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Since 1999, the society has held “Piano Improvisation Recital by Little Dalcrozians” on a yearly basis. The first recital, held in January 10, 1999, was divided into three acts with the participation of 123 little Dalcrozians. The program of original piano composition and piano improvisation included Variations, Works for Solo Piano, Piano Duet, Four-Hand, Six-Hand, Eight-Hand, Twelve-Hand, Piano and Recorder Duet, Piano and Violin Duet, Music Story and Drama with Piano Improvisation, and a movement piece demonstrating Plastique Animée. The recital gave our little Dalcrozians an opportunity to display their excellence. The recital was received warmly and enthusiastically by an audience of 400 members.
The piano improvisation recital in 2001, a year the recital was led by Anne Farber, was outstanding. Using the Chinese version of “Happy New Year” as its musical theme, Anne’s recitalists took the audience on a world-wind tour of musical history with improvisational compositions in the style of the Baroque, Romantic, Impressionism, and such modern forms as Ragtime, Jazz, and the Blues.
In 2006, the First Dalcroze Plastique Animée Performance in Taipei and Taichung was led by professor Anetta Pasternak, and her students- Anna Dziurdzia, Katarzyna Kiwior and Anna Pustelak from Poland. The performance combined new music, such as the works of Olivier Messiaen, Wojciech, Niedziela, Laurie Schwartz, Witold Lutoslawski and Chopin’s music, using prepared music, and improvisations in vocals, piano and accordion. Over eight hundred audience members in Taipei and Taichung attended the two wonderful recitals.
Approximately seventy performers attended the Second Dalcroze Piano Improvisation and Plastique Animée Performance in Taipei and Hsinchu in 2007. This performance featured Dr. Stephen Moore’s piano improvisation, a duo with both the former president of NHCUE, Michael H.C. Tseng and M.D. Chih-Jen Cheng, piano and instruments ensemble improvisations, Plastique Animée and musical play. Audiences of more than nine hundred attended these two extraordinary performances in Taipei and Hsinchu.
At the 34th International Dalcroze Congress 2007 at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, Genève, we performed two original works “Pachelbel’s Canon” and “Le Papillon”. The “Pachelbel’s Canon” used Chinese props, such as paper umbrellas, sleeves, and flower baskets to show the phrasing in conversation and canon form. At the end of the piece, the ten performers used body movements to write the strokes of the Chinese Calligraphy word “嬉” (play) simultaneously with the visual screen in this familiar piece. The piano and xylophone improvised play the canon phrasing with colored ribbons and diabolo.
At the 2008 Dalcroze Eurhythmics International Conference, Tokyo, Japan, we presented the Piano Improvisation and Plastique Animée work “The Adventure of the Little Raindrop”. This work was performed by fourteen young students embodying the characters of raindrops, rainbows, fishes, tadpoles, fogs, dragonflies, the sun, gray veil, and lightning. Each dancer played improvised music in turns on two grand pianos, showcasing four-hand, six-hand, eight-hand, twelve-hand, and duet pianos.
After a year and nine months of organization and preparation, with the participation of 118 young Dalcrozians, we finally produced the concert, “The Creative Land of Dalcroze Interdisciplinary Performances” at Taipei City Hall, Taipei Council for Cultural Affairs Auditorium, 2009. The concert program included six works: “The Flying Dream of a Small Firecracker Seed”, “The Daring Journey of Three Pinochios”, “Olympic”, “The Smiling Angel”, “The Adventure of the Little Raindrop”, and “Kind Intention to Existence”. The main theme, “Kind Intention to Existence”, presented music both as a fundamental element and as a partner with the performing arts and visual effects. This concert is dedicated to our late supervisor Ms. Chia-Ling Wu, who passed away on August 22nd, 2006, as well as to Mr. Ching-Tien Tseng, who fought bravely against serious illness since May of 2008, yet unfortunately passed away on October 16th, 2009.
In July 5th 2011, I was invited by the 8th Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research held in Taipei to give a workshop【Plastique Animée in Dalcroze Approach】and also presented three plastique animées “Humoresque” by Dvořák, “The Grasshopper Teases the Rooster,” and “The Cold Pouring Rain” by 52 young students.
This summer, I am leading a group of 28 young students and teachers to attend RHYTHMIK 100 HELLERAU International Rhythmics Workshop Dalcroze 2011. I was honored to be invited to give a workshop, speech, and to present an original plastique animée and instruments improvisation work, “Formosa 100”. “Formosa 100” presents a vibrant and energetic impression of Taiwan - the land, the culture, the civilization, the arts. This multi-media musical suite contains eight scenes: Loving the Year Round, Grasshopper Teases the Rooster, Egrets, Moonlight, Raining Scene, In the Cold Pouring Rain, South of the Border, and Endless Happiness. Included here are Taiwanese folk tunes, Hakka songs, Mandarin songs, and Taiwanese Aboriginal singing. The performance depicts the special characteristics of the nature and climate of Taiwan, featuring personified animals such as egrets, fireflies, butterflies, water buffalo, and grasshoppers. In addition it offers a look at some cultural and industrial scenes in modern Taiwan.
The core of Formosa 100 is music, but it also incorporates dance and new media as collaborative elements. These include the use of music- painting works, vivid photographic (and/or painting) elements, video clips of Taiwanese cultural scenes, and original paper-cut works by the Little Dalcrozians. In addition, a logo to celebrate both the one hundred years of establishment of Republic of China (government in Taiwan) and the one hundred year anniversary of Institut Rhythmik Hellerau e.V. was designed. Furthermore, other elements such as Hakka style patterned fabric, the use of analysis of compositions as choreography elements, the inspiration from children's toy and playfulness, and chorus staging are utilized in the performance. “Formosa 100” is a multi-disciplinary collaboration visually (photography, paper-cut works, and music-painting works), musically (piano duet and four-hand improvisation, cello, violin, and Chinese instruments zhongruan and erhu improvised playing and singing), performance (musical, Plastique Animée, and improvisational dance), and new media live interaction.
The many Dalcroze presentations in Taiwan in the 21st century have been creative and vivacious, just like the Bougainvillea flowers, blooming vividly all year round, as well as like the Chinese Juniper trees, providing cooling shade and everlasting fragrance. Thus, the Dalcroze philosophy of creativity in relation to art and performance, in technology and life continues to honor and nourish our rich cultural heritage.
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