Becoming an adult is an important rite of passage in any culture. In Chinese culture, turning 20 marks the transition to the adult world. The celebrated Zen drumming performance group U-Theatre turns 20 this year and the company has come up with an unusual way of celebrating with its fans, supporters and everyone else in Taiwan and yet keeping to its austere meditation-oriented image. It's going on a walkabout.
A very long walk. Around Taiwan.
Fifty days, 100 townships, 1,200km, plus about 30 performances big and small along the way. After all, this is a company whose motto could be summed up as "no pain, no gain."
The company, founded by Liu Ruo-yu (劉若瑀), is internationally renowned for its drumming, thanks to the work of drumming master and musical director Huang Chih-chun (黃誌群).
In Taiwan, it is also known for taking very long walks. In 1996, the troupe walked from Kenting to Taipei, a 28-day journey. The following year, they walked from Ilan to Taipei. In 2003, they went to Tibet, where they walked the traditional pilgrims' path to and around Mount Kailash, the mountain revered by Hindus, Buddhists and others as the heart of the universe.
Company manager Ken Kuo (郭耿甫) said he was in Singapore in January when he got the idea of staging a birthday walk.
"I was checking my e-mail and the Internet and saw the news that some people were walking in Taiwan [for the Democratic Progressive Party]," he said in an interview on March 15. "But our walk will be very different. We will bring our drums; we want to make connections - for the environment, for education - to inspire people."
"The first two walks were quiet; we just stayed in temples. Now we are an adult, we want to do something for the people, to make a bigger sound this time," he said.
The company hopes its walk will help inspire people to make a commitment to improve their lives, their communities, the country, to show they care. U-Theatre wants to show people that there are some things they can devote their time to, their lives to, he said.
"All the people are doing this to make Taiwan better. We want to use the 50 days to tell people 'just do it,'" Kuo said, using the catchphrase made famous by Nike.
So U-Theatre has invited its friends and fans to join the troupe on the walk, either for a few hours, a few days, or for a hardy few (the limit is 10) the entire 50 days. Kuo said the best leg for people who want to join the walk would be the fourth section from Hualien to Taitung.
"There is little traffic, the landscape is better, so we are open for people to join us for four or five days there. There is a charge of NT$500 per day to cover the cost of food and accommodation," Kuo said. "Or they can come and walk for just a little while."
The company will post the starting point for each day's walk on its Web site (www.utheatre.org.tw), although only on the Chinese-language page.
U-Theatre has had a relatively short period of time to pull this project together, but Kuo said people and companies around the country have been calling up with offers to help.
"We got a lot of phone calls, lots of people saying they want to help, offering free accommodation, like a B&B [bed-and-breakfast] in Hualien, or offering to arrange the food. People have also volunteered to find sponsors for the walk or offered to drive the support vehicles," he said.
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