The Paper Windmill Theatre ended a five-year run of performances dedicated to children living in 319 remote townships throughout the country, with a performance in New Taipei City (新北市) on Saturday.
The troupe’s final outdoor performance, at Wanli Elementary School, drew an audience of about 6,000 people, some of whom came from as far afield as Penghu and Kinmen.
The play included a story about Don Quixote and had segments with music, dance and a multimedia show aimed at teaching young children to be courageous when pursuing their dreams and to cultivate their love of the arts.
Lee Yung-feng (李永豐), chief executive of the Paper Windmill Cultural Foundation, who initiated the tour five years ago, cried and hugged people when the last performance ended, saying that “it [the project] was simply too hard. I will [finally] be able to sleep soundly tonight.”
The tour, called “First Mile, Kid’s Smile: Arts for Children in 319 Townships,” was aimed at bridging the cultural gap between rural and urban areas, and ensuring that every child in the nation had the opportunity to enjoy a live theatrical performance.
The troupe staged performances in any township that could raise NT$350,000 (US$11,600) from individuals and corporations. It did not accept any funds from the government for the tour.
During the past five years, the troupe raised NT$200 million through donations from more than 26,000 people.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS