You can tell in an instant whether a drum dancing troupe is an amateur "village" troupe, or a group of professionals. The stiff, simple and vigorous dance steps of male troupes are the giveaway for the "village" amateurs; all-female dancers who punctuate their graceful feminine motions with daring stunts belong, more likely than not, to professional troupes.

Why this distinction? "They look better! They compete against each other!" is the simple, concise explanation offered by Chen Wan-yu, head of the Chia Hsien Women's Drum Dancing Troupe that won the 1988 Hsin Chuan Award.

Taiwanese Disco: As the name implies, drum dancing troupes, also called drum flower troupes, dance to the beat of drums, which are carried on performers' backs. Performances center around this drum bearer, who is accompanied by the seven other basic members of the troupe: a flag carrier (the troupe banner bearer) who leads the show, as well as parasol dancers and cymbal players who leap, squat and twist through "opening the four doors," "parasols through the cymbals" and about a dozen other dance formations. Quick and nimble body movements together with rousing rhythms, clashing cymbals and primitive cries, make for a stirring scene, and inspired one wag to nickname the performance "Taiwanese disco."

Folk legend tells us that drum dancing originated out of a great call to arms in Taiwan led by Koxinga at the close of the Ming dynasty. Warriors from all corners of the island heeded his summons to take part in a great contest of fighting prowess. These Chinese gladiators did battle accompanied by one or two "sideline drummers," who would leap and prance in concert with the blows of the battling warriors. By modern-day reckoning, they could be called military "cheerleaders." The Manchu imperial admiral Shih Lang's offensive on Taiwan eventually drove these heroes into hiding as simple farmer folk. Still they would gather during the slack seasons to practice their battle skills for recreation and exercise. It is a tradition which lasts to this day. According to statistics from the Tainan County Cultural Center's "Planning Report from the Taiwan Traditional Folk Arts Hall," there are over forty professional and amateur drum dancing troupes throughout Taiwan, more than any other variety of traditional performance troupe on the island.

"Amazon" Dancers: The military origins and physical exertion of drum dancing, along with the social segregation of women in years past, meant that these early troupes, both amateur and professional, were composed solely of men. "Thirty years ago, who would have even thought of seeing women dancing around outside!?" exclaims Chen Wan-yu, a thirty-year veteran of drum dancing Performance who now mostly teaches her craft to others. More recently, however, with the gradual loosening up of social strictures and the growing demand for the more "watchable" female dancers, these "Amazon" dance troupes have taken over the market for professional drum dancing.

To draw crowds in the intensely competitive field of drum dancing, troupes now break up the flow of their performance with stunts, to the point where the original dance steps have become secondary in importance. Some typical showpiece activities include standing on benches and bending over backwards to pick up money with one's teeth and the formation of human pyramids. Meanwhile the drums are cast aside, and the dance steps are neglected. The original flavor of the performance may be lost, but the open-mouthed crowds don't seem to mind at all.

"Quality stunts get money from the crowds. 500 dollar bills, 1000 dollar bills... Sometimes you can pick up over NT$10,000 in one day," boasts Chen Wan-yu. "Or even if they don't toss money, the applause sounds good too!" Not even the winner of the esteemed Hsin Chuan Award can escape the severe modifications the art has undergone. Chen Wan-yu, though, knows how to play to audiences of all kinds: "When the invitation comes from a cultural center or the government, we give the standard performance; otherwise we do the new style dance to make more money!"

Encouraging the Tradition: Even as popular performances of drum dancing are being taken over by circus-style acts, more and more schools are offering traditional drum dance lessons as an extracurricular activity. The first prize winners in the drum dancing event in the recently held First Annual Taiwanese Arts Competition were students from Taitung Normal College. Their coach, physical education professor Wu Teng-ta tells us: "The props for drum dancing are quite simple; cymbals are all you need for backup accompaniment. Also the movements are lively and beautifully patterned, making this kind of dance perfect for high school and primary school students learning traditional folk dances." The students of Taitung Normal College can take elective courses in drum dancing, so that some day they may pass along the art to their own students. Elsewhere in Taiwan, this year's Hsi Chih Township Festival of the Arts included an eye-opening drum dancing performance by enthusiastic students from Chang An Primary School.

If they are to survive, folk arts must change with the times. But removing drums and dancing from drum dancing performance runs counter to the very essence of the art. Would it be too much to ask that audiences applaud and empty their pockets for those performers whose dance achieves the traditional ordered beauty of patterned unison?

[Picture Caption]

Drum dancing finds its origins in Koxinga's tournaments of military prowess. Performed today by local village men to a rousing rhythmic accompaniment, drum dancing presents a spectacle of masculine vitality.

The drums are silent and the parasols cast aside when professional drumdancing troupes turn to a more profitable pursuit--Stunt performances totally unrelated to traditional drum dancing.

Even as professional performers bow before the trend toward Stunt shows, traditional drum dancing is beginning to take root among primary schoolchildren.(photo by Diago Chiu)

The drums are silent and the parasols cast aside when professional drumdancing troupes turn to a more profitable pursuit--Stunt performances totally unrelated to traditional drum dancing.

Even as professional performers bow before the trend toward Stunt shows, traditional drum dancing is beginning to take root among primary schoolchildren.（photo by Diago Chiu）