Liam kua (說唱) performer Yang Hsiu-ching (楊秀卿) and Neo-Classic Dance Company founder Liu Feng-hsueh (劉鳳學) yesterday were announced as the winners of the 40th National Cultural Awards.
Born in 1934 in then-Taipei County, Yang lost her vision as a child as a result of delayed medical treatment, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.
Raised by adoptive parents who were professional singers in Keelung, she began performing liam kua — a traditional art form that combines narrative singing with folk music — at the age of 11, it said.
Photo courtesy of the National Center for Traditional Arts
An adolescent Yang performed near Taipei Circle (臺北圓環) and would draw on her surroundings to create stories, it added.
She began recording programs in 1969 and, at the height of their popularity, they were broadcast by 53 radio stations, the ministry said.
Yang started teaching in 1983, and in 2010 established the King Yang Liam-Kua Group to pass down the traditional art form, it said.
She appeared in the 2017 film The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (血觀音), and performed at the 2019 Presidential Office concert, it added.
Liu, who was born in 1925, learned classical ballet at an early age, before being exposed to Aboriginal dance in the 1950s, the ministry said.
She studied dance in Japan from 1965 to 1966, and in 1976 founded the Neo-Classic Dance Company, it said.
Liu in 1987 became the first person in Taiwan to earn a doctorate in dance, it added.
Liu has had a significant impact on dance education in Taiwan, and has contributed greatly to the development of its performing arts and culture, the ministry said.
Yang and Liu have previously been awarded the National Culture and Arts Foundation’s National Award for Arts, it said.
Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) called the two recipients to congratulate them on their achievement, it added.
“The outstanding performances of the two honorees in the fields of traditional art and performance have profoundly contributed to the promotion and exchange of our nation’s culture,” Lee said.
The National Cultural Award is the highest cultural honor awarded by the government.
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