U-Theatre Resides in Taichung to Pass On the Seeds of Culture

(Taiwan Business News) This year the Taichung City Government invited the internationally renowned U-Theatre to serve as artist-in-residence, and held the "2014 Art Long Stay - U-Theatre Cloud Feet Taichung" event, from May 18 to June 3 holding teacher Zen drum experience camps, campus demonstration performances and more in 14 districts of Taichung City, with a large-scale outdoor public performance on May 31 as well, deeply planting the seeds of culture.

The organizing Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau held a press conference yesterday (the 13th) at the Daohe Six Arts Cultural Center, where more than a dozen young U-Theatre performers who had just been admitted to university performed the powerful drum piece "Sudden Rain," after which Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun, City Councilor Liu Shih-chou, Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Yeh Shu-shan, U-Theatre Artistic Director Liu Ruo-yu, U-Theatre Cultural and Arts Foundation Chief Executive Officer Wang Teng-chung, and Daohe Experimental School Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director Chang Li-ming and others jointly struck drums to open the event.

For this event U-Theatre planned four major series of activities: community and campus demonstration performances, Cloud Feet Taichung, teacher Zen drum experience camps, and the large-scale public performance "Sword of the Brave," which will be staged for 20 performances at venues including the Guoguang Village Activity Center in Dali District and the Zhongzheng Memorial Hall in Dajia District. In addition, the "Cloud Feet Taichung" portion of the event is held in conjunction with U-Theatre's "Beautiful Taiwan Heart - Young Drummers Mobile School Project," and will arrive in Taichung City from Nantou County on May 28, opening three days, May 29, 30 and June 1, for the public to take part; the entire event is conducted in silence, in the hope that through walking day after day, participants learn to relax their thoughts and return their minds to simplicity and tranquility.

Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Yeh Shu-shan stated that the purpose of the "Art Long Stay" project is to leave art in Taichung permanently, and therefore this time teacher Zen drum experience camps were held and 12 demonstration performances were staged at schools, in the hope that art may thereby be passed on and take root.