Children’s first milestone
Windmill Fantasia is a new drama especially created for the 368 Children’s Art Project. Combining art, drama, dance, music and multimedia, it serves as something akin to a general introduction to arts education. It provides children with a feel for the creativity and imagination that are part and parcel of the fine arts.
“Next we will be going to every county and city to perform local stories,” says Jen Chien-cheng, Paper Windmill Theatre’s director. For instance, when they go to Yilan, the story starts with the legend of the turtle general and the Kavalan princess. In New Taipei City, it begins with a historical explanation of the archeological sites of Bali’s Dapenkeng and Shisanhang before moving on to discuss the old boom days in Jiufen and the plantations of Xizhi that made it known as the homeland of pouchung tea.
“If adults can’t make everything better, at least they should do some small things for children.” It was with this in mind that in 2006 Paper Windmill launched the “First Mile, Kids Smile” program of arts projects for kids in Taiwan’s 319 townships (as counted before the local government reorganization of December 2010, which amalgamated several former counties into special municipalities, thus making their townships into municipal districts). Receiving no government support, the program survived off small private donations.
With the tremendous challenges it faced, the tour was regarded as something of a quixotic endeavor. The troupe encountered all kinds of difficulties, and it took five years from start to finish. The program came to a close with a final performance in New Taipei City’s Wanli District at the end of 2011.
Aiming to “make its mark,” Paper Windmill reached some astonishing totals: more than NT$210 million worth of contributions from 30,000 donors, 290,000 kilometers traveled on tour, a cumulative audience of 800,000, and so forth. But its achievements go beyond numbers: its moving performances have also left deep impressions on the hearts and minds of young and old alike.
Paper Windmill Theatre spent five years visiting all 319 of Taiwan’s townships in an appropriately quixotic mission. It has now set off on a second islandwide tour that will also take it to every township on Taiwan.