Riding on the success of an innovative temple fair dance during the opening ceremony of the Kaohsiung World Games, the Kaohsiung City Government is planning to promote the dance at the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the biggest arts festival in the world.
The innovative temple fair dance involves “seven-star” steps that were traditionally danced by Taoist deity sedan-chair carriers during religious festivals and are accompanied by loud traditional temple tunes and neon lights.
The dance was billed by the city government as the “Taike Dance” because of the strong Taiwanese folklore characteristics surrounding it, said Shih Che(史哲), director-general of the city government’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
The bureau is planning to organize a “Taike Dance” company, which will train regularly so that it can represent Kaohsiung City at the next Edinburgh Festival Fringe next August, Shih said.
To attract further interest, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) is inviting people to join her for a record-setting event where it is hoped some 100,000 people will take part in a “Taike Dance” at Kaohsiung’s Lotus Pond at 2pm on Sunday, Shih said.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash