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Picture book about Tsai Jui-yueh, the mother of modern dance in Taiwan, comes out

  • Date:2024-01-22
Picture book about Tsai Jui-yueh comes out

The picture book about the mother of modern dance in Taiwan “Dance of the Seagull – the Story of Tsai Jui-yueh (海燕之舞-蔡瑞月的故事)” was recently published. The author of the book Chiang Shu-wen (江淑文) and the illustrator Lin Yi-hsiang (林怡湘) attended the press conference on Jan. 21 to share the creation process.  

 

Tsai Jui-yueh (蔡瑞月) was born in Taiwan during the Japanese rule period. Supported by her family, she went to Tokyo, Japan, to study dance. After the Second World War ended, she returned to Taiwan to promote modern dance and was later married to Chinese poet Lei Shih-yu (雷石榆). Because of the White Terror, Lei was deported by the Kuomintang authorities to China, while Tsai was also taken as a political prisoner. However, Tsai never gave up dancing during and after the imprisonment. 

 

The author of the picture book Chiang Shu-wen said that even though she majored in history, she only learned the history of the February 28 incident and the story of Tsai after she graduated. She hopes to reveal the history of Taiwan through the legendary dancer. 

 

The illustrator Lin Yi-hsiang mentioned that Tsai’s determination to work on modern dance left a deep impression on her. She noted that she has chosen vibrant colors and put a lot of effort into making the illustrations to represent Tsai’s hopeful spirit when encountering obstacles.