Councilors and young people chided the Taipei City Government earlier this week for wasting taxpayers’ money by botching a plan to designate venues where people could practice street dancing.
A recent survey by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), found people were unaware that the city government had set aside venues — two outdoors and two indoors — for dance practice.
Wang said she conducted the survey among 200 street dance enthusiasts, all under the age of 30, and 93 percent of respondents indicated that “Taipei City lacks specific venues for people to practice street dance” and said they often were unable to find a suitable place for such activities.
The city government’s venues are an outdoor site at the southeast corner of Taipei City Government headquarters, a spot underneath Xinsheng Expressway, an area in Taipei Main Station’s underground shopping corridor and the Jazz Plaza (爵士廣場) at Zhongshan Underground Shopping Street.
“Among the street dancers surveyed, only 0.57 percent have used the venue near the city government and only 1.72 percent had used the one underneath Xinsheng Expressway,” Wang said.
In response, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government has much room to improve and more effort is needed.
Hau said he asked the city’s Department of Sports to form a special task force to integrate the relevant agencies and resources, and to consult with street dance groups on their needs.
“If the requirements fall under the city government’s jurisdiction, we will coordinate efforts to provide spaces for these groups to use,” the mayor said.
The survey found that the most common problems were an inability to find a place for dance practice, a lack of air conditioning, the absence of full-length mirrors and a lack of electrical outlets.
Wang said that about 40 percent of the respondents said Taipei’s designated venues are “unfriendly,” as only one has the mentioned amenities.
She demanded that the city government work on improving and managing the venues, and fostering a healthy environment to promote street dance culture in Taipei.
A teen girl surnamed Liu (劉), a high-school dance club member, said the city government has done little to publicize the availability, as she and her friend were not aware of the two outdoor venues.
“The senior members of our club had always held practice in the corridors of the National Theater and Concert Hall, and at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall,” Liu said.
“These places do not have air conditioning or electricity outlets, but at least we can stay out of the sun and rain. Many other school clubs also practice at these two places, so we could hang out and learn from each other,” she added.
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