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Taiwan's indigenous choreographer lends hand to typhoon-hit hometown
2009/10/15 17:20:36 |
Bulareyaung Pagarlava has traveled far as an internationally recognized choreographer, but for villagers in the tribal community of Chialan Village in the eastern Taiwan's Taitung County, the young man, who grew up in the village, remains very close to them because he has never hesitated to contribute to his hometown.
The 35-year-old young artist of Paiwan tribe - one of 14 tribes of indigenous Austronesians in Taiwan - has long been devoted to his childhood community. His devotion was further demonstrated recently during the disaster brought by Typhoon Morakot, which struck Taiwan in early August, bringing the worst flooding and mudslides the island has seen in 50 years.
Bulareyaung and his partner Fang-yi Sheu - a highly acclaimed dancer - were working with dancers of the dance company they founded - LAFA and Artists Company - on Aug. 8 when the shocking scenes of floods washing away half of Chialan Village appeared on TV.
"I was not aware of it until after the rehearsal when I checked my cell phone and found numerous text messages from friends, including my teacher Lin Hwai-min of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, inquiring about the safety of my family there," Bulareyaung told Central News Agency, remembering the day that Typhoon Morakot's floods and mudslides brought deadly disaster to many regions in Taiwan.
"Seeing the heartbreaking scenes on TV, Fang-yi and I decided to visit my hometown and bring to my villagers the best support we can offer," he said.
Bulareyaung and Fang-yi, who was principle dancer at the Martha Graham Dance Company and has been constantly invited to perform in dance festivals in the United States and Europe, founded the LAFA in May 2007 in Taipei.
Despite the company being relatively young, its productions, such as "37 Arts" and "Single Room," have already been well received in international dance festivals in the past two years, though the founders' finances are far from sufficient in managing a dance company.
Having contacted his father who was evacuated with other villagers and being told that the villagers were safe, Bulareyaung and Fang-yi started collecting clothing and other supplies and sending them to Chialan Village.
Meanwhile, they were seeking ways to raise funds for the typhoon victims.
"We were rehearsing for the Taipei Arts Festival in September. Fang-yi and I decided that in addition to the three performances scheduled for September 4-6, we would present an extra performance in the evening of Sept. 6 to raise funds for the villagers," Bulareyaung said.
At the charity performance in Taipei, LAFA dancers presented the Bulareyaung choreographed "Lamentation", in addition to their regular repertoire "Ode to Joy".
The 15-minute production was derived from a four-minute piece of "Lamentation Variations," which Bulareyaung choreographed for the Martha Graham Dance Company's 2009 season presentations in New York in May.
On the night of the charity performance, the small theater of the Wen-Shan Branch of the Taipei Cultural Center was packed with audience members as Fang-yi, Bulareyaung and two other male dancers presented the compelling work in Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.
In New York, Bulareyaung's "Lamentation" moved audiences as the evocation of grief through the movements of the dancers gave them a cathartic experience. The same experience was shared by his countrymen.
After the Taipei charity performance, which raised NT$720,000 (US$22,500) for typhoon victims, the couple traveled to Chialan Village.
"We stayed at Chialan Village from Sept. 9-15, visiting the typhoon victims who were still living in tents set up at an elementary school, distributing supplies and relief money, NT$10,000 for each household, and cheering up the school children in their classrooms," Bulareyaung said.
As a matter of fact, the August calamity was not the first time that Chialan villagers had lost their homes in typhoon and floods. Four years ago when Typoon Haitang hit Taiwan in mid July, 17 houses in the village were washed away by floodwaters, Bulareyaung said.
He added that when Fang-yi and he were received by President Ma Ying-jeou in mid June, he had told the President that the dike the government promised to build to relieve flooding had still not been built yet.
In the latest typhoon, 72 houses were washed away in the village of less than 100 households built on an old river bed.
"The villagers were able to run for their lives on August 8 ... thanks to the timely warning broadcast by the village chief at the wee hours that day," according to Bulareyaung.
A very important task for Bulareyaung and Fang-yi during their week-long stay at Chialan Village was to visit school children and try to cheer them up, as they knew the distressed sentiment among the adults could be contaminating.
The couple taught the kids a few dance moves, and shared with them the importance of having goals and working hard to achieve one's goals.
In recent years, Fang-yi and Bulareyaung have been invited to give speeches at many university campuses not only about their dancing career, but also their strive to achieve their goals in life.
Both Bulareyaung and Fang-yi graduated from the National University of Arts in Taipei.
Upon graduation in 1994, Fang-yi received a full scholarship from the Council for Cultural Affairs to study in the United States. She went to New York and joined the Martha Graham Dance Company the next year. As a principle dancer at the Martha Graham Company, Fang-yi made a name for herself in the artistic circles in New York in the early 2000s. In 2005, she was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine in "25 to Watch," as one of the rising young talents in dancing.
Joining Taiwan's renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre as a soloist after graduating in 1996, Bulareyaung was praised as one of the "brightest stars on stage" by Taiwan's Dance Magazine. In 1998, he received a Performing Arts Fellowship from the Asian Culture Council to conduct advanced studies in New York. Upon returning to Taiwan in 2000, Bulareyaung was invited by Lin Hwai-min, founder of Cloud Gate, to rejoin the company as a dancer and a choreographer.
Over the past few years, the couple has been among the Taiwanese dancers and choreographers with the highest international exposure.
Nonetheless, both Bulareyaung and Fang-yi are always like a son and a daughter living next door to the villagers in Chialan Village.
Their pursuit of dance took them from Taiwan to New York and back. It has been a long struggle, first to explore in a foreign land with limited support, and then to make a difficult decision of giving up what they had achieved overseas and coming home to develop their talents here.
Despite their tight schedule of overseas tours and rehearsals with dancers and musicians, Bulareyaung would spend some time at home four or five times a year.
"The September visit (to Chialan Village) meant a lot to me and LAFA members," Bulareyaung said. "I was told by elders in the village that some teachers in local schools have made Fang-yi and me role models, and we were deeply moved facing the exciting young faces there."
They would have stayed longer, if not for a new project scheduled earlier.
Embracing the world and caring for his native people are equally important for Bulareyaung, because he knows making contributions to his people brings pride not only to himself, but also to his community.
"The elders in the village told us what they appreciate the most is not the money, but the warmth we brought to them."
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