Tsai Jui-yueh

The location of Tsai's dance studio, pictured in 2006

Tsai's rebuilt dance studio in September 2013

Tsai Jui-yueh (Chinese: 蔡瑞月; pinyin: Cài Ruìyuè; 8 February 1921 – 29 May 2005) was a Taiwanese dancer and choreographer regarded as the mother of modern dance in Taiwan.

Life and career[]

Born in Tainan on 8 February 1921,^[1] Tsai made her way to Japan in 1937 to study dance under  [ja] and Midori Ishii.^[2][3][4] Prior to leaving Taiwan, Tsai's experience with dancing included aerobic dance class in elementary school and watching Japanese groups in high school.^[3] She had heard a Japanese person refer to Taiwan as a "barren desert for dance" and sought to return in order to promote the art of dance in Taiwan, declining a personal dance recital in Tokyo arranged by Midori Ishii.^[3] Tsai returned to Taiwan in 1946,^[2] and grew in popularity during this period, in part because she accepted every offer to perform.^[3]

She married the Indonesian-Chinese poet  [zh], who taught at National Taiwan University, in 1947.^[3][5] Lei was imprisoned by Kuomintang authorities in June 1949 and later deported to Guangdong.^[3][4] Tsai was sent to Green Island shortly thereafter and released three years later, but barred from leaving Taiwan.^[2][5] In 1953, she founded her own school of dance at the China Dance Club, later known as the Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Research Institute.^[6][7] Tsai's travel restrictions were lifted in 1983,^[3] and she moved to Australia to live and work with her son, a dancer who was a student of Elizabeth Dalman.^[8] Tsai's studio was left to daughter-in-law Ondine Hsiao and Hsiao's sister Grace.^[9] The building was to be demolished in 1994, but plans were called off after three dancers protested by suspending themselves in the air via crane for 24 hours.^[10] The Taipei City government named Tsai's studio a municipal heritage site in October 1999. Four days later, the building burned in a suspected arson attack.^[7] Reconstruction efforts began in March 2002.^[11] Tsai died in Brisbane, Australia, on 29 May 2005, aged 84.^[12]

Legacy[]

The inaugural Tsai Jui-Yueh International Dance Festival was organized in her honor in 2006.^[13][14] Her former studio opened as a museum in May 2007 and a memorial was added to the site in March 2008.^[15][16] In 2017, the Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Research Institute and the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation and Memorial Museum jointly organized demonstrations marking the anniversary of the February 28 incident.^[17] Tsai's life was commemorated by the National Human Rights Commission, a division of the Control Yuan, in November 2020.^[18]

Tsai is considered the mother of modern dance in Taiwan.^{[13][8][11][15]} One of her students, Henry Yu, has been called the father of Taiwanese modern dance.^[19]

References[]