Chinese
Name: 周惠丹
Born: March 31, 1937
Birthplace: Miaoli County (Northern Taiwan)
Chou Hui-tan, a Hakka dancer who was a student of Taiwan's modern dance pioneer Tsai Rui-yue (蔡瑞月), has been engaged in dance creation and teaching for decades. She has not only cultivated many talents for the Taiwanese art world, but also is the founder of Hakka dance. Chou once said that traditional Hakkas only have songs, no dances. However, in 1979, after her first high-profile tea-picking dance performance was held and received highly positive recognition, Hakka dance officially entered the art halls. Since then, she has devoted herself to the choreography and promotion of Hakka dance.
Born in Miaoli in 1937, Chou liked to dance since
she was a child. However, in the conservative Miaoli community where she lived,
she had no chance to receive formal dance training until she met Tsai, who was
invited to teach in Miaoli. After a short period of training, Tsai returned to
Taipei, but Chou still went to the capital at least once a week for several
years to study dance. In addition to immersing herself in dance, studying under
Tsai also allowed her to explore various dancing forms and nourished in her an
appreciation of the beauty of dance and an enthusiasm
for art. This influenced the way Chou taught dance later. Finally, with the
encouragement of Tsai, Chou started her own dance class in Miaoli in 1961, and
began her career of dancing, teaching and choreography.
In 1979, the World Hakka Federation held its conference
in Taipei for the first time, and invited Chou to arrange Hakka dances. So she
looked for elements from Hakka operas for inspiration and choreographed the
first Hakka tea-picking dance, which included references to her previous life
and growth experience. The performance received rave
review. Since then, Chou’s dance group has been invited by the Taipei
City Government to perform every year. She has been committed to the creation
and promotion of Hakka dances about life, festivals, and nursery rhymes, and also
personally travels to Hakka communities to teach dance.
For Chou, the basic concept behind the choreography
of her dances is portrayal of Hakka people’s life. This is completely different
from the concept of modern dance; her method can be said to be innovating the traditional.
Hakka dance is a form of art to tell the story of the Hakkas. Since 1990, Chou
began to compile a series of dance works with classical Hakka styles,
incorporating the customs and immigration history of Hakka villages.