Dreams
In addition to honing the group’s professionalism, Liu also became a sort of inventor, developing a new style of diabolo.
The traditional diabolo is made of wood. When operated at high speed, it can become quite dangerous and if it gets out of control, it can cut like a knife. So if there were an accident, it could cause serious injury to performers or audience. Liu invented a “magic” diabolo made from plastics, less prone to breakage and much safer for the performers.
In 2005, in order to extend the duration of the spin in the adagio sections, Liu began to use a ball-bearing axle with much reduced friction, creating a spin time twice that of the traditional design. He also invented a diabolo lit up by LED lights, and then a single-sided unit (a monobolo), in which the direction of spin can be controlled. These innovations were all employed in the 2007 performance of Ocean Heart.
In general, diabolo performance includes five basic techniques: twisting, tossing, throwing, tangling and springing. By combining these techniques in a variety of ways, the diabolo can create the illusion of overlapping ripples stirred by falling stones, an atmosphere of kaleidoscopic twisting and tangling.
The team members are the core component of a successful performance. They currently have 20-plus dancers aged 10–29, many of them still at school. Principal dancer Yang Xinyi joined the team at age 10, and her 19 years of hard training enable her
to integrate diabolo, dance, and gymnastics in a performance approaching absolute perfection. At one point in her performance onstage, she whips the string, flipping the LED diabolo high into the air—as high as a three-story building. Somehow she manages to spin around twice balancing on one foot before firmly catching the tumbling diabolo as it falls. The audience is stunned at this display of skill.
“While other people practice an action once, I would practice it at least 20 times.” In one of her rehearsals, Yang missed catching a flying diabolo because of the flashing lights. It hit her front teeth, making her mouth bleed. Since that experience she has insisted all the more on practicing every move to perfect mastery.
In fact, the first compulsory lesson for new team members to learn is how to avoid being struck by a falling diabolo. If you feel that something is amiss, you immediately shout loudly to warn others. Then the artist who was preparing to catch the diabolo covers their head with both hands and jumps quickly out of the way to escape injury from the miscreant missile.
Blossoms in Wonderland, adapted from one of Jimmy’s picture books, attracted an audience of over 200,000 during Taipei’s 2010 Flora Expo.