AIT and Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau Present Free U.S. Modern Dance Performance in Taichung

PR0821E | Date: 2008-04-15

The American Institute in Taiwan is honored to join the Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau in presenting a modern dance performance in Taichung featuring the Battery Dance Company of New York City.   It is co-sponsored by the Council for Indigenous Peoples of the Executive Yuan.  The performance will take place at Taichung City's Chung Shan Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday May 1.  Admission is free, and tickets are available beginning 9:00 a.m., Thursday, April 17.

The Battery Dance Company, which visited Taiwan in 2006, returns to perform "Moving Spirit."   Their style of modern dance features uniquely eclectic and highly original choreography and music.  It is inspired by worldwide sources and reflects the diversity of cultures that make up American society.  The company is currently touring South Korea, Laos, Burma, and Mongolia.

In addition to the Battery dancers, 18 student dancers from the award-winning Szu Chen Junior High School Aboriginal Dance Team in Taichung County will perform.  For two full days, the aboriginal student dancers will work with the Battery dancers in an international cultural exchange program entitled "Dancing to Connect."  They will present a completely new dance, which will be student-created and student-performed, special and unique.

Jonathan Hollander, artistic director of the Battery Dance Company, says, "our job is to dance, to perform, to communicate, to teach and to facilitate the art of dance - and the lines of demarcation between cultures fall away as soon as the music and dance begins."

This American cultural program is made possible by the contributions of the In One City Inn in Taichung, the Taipei World Trade Center's International Trade Building, and Compass Magazine.

For free tickets, contact:

• Information Desk, Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau
• 600, Ying-cai road, Taichung
• Tel: 04-2372-7311 ext. 366 or 359 (Maximum four tickets per person.)
• 8:00 am - 9:00 pm, Tuesday to Sunday (closed Monday)

• Information Desk, Taichung City Chung Shan Hall
• 98, Xue-shih Road, Taichung
• Tel: 04-2230-3100

AIT has produced a multimedia website with high-resolution photo downloads, video clips and detailed descriptions of the dance companies and the performance.   www.ait.org.tw/events/BatteryDance2008

Members of media interested in covering the performance, interviewing the artistic director or performers, or obtaining high-resolution photos, please contact:

Jewel Huang, AIT Public Affairs Section, Tel: 02-2162-2035 Jerry Lin, the Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tel: 04-2372-7311 ext. 359