ABSTRACT
Turning back the pages of Taiwan’s modern dance reveals an interesting history. In the late 1930s, Taiwanese dancers went to Japan in succession to study Western classical ballet and modern dance. After their return, they responded to the government’s order to ‘promote the national culture’. These dancers, who learned Western dance, used Chinese dance elements to choreograph over the next few decades. This was an era when politics manipulated artistic ideology. In the 1960s, several US dance groups visited Taiwan, and sparked a new generation of dancers who studied and developed their art in the US. They also created some outstanding performances there. For example, Yuan Wen-xiu became the principal female dancer in the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, and Hao-Yan You became the first Chinese-Taiwanese dancer in the Martha Graham Dance Company.
