Lan Yang Dancers Troupe, the People’s Diplomacy

Beicheng Catholic Church, a county monument in Yilan County, is the birth place of the Lan Yang Dancers Troupe. Father Michelini was there for seven years and in 1966 established the Luobei Catholic Youth Education and Music Center (currently the Lan Yang Youth Catholic Center). At the beginning, they held classes and summer camps for folk dances, physical education, art, national music and other interests, opening the trend of art and culture in Luodong and Yilan areas. 

Unfortunately, under the restriction of space and budget, many activities were discontinued. Nonetheless, the dance classes were preserved during this difficult circumstance. Not only because of the outstanding performance of the children, but also the persisting attitude of Father Michelini, “learning to dance can nurture an independent personality and expand the horizon. Folk dance is absolutely one of the most beautiful form of art in the world.” At that time, to encourage the children to learn dancing, not only classes are offered for free, Michelini even took the students home on his bicycle after class.

With continued perseverance and sincerity, the dancers troupe started to grow in size and reputation in Yilan and Luodong. But Michelini was not complacent; he wanted to spread the Taiwanese art of dancing overseas to all nations.

“Even though I am like a traveler in Taiwan, I know how important. It is like the life of a nation. Pitifully, many foreigners don’t know Taiwan,” said Michelini, recalling his conviction back in those years. Therefore, beginning in 1974, he started planning overseas performing tours for Lan Yang. Taiwan was in a difficult moment for its withdrawal from the UN, making it hard even to apply for a passport and entry permit. “After that performance, I went to Taipei from Luodong everyday to apply for a passport and almost nobody helped me,” Michelini said with a sigh. Finally, through mediation and assistance from the church we broke through the difficulty in foreign affairs and were summoned by the Pope to go to Vatican. Therefore, we became the first Taiwanese dancers troupe to perform in Italy. 

In 2010, at an old age of 75, 44 years has gone by since Michelini established the troupe. Lan Yang has accumulated over a thousand sessions of performance inside and outside of the country and become a landscape of art on the Lanyang plain that cannot be ignored. Even at this moment, he has no plans to stop. He is working with the library of National Chiao Tung University to put these diversely composed folk dances that capture the life and culture of Taiwan into digital archives, giving new life to folk dancing.   

Lan Yang rehearsal in the 1970’s.

Princess Kavalan, a Dance of Lan Yang Spirit

Chen Hui-Ru is the Artistic Director of Lan Yang Dancers Troupe and a member of the fifth year of troupe. In fact she once left Lan Yang to go to school in Taipei and returned to her hometown to serve because of a phone call from Lan Yang. “I only left Lan Yang when I went to Taipei to attend college. After graduation, the administrative personnel from Lan Yang called me up and asked about my future plans. I decided immediately to come back and help out.” Chen Hui-Ru recounted the process of returning to Lan Yang with excitement.

Memories from past performances were deeply engraved in her. “We once went to Europe for three months. I was in fifth grade of elementary school. We always returned triumphantly: the high officials of the county government would summon us and the school would praise us. To me it was like brining glory to the country,” said Chen Hui-Ru as she retrieved the memories. She has kept all the documents for going out of country and also the news clips her parents organized for her. Today, her job is not only choreography. She not only needs to complete the preservation and organization of her memories, but also supervising her colleagues to carry out digital archiving of the history of the entire Lan Yang Dancers Troupe.   

The backstage of Princess Kavalan performance. The little performers are helping each other get ready.

Since 1993, Lan Yang Dancers has started to try to closely integrate the content of dances and local history and culture. In 1999, Lan Yang finished their first ever large-scale mythological ballet “Princess Kavalan”, which depicts the beautiful folk legends spread on the Lanyang Plain. The main performers put on the names of places in Yilan. The setting is the scenery of the Lanyang Plain. The music incorporated local elements, including tones of folk opera and songs of the aborigines. Through the body language of the dancers, the legends were adapted into a ballet that moves human hearts. For both Chen Hui-Ru and Lan Yang, it was an important milestone. “I also personally participated in the ballet. The main characters were teachers of Lan Yang, who were once students of Lan Yang, performing with the students then on the stage. This inheritance is the spirit of Lan Yang.” Chen Hui-Ru spoke tirelessly on the importance of inheritance. 

At present time, the ballet is available for viewing on the Internet. Through digitizing these materials, Chen Hui-Ru hopes to help those studying Taiwanese dance gain new knowledge and also pass on the spirit of Lan Yang Dancers Troupe. “For the dances, Lan Yang has always been conducting topical research and collection on different ethnic groups. I am very familiar with Lan Yang’s operation in latter times. When conducting digital archiving, if I can across windows in earlier period of time, I will consult with the early members and Father.” Because of doing digital archiving, Chen Hui-Ru is able to review the past and learn new material. Through the operation of the website, Lan Yang expected to hold a 45^th anniversary celebration in 2011, collect more literature and information related to Lan Yang, and gather all the members who had had sweated in the dance room to re-experience the spirit of Lan Yang through the use of digital technology.    

Stills from “Princess Kavalan”.

Old Members Collaborate on Literary Materials

To cooperate with a dancers troupe that takes importance in the spirit of inheritance and has rich ethnic characteristics, the first step for National Chiao Tung University is to tackle the obstacle of distance. “Although all the materials were in Yilan, there was a Lan Yang colleague living in Hsinchu. Therefore we at first asked the Lan Yang colleague to pass on materials. Later on, it became difficult to schedule meeting times. We had Lan Yang to mail packages directly to the University or had the project team pick them up when they happened to be going to Yilan,” said project director Huang Ming-Ju.  In the past, all the pictures from their rehearsals and performances are put in huge album without labeling with relevant information. The project team followed the Metadata bibliographic manual and put the files in order. After coding and sorting, they created a list and let Lan Yang confirm the accuracy thereof. In addition, materials like framed posters, sets, and costume were re-photographed digitally at Taipei Lan Yang Catholic Cultural Center or Lan Yang Youth Catholic Center. Huang Ming-Ju expressed that “regarding the Metadata and how to set the fields, we fill them out first and then they verify. Fortunately some of their very first members are in charge of administrative work. Some 80-year-old master is still sewing costumes. For questions regarding historical traces, the old members or Father Michelini can answer from their memories.” In the future, besides making the information easier to find after management, the work process will also allow Lan Yang understand the concept and significance of the process of digitization.

Of course it is inevitable for the project team to visit Yilan and Luodong personally to see the preserved environment and condition with their own eyes. It is yet another obstacle to overcome. “The first priority for Lan Yang is absolutely performing. To organize materials requires a lot of time and manpower. Our assistants went and searched through their storage and found some of the costumes had gotten moldy. Sets made of fabric were in worse condition that they were stained by paint powder. The old photos also had a strong smell of mildew. Huang Ming-Ju described the process of organizing and cleaning as though housewives doing the end-of-year big cleaning. Although Lan Yang has a physical environment for storage, the rainy and humid climate makes it difficult to preserve anything. They have done their best and put in all they can to organize and preserve. After 45 years, many collected items have suffered slight damages, nevertheless, they are in pretty good condition overall. In fact, Lan Yang has their own concept for preserving props, costume, and literature, organized according to the name of the shows. To reduce damage of collection after digitization, the use of acid-free paper packaging and anti-humidity storage cabinets are included in the future planning of the project team. 

Costume shot of “Dunhuang Silk Dance” and shooting records.