Learning from pain
At age 20, Ku joined the Chinese Youth Goodwill Mission and went to the US for the first time. Faced with the tremendous differences between American and Taiwanese education, she felt at a loss and soon began to skip classes. She often found herself crying alone.
Having neglected her studies for nearly a year, Ku went back to her classes when spring returned. But then a serious problem presented itself: she now had to struggle with basic movements that she had been able to perform effortlessly before. “My muscles had become hopelessly weak, and my limbs were very stiff.” By the end of the class, Ku found herself sweating profusely. The floor was wet, and she was on the brink of collapse. But engaging with her own body in this arduous manner helped her emerge from her dark mood and recover her cheerfulness.
“I really like to dance.” Having regained her mental peace, Ku realized that humans are born with the ability to dance, and that moving our limbs rhythmically is enough to make us happy. If we further explore the hows, whys, and whats, we will find that dance can be a rewarding lifelong pursuit.
Injuries are something that every dancer has to learn to cope with, and they often happen when least expected. Ku tells us that she once arrived at a rehearsal late. Flustered, she began to dance straight away without doing warm-ups. When she suddenly heard a soft popping sound, she knew she was in trouble. The pain grew gradually during the rehearsal and became unbearably intense. Ku insisted on carrying on with her performance, summoning up all her strength to overcome the pain. Behind her glorious performance on stage was a gritty spirit taxed to the limit.
“The story took an amazing turn.” During her last dance in a performance with a Dutch colleague, she heard that popping sound again. “I thought I probably wouldn’t be able to move the following day.” But she slept soundly throughout the night. When she woke up, she stretched her limbs carefully on her bed. There was no pain at all, and it no longer felt difficult to move. “It turned out that at that very instant, my muscles and tendons—exercised correctly—fell back into place.”
Ku and Lee Hsiao-ping—both National Award for Arts winners—have joined forces, spending three years creating Doppler Effect.