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Fire drum circle returns to Huashan

The Sun Son Theater's (身聲演繹社) fire drum circle returns to Huashan this week and next, but it's hard to say if it will ever be the same. The last meeting, for example, was a doozy. Held on the evening of Saturday, June 22 and extending into the wee hours of June 23, it was attended not only by enthusiastic drummers, fire twirlers and party-goers, but also by an undercover camera crew. The blurry and indistinct footage they shot resulted in a day of attacks on the Sun Son theater, the local arts community, Huashan and Taiwan's foreign community by the local cable network Power News and two DPP city councilors. They falsely alleged that Huashan had become a "foreigners' drug paradise," among other things. In the following week, one legislator and a few officials stood up for the beleaguered artists of Sun Son in press conferences and the like, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

And now, out of the ashes, the fire drum circle returns -- to the scene of the crime, as it were. Tonight and tomorrow, as well as next Friday and Saturday, drumming will again be led by Lin Hung-john (林宏章) and Leonson Ng (吳忠良), and the fire will be prepared by fire artist Wu Chung-wei (吳中煒). Unlike last time, however, there will be an admission charge of NT$150. The event will also run earlier, from 4 to 10pm, not all night. That would be suspicious behavior. Huashan is located at 1 Pate Rd., Sec. 1 (八德路一段1號).
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