Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe (原舞者) has long played an important role in the renaissance of Aboriginal culture taking place in Taiwan. The troupe's young performers aim to preserve and revive the disappearing songs and dances of their ancestors by exposing audiences to traditional stories and myths.
Tomorrow's performance at Novel Hall (新舞台), however, will take a different approach.
"This is the first time we've used the life of a single person to mount a performance," said Moly Chen (陳孟莉), the troupe's spokeswoman.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF FORMOSA ABORIGINAL SONG AND DANCE TROUPE
Memories of Azalea Mountain pays tribute to Uyongu Yatauyungana (高一生), a musician, educator and politician of the Tsou (鄒族) tribe who is today considered a hero by many.
Another unique feature of this piece is that it includes the music of other cultures. The result is a seamless performance that blends traditional music of an Aboriginal tribe with the compositions of one of its members and places his musical compositions into the greater context of Taiwan's recent history.
The performance, like the last hundred years of Taiwan's history, has Aboriginal, Japanese and Chinese elements. Complementing the performance are American and Latin American songs.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF FORMOSA ABORIGINAL SONG AND DANCE TROUPE
Born a decade after the beginning of Japanese colonization, Yatauyungana studied at Tainan Normal College, where he showed an aptitude for literature and music. After graduating, he worked as a teacher and policeman, all the while composing songs based on the oral myths of his people and learning the popular songs of the island's colonial rulers.
"[Yatauyungana] lived during a time of enormous change in Taiwan," said Chen. "This is reflected in the music used in the performance."
Yatauyungana served as mayor of Wu Fong Township (吳鳳鄉) - since renamed Alishan Township (阿里山) - in 1945, demonstrating his leadership in the community and the respect the Japanese showed him.
Shortly after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) assumed control of the island, Yatauyungana was arrested and jailed during the 228 Incident (二二八事件) because his tribe had trapped a number of KMT soldiers in the Chiayi airport, but also, reportedly, because he promoted the idea of Aboriginal autonomy.
While Yatauyungana was in prison, his daughter Gao Chu-hua (高菊花) supported the family by singing American and Latin music to US soldiers stationed in Taiwan - the reason for infusing the program with these musical elements.
He was later accused of harboring former Tainan County Governor Yuen Kuo-chin (袁國欽), who the KMT considered a communist spy, and was executed in 1954.
Yatauyungana's life was memorialized in a biography published last year by the Council of Cultural Affairs that included his musical works.
Like all of Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe's performances, Memories of Azalea Mountain is based on long-term field observation and participation. Assisted by anthropologists and tribal elders, troupe members and Aboriginal students are dispatched to different villages to study their rituals through the oral tradition.
Since its inception in 1991, the company has toured Taiwan, staging hundreds of performances and holding workshops to spark the interest of young Aboriginal people in traditional dance through reinterpretations and integration with contemporary theatrical elements. The troupe has gained considerable international recognition and has performed at art festivals in the US, Belgium, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong.
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