When not working on award-winning productions, Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe (原舞者) artistic director Faidaw Fagod teaches at a New Taipei City high school to keep the artistic legacy of Aboriginal culture alive.
The troupe, which Fagod cofounded in 1991, derives its culturally authentic performances from meticulous field research that it conducts with Aboriginal elders from the nation’s many Aboriginal communities, New Taipei City Department of Education Commissioner Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said.
Nine years after founding the troupe, Fagod began teaching at Jinshan High School in what was then-Taipei County’s Jinshan Township (金沙) and brings the same energy, drive and attention to detail that characterized his stage work to the classroom, Lin said.
Fagod commutes from Pingtung to New Taipei City by bus every Monday, a schedule that he said often leaves him exhausted.
The school’s Aboriginal arts and performances program teaches traditional songs and dances, provides an immersive environment in which students can learn Aboriginal languages and offers a potential career path for aspiring dancers, he said.
Such programs are crucial to the survival of Aboriginal culture at a time when urban-dwelling Aborigines are increasingly losing touch with their heritage, Fagod said.
When most of his students started the class, they had no functional knowledge of the songs, dances or even the languages of their communities, he said.
Fagod said preserving cultural heritage is like tending a garden.
“Just as the autumn flowers fall to nourish the soil for the trees next spring, accumulated experience becomes culture,” he said.
Lessons begin with singing, followed by dance practice, which emphasizes the precise footwork of traditional dancing, he said.
The dances and songs are sacred to Aboriginal traditions and taking them lightly would be blasphemous, he said.
“Singing should be joyful and the footwork needs to convey a leaping movement,” he said.
Fagod said he also encourages his students to keep up with their coursework.
“Aborigines should not consider ourselves disadvantaged. We must take pride in our identity and be strong. This is the main reason I was inspired to work on passing down our culture,” he said.
Fagod said the classroom is a place for developing dance as a language and a form of artistic expression, adding that he is happy to see that many of his students have become dancers and teachers of the traditional arts.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS