished career. She went to Japan during World War 2, where she trained with Ishii Baku and Ishii Midori, graduating to perform with both their companies. Ms Tsai gained much experience in over 1,000 performances given in Japan, China and Indochina.

Highlights ofMs Tsai's career include:

1946 establishing the Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Institute;

1953 foundation ofthe ChinaDance Arts Institute in Taipei; 1956 performed for the King and Queen of Thailand; the promotion of western ballet in Taiwan, including The Dying Swan in 1946, Les Sylph ides and her own Cleopatra in 1965;

teaching in high schools and universities throughout Taiwan; commissions of large scale dance productions for the Taiwanese Foreign Affairs Office; 1960 invitation as exchange Professor at the Tokyo Dance School; performance at the International Dance Conference in Tokyo;

appointments to many official cultural committees.

Ms Tsai received the Taiwanese Prize of Heritage in 1994 from President Li Teng-hui. Now in her seventies, she has passed the tradition of her work to her son Roc Tapeng Lei. Mr Lei recently completed a biography ofMs Tsai's life and times as his thesis for the Master of Fine Arts from QUT.

Lee Tsai-er

Ms Lee was born in 1926 in Ping-tung, the southern city of Taiwan. She studied dance at the Ishii Baku Dance School in Japan from 1939 to 1941 and then joined the Ishii Baku Dance Company. In the same year, she won the first prize in the Dance Competition of Japan and returned to her hometown to set up the Lee Tsai-er Dance Studio. Five years later, the studio expanded to Kaohsiung. Since handing charge ofher school to her son in 1974, she has continued to perform and

choreograph.

In 1982, Ms Lee established the Kaohsiung Dance Association which she lead for six years. The Kaohsiung City Goverment recognised her achievements in 1991 by awarding her with the Chinese Artistic Heritage Prize.

In her seventies and after dancing for more than 50 years, Ms Lee still performs solo works requiring technical virtuosity. Her vigorous practice routines sometimes concern the younger generation in her studio. Ms Lee says that her brain is like a computer. The input of the

foundation training with Ishii Baku, dances from Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, Chinese Opera and contemporary influences fuse to create her unique style.

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QUT ACADEMY OF THE ARTS- DANCE STAFF

Head of Dance - Associate Professor Susan Street Bachelor of Arts (Dance) Coordinator Kristen Bell

Lecturers in Dance

Part-time Lecturers

Guest Lecturers

Accompanists

Physiotherapist Costumier

Shaaron Boughen

Susan Caulfield-Leclercq Janet Donald

Evan Jones John Utans Angela Anderson Fiona Cullen Leah Doherty

Dianna Laska-Moore Elizabeth Prenzler Judith Smith

Dawn Albinger Rosetta Cook Cathy James Dale Johnson Heather Keens Yvonne Kower Wendy Laraghy Peter Luton Jean Tally Reg Black Lovina Dickens Gary Dionysius Stephen Francis

Cheryl Ellison Marlene Lind

Sanford McMurry Harold Collins Morag Morrison Lisa O'Neill John O'Connell Nigel Peam

Shay Ryan Garry Stewart

David Muller Matthew Rofe Victor Wang

TSOYING HIGH SCHOOL STAFF

Principal

Director of Dance Division Chinese Dance Teacher Dance Teachers

Chen Shaw-Zen Chou Su-Ling Chiang Ka-Lee

SuWen Liang Ling

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PROGRAM

Wu HwaWu Dan

Choreography Kou Hsiu-hua

Music Lee Chen-Kue Tain Duen

Performed by Tsoying Students

The Dream of a Child

Choreography Leon Koning

Music Eugene Y saye

Performed by Tsoying Students

Continuum

(created 1988)

Choreography Shaaron Boughen

Music John Adams

Designer Mark Bailey

Performed by Academy Dance Students

The First Blush

Choreography Danna Frangione

Music Bach

Performed by Tsoying Students

Playing Possum

Choreography John Utans

Music The Golden Palaminos

Performed by Academy Dance Students

1-Mong Folk Dance

Choreography Kon Ho-ping

Music San-dong Folk Song

Omr Faruk Tekbilek

Performed by Tsoying Students

INTERVAL 15 MINUTES

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Encounter

Choreography Music

Performed by

PROGRAM

Susan Street

Duffey Collective

Academy Dance & Tsoying Students

Figures in a Landscape II

Choreography Harold Collins

Music

Performed by

Broken Promises

Choreography Music

Performed by

Folk Feat

Choreography Music

Performed by

FINALE

Richard Meale

Academy Dance Students

Su An-li

Robert Anell, Delmar Brown, Michael Askill

& Omar Faruk Tekbilek Tsoying Students

Dianna Laska-Moore

Traditional - French/Canadian

Academy Dance Students

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QUT Dance Students

Associate Degree (Dance) 1st Year Alicia Adsett

Olivia Ansell Victoria Corcoran K.risty-Lee Crane Kate Fitzgerald Kerri Hammond Tara Hickey Lee Dong Huan Anna Lind TzuChunKo Ko Pei Lin Timothy Ohl David Rusterholtz Gavin Thorley Steven Watson Georgia Webb

Caroline Wongsosaputro Julie Wright

Associate Degree (Dance) 2nd Year Shannon Anderson

Greg Cathcart Sung Yu Chen Fang-Ju Chou Joel Corpuz Melissa Hart Melanie Hornick PhoebeKam Cameron Lang Shao-I Lee Danielle Lugton Nicole McCreedy Joanna McMenamin ShonaRye

Samuel Scheggetman Tyson Sofo

Emma Strapps Yalan Tang

Stewart Thistlethwaite Hsiao-Lan Wang Emily Warhurst

Bachelor of Arts (Dance)- Performance 2nd Year

Yolande Brown Joseph Lau Jason Wellington

Bachelor of Arts (Dance)- Performance 3rd Year

Stephenie Cummins Kathy Newton Amy Cupitt Leanne Youl

Tsoying High School Students

Male

Yu Chien-hung Chen Chun-li Lin Li-chuang Hong Kang-chien

Female Chen Ya-lei Lin Yueh-hsiu Ko Pei-chun Tsai Yu-chi Chang Ya-wen Chen Po-chien Shen Yi-wen Tung I-fen Huang Shu-lin Huang Chien-hui Yu Tsai-hsuan Huang Hsiang-mei Pan Chien-yi

australia and taiwan dancing together

DANCE COLLECTIONS '97