A “Merry Christmas Party” starring Machi, Ping-guan, Fang Yi-chen and others, sponsored by Extracurricular Activities Guidance Section, was held on December 24th, attracting at least 1000 students participating in this lively celebration.

While students had been lining up for hours and all the way to the Chinese Palace-styled classrooms to await entering, members of TKU Students Association gave out roses and balloons to every student at the entrance. The show was opened by Fang Yi-chen and with Lin Tz-liang, he lit up lanterns along the aisles to step up a delightful Christmas mood. All audiences, swaying their bodies with their songs and holding fluorescent bars and balloons, created an atmosphere of joy and excitement.

Zhao Tz-bi, dressing up like a high school girl with her narrow-strapped sleeveless top and platted skirt, hosted the party vivaciously and was greeted with joy by the audience. She also sang her latest song, “She has what you want” to warm up the party atmosphere by inviting them to sing along with her. Other performances matched if not exceeded hers, for example, Ping –quan, a singer, jumped down from the stage to join the audience in the middle of a love song. However, the climax of the show was brought on by Machi and Machi Di Di. One of its group members, Jeff, performed hip-hop dancing, while the other member, Little Fatty, soloed a Merry Christmas song. Machi Di Di also performed a love song that invited ‘encore’. The other member, Kenny even took off his clothes to show off his robust body, inciting some crazy screams. Finally, Machi wound up the party with “The Song of Taiwanese Son”, which brought the whole evening to its height and an unforgettable ending.

But after the show, unfortunately, lots of balloons were scattered around the hall. Chang Chia-yu, a sophomore of Department of Information and Communication, expressed regrettably that these participants should not have spoiled the wonderful and mesmerizing evening by not taking the garbage with them.

The other show to celebrate the arrival of Christmas was the Tai-Gu Tales Dance Theatre who presented a dance titled “Life’s Mandala” which contained three outstanding pieces: Shen-hua, Yu-jie, Fang-ying. They were performed to TKU faculty and students, bringing them seventy-minute mysterious journey of the mind on Dec. 22.

In the dance, Shen-hua, dancers were swathed in veils to create the feeling of eternity, and sense of space, with bodies swinging, rolling around on the stage painfully demonstrating a desire of discarding spiritual hardship. At the end of the dance, some dancers stepped forward to the light, while others were crawling in the dark fading slowly. This ending symbolizes real life struggle in which some succeed but some fail, unfortunately.

In the second dance, Yu-jie, which showed the insurmountable desires via ferocious and extreme beats of the drums. Dancers acted like birds or wild animals to represent the clashes between ego and space. Masculine male dancers bared their upper body entwined with and serpentine-like female dancers symbolizing their strong attraction. The dance ended with a golden, sunny yellow light like sunlight suddenly cascading over them. The last dance, Fang-ying, was accompanied by Buddhist music and chanting sounds. The performers wore fairy-like clothes to dance with extreme elegance and integrity that inspired the audience into the solemnity and peace of Nirvana.

“Life’s Mandala” combined modern dance, Chinese opera, and the philosophy of Eastern Buddhism, were performed by Wu Shin-guo and Lin Xiu-wei, a married couple in real life. The vivid performance left a deep impression on everyone who attended this magical evening.

Shu Ji-shen, a sophomore of Department of Aerospace Engineering, said that this play inspired and challenged his imagination to its limit. Regrettably, such a brilliant performance did not attract that many audiences, as it should have.

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