Young Paiwan Aborigines from Pingtung County will take center stage at the National Concert Hall in Taipei tonight and tomorrow to perform Story of the Daughter of the Sun (太陽的女兒), the second musical program in the this year’s Taiwan International Festival of Arts.
The performers are students from the Taiwu Elementary School in Pingtung County’s Taiwu Township (泰武) who belong to the Taiwu Children’s Ancient Ballads Troupe (泰武古謠傳唱), as well as elders of the Puljetji community.
The troupe, which was founded in 2004 by Camake Valaule, a teacher at the school, specializes in traditional Paiwan songs. It has toured internationally and won a few Golden Melody Awards for its albums.
Photo courtesy of Tang Chien-che
Paiwan mythology says that the Paiwan are descendants of the sun. Traditionally, the Puljetji community’s leadership has been passed down to the eldest child of the leader, be it a boy or a girl, who is then known as the “son of the sun” or “daughter of the sun.”
Camake teamed up with theater director Wei Ying-chuan (魏瑛娟), the founder of the Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters (莎的劇團) troupe; film director Chen Hung-i (陳宏一) and installation artist Wang Te-yu (王德瑜) to create a multi-media production that tells the life story of the “Daughter of the Sun” through a mix of songs, traditional rituals and modern imagery.
The show runs 85 minutes without intermission, and the Concert Hall has warned that latecomers will not be admitted. There will be Chinese subtitles for the songs.
■ Tonight and tomorrow at the National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳), 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei City (台北市中山南路21-1號)
■ Tickets are NT$700 to NT$2,000; available through NTCH ticketing, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and convenience store ticketing kiosk. Tomorrow night’s show is sold out.
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