Music and Dance in Taiwan

Taiwan treasures a rich tradition of performing arts of which Taiwanese dance and music are acclaimed all across the globe.

Music in Taiwan: Taiwan is a seat of traditional Chinese music. Since the region houses a number of language groups, each language has its own collections of songs, most of which are variations on the pentatonic scale. The Peking Opera or the classical musical plays of China are quite popular in Taiwan. With classical and mythological tales for the story lines, these musical plays still survive though improvisations are now being made on them.

Taiwan today has a number of important musical groups of which the most famous are the Taipei Municipal Chinese Classical Orchestra, National Chinese Orchestra, Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra, and Chinese Orchestra of the Broadcasting Corporation of China. These troups stage regular performances of traditional Chinese music as well as occasional western compositions. While popular music is gaining grounds, there is also a marked interest in traditional music like bei guan and nan guan.

The instruments generally used in Chinese music are simple wind or string instruments like flutes, fiddles, and small drums.

Dance in Taiwan: Taiwan has a distinct style of dance. Traditional Taiwanese dance is a delicate form comprising mainly of foot movements. The original dance form has however, considerably altered in the 20th century, and Taiwan today stages a number of commendable performances of modern dance. Modern dance in Tokyo grew with the leading figures like Cai Ruei-yue and Li Cai-e. The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Taigu Tales Dance Theater, Taipei Dance Circle, etc are the most successful dance companies of Taiwan.