Bulareyaung Dance Company (布拉瑞揚舞團), the first Taiwanese dance troupe to be invited to the Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting (YPAM), performed a dance piece combining Taiwan's indigenous culture and performing arts titled "LUNA (路吶)" during the opening ceremony of YPAM on Dec. 3. Their performance was well-received by the Japanese audiences, Taiwanese in Japan, and people from all over the world at the event.
According to the Taiwan Cultural Center in Japan, the Bulareyaung Dance Company was founded by renowned choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava (布拉瑞揚．帕格勒法), who previously received the 22nd National Award for Arts. The Taiwan Cultural Center and the National Culture and Arts Foundation worked in hand to establish cooperation with YPAM to increase the international visibility of Taiwan's performing arts.
Taiwan's Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), chairman Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗) of the National Culture and Arts Foundation, and director Alice Wang Shu-fang (王淑芳) of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo visited the Kanagawa Arts Theatre (KAAT) on Dec. 2 to show their support for the troupe. Hsieh expressed his admiration for their performances and celestial singing voices. He also affirmed that the troupe perfectly conveyed the creative imagination through body language, successfully bringing an incredible show that is beyond words to audiences.
To express their support, Lee Shyh-bing (李世丙), deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Japan and Chang Shu-ling (張淑玲), director of the Yokohama Branch of the TECRO in Japan both attended the event; several distinguished Japanese guests specialized in the field of arts were also present.
Established in 1995, YPAM is a place where professionals from various places of the world explore the possibility of contemporary performing arts exchange through performance and meeting programs to gain information, inspiration and network for the creation, dissemination and vitalization of the performing arts.