Friday, August 5, 2005
By Cynthia Hsiung Special to The China Post

People aged over forty from Taiwan may remember what it is like to play with a diabolo in their childhood.

A diabolo is a spool-like toy consisting of two wooden sticks joined by strings about a meter long. Taiwan children once used to roll the diabolo on its string as they performed acrobatics.

Today's children might not play with diabolos anymore but the art is not forgotten. "Diabolo Dance Theater", founded in 1986, is the first Taiwan art group to perform with diabolos and dance and music.

When the company, originally titled "Diabolo Dance" was first formed, its members were mostly seven- or eight-year-olds. None of them were ballet or gymnastics majors, although they had taken a few basic courses. They learnt to perform the art of diabolo from Art Director Liu Le-Chun.

Years of training brought them to where they stand today. When they look back to the hard times, they feel really proud of themselves.

"The most valuable thing we learned is that persistence leads to success," one senior dancer said.

In the performance, dancers toss and catch a diabolo in front of a painting called "The Garden Where Pain Does Not Enter" by Lilia Pegado, an English artist.

Pegado uses pink, light blue, yellow, and green to compose a garden in the season of spring. The heavenly setting makes the dancers appear like angels.

"The curves and the circles perfectly match the image of the beauty of diabolo," said Austin Wang, who is responsible for set design.

In 2002, Diabolo Dance was invited to perform at the Lincoln Center, New York, USA. In 2005, they were invited to present their dances at Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan.

Diabolo Dance, which recently officially renamed itself "Diabolo Dance Theatre", will continue presenting this traditional Taiwanese art to the world.

From Aug. 26 to Aug. 28, Diabolo Dance Theater will hold three performances at the National Theater Concert Hall. The play includes six episodes and the themes are related to the four seasons, daytime, and nighttime. The play was written according to the experiences the dancers had together in Diabolo Dance Theater. For example, the days when they took ballet courses, and the days they went abroad to perform. Organizers said the performance is like a memory book of experiences growing up.