From the splendid dance "The Milk's Sweet Fragrance Drifts Through the Plains" that depicts Mongolian girls carrying salt jars on their heads to the tranquil and graceful dance "The Prairie in My Heart" that displays the dreamlike, vast green land; from the colorful ribbon dance "Myriad Petals Swirling in the Sky" to the dance "Daughter's Red Wine" that describes the young, shy girls south of the Yangtze River; from the whimsical classical ballet "Fairy Maidens" to the Chinese traditional Great Tang Dynasty dance "Rainbow and Feathery Dress Dance," the breathtaking performances and the matchless artistic beauty at the previous two NTDTV galas by Taiwan's National Taiwan University of Arts were wholeheartedly acclaimed by the audience.
The Beautiful and Outstanding Team
Not far from the historical Lin's Garden at Banqiao, the National Taiwan University of Arts is widely admired for upholding pure and profound culture. Having the longest history of teaching fine arts, the National Taiwan University of Arts celebrated its 50th anniversary last October and is ranked the top arts institution in Taiwan. The university has trained many excellent artists and given many wonderful performances at international art festivals in the past 50 years. Its dance department has spared no efforts in promoting the inter-university and international academic and cultural exchanges. It participated in the Hungarian Folk Dance Festival, Nureyev Ballet Competition, British Dance Festival, Poland's International Folk Dance Competition, and South Africa's International Folk Dance Competition.
In 2002, the university became the first Asian university to perform in the American College Dance Festival. Their reputation also drew invitations to perform at the 2004 and 2005 NTDTV galas and its dance troupe shared their artistic beauty and splendor with Chinese audiences around the world.
As to how they train the outstanding dancers in the department, teacher Wang Guangsheng, dean of the dance department and the most senior dance instructor, having hosted several important international dance exchange programs, especially stressed rigorous training and following traditions. She said, "Our students are required to maintain clean classrooms and bathrooms. We like to train our students starting with the mundane aspects of daily life." For the young dancers who are used to the applause amidst camera flashes and who have been pampered since their childhood, it is inconceivable that they personally clean the classrooms, hallways and even the bathrooms. However, Wang added, "We have told their parents that our students must accept such training. If they did not do the cleaning themselves, they would not know how hard it is to maintain a good environment and they would not appreciate the good environment." In addition to the rigorous training, each freshman has a partner from the senior class and such requirements, attitudes and traditions are thus passed on. The students get along very well in addition to excelling in the arts. When you are on the campus, you will see students maintaining the environment at any given time, politely greeting teachers and instructors, and practicing their dance choreography as well. This is not often seen at other universities.
The tenets of the university are "truthfulness, kindness and beauty." It is believed that the intention of the art must be in pursuit of truthfulness and kindness and to create art that moves people with aesthetic beauty. Thus, the moral character of the students is very important.
A Big Family with a Rich Inheritance
During the interview, both teacher Wang Guangsheng and teacher Liu Liying told us, "Our school is just like a big family." Both teachers are not only graduates of the dance department, but also the students of teacher Yao Mingli, who is usually regarded as the "Mother of Taiwan's Ballet." The history of the dance department is like the history of a family.
Teacher Liu Liying, who led the dance troupe to the previous two NTDTV galas overseas, has an extensive background in dance and education. She will once again lead the beautiful dance troupe to perform in the 2006 NTDTV Gala in New York. She is very happy about the invitations from NTDTV and for the opportunity for the university's dance troupe to perform on the international stage. Teacher Liu emphasized that the students for this gala are different from those who performed at the previous ones. This time they have been through a strict screening process and 16 have been selected from 60 students. The competition was fierce. The students were eager to find out whether or not they made the cut.
Teacher Liu shared an anecdote from the performance in last year's gala in New York. Since the university administration placed emphasis on the moral reputation of the school, the students were constantly encouraged to do their best or else the opportunity for their sister or brother students in the future might be compromised. The troupe was invited to perform the dance "Flying Fairy Maidens" in last year's gala. The dance choreography was very difficult and students practiced very hard. After they successfully performed the dance, a gala worker went to teacher Liu in a hurry and told her, "Please go to your students quickly. They are crying and no one knows why." Teacher Liu went there and saw them embracing each other and crying. When they spotted teacher Liu, they all came to ask her, "How was our performance? Did it forfeit the opportunity for our future sister students?" The serious attitude with which these young artists were in pursuit of perfection and art is respectable and endearing.
The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty T.V. and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring "Myths and Legends," NTDTV's Chinese New Year Global Gala. This article is one of a series meant to introduce this unique and important event.
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