origins.

There’s only been one person in my life (who wasn’t Taiwanese) that has come up to me and asked, “You’re Taiwanese, aren’t you?”… and this was an old dude I met in the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. 

"So, how does being from Taiwan affect your dancing?"

Due to the nature of this experience, this question has come up over and over again.. and I’m not exactly sure if people are genuinely interested or if its just one of those filler questions that people ask because “oh they’re from somewhere else!” Bboy Remind taps into his Native American roots, ReQuest has their Poly-Swag (dope as all hell i might add), and I suppose you can say that 787 adhere to their Puerto Rican/Latino cultural roots. Although somewhat of a generalization, Koreans will have their intense devotion and elevation of technical skill, where Japanese dancers will always have their little quirks and outbursts of impulsive style. 

…but where does Taiwan fit into MY dance? into any dance.. or anyTHING for that matter?

I’m going to be trying to answer this question for the rest of my life. The general Taiwanese identity is that there is no concrete identity. With a history of colonization and the subject of imperialist ideals from other nations, I can’t say that I’ve ever been able to clearly identify what the Taiwanese aesthetic/mentality is. I would say that overall, its that we’re always searching… within us, beyond us, wherever we are. As a Taiwanese person, it’s as if I’ve spent more time attempting to define what we aren’t, rather than what we are. Correcting misconceptions, misconstrued ideas, and assumptions about who we are as a distinct people, with a distinct culture. But once again.. what is that?

I feel that that’s the one thing that has been consistent with my dance, and its that.. it hasn’t been consistent. I’m continually growing and learning and having new breakthroughs and realizations.. but I’ve never been able to say, “My style is _______.” I can tell you elements of what I’m trying to go for, but I haven’t been satisfied… not just yet.

The Taiwanese sentiment up until now has almost existed in struggle and suppression.. socially, economically, politically. The opportunities to define “Taiwanese” is hard enough in Taiwan already, let alone the world stage. We are not recognized by major countries, we cannot display our national flag at world sporting events, we barred from playing our national anthem, even if we win gold medals at the Olympics. 

Being where I am, its almost like starting from the bottom.. from square one. And that is we just want people to know we exist. How do I do that if there are people out there who don’t even know Taiwan itself is an actual place/political entity? It’s even harder to do since I have grown up bi-culturally, was raised with an American education in a Taiwanese environment, and currently make my living in America… how legitimately Taiwanese am I? (this is another blog post for another day.)

Besides knowing that my grandma is beyond excited right now and read the newspaper article about us in Taiwan multiple times a day, this is the biggest thing for me on a personal level: having the opportunity to represent my people, my country, and my people in this country. For now, its the most we can do.