Liu Feng-shueh (1925 – 17 May 2023) was a Taiwanese
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
choreographer
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...
known for her research and numerous works.
Family and early life
Liu Feng-shueh was born in 1925 in China. As a child she studied
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
.
Career
In the 1950s she began studying Taiwanese indigenous dance and the traditions of indigenous peoples. In 1965 she went to Japan to further her dance study at the
Imperial Household Agency
The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family, and the keeping of the Privy Seal of Japan, Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century ...
. Following this she traveled to the People's Republic of China to do research on
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
dance practices represented in cave art. She then traveled to London where in 1987 she received a doctorate in dance from the
Laban Centre for Movement and Dance.
She was the first person in Taiwan to hold a doctorate in dance.
She went on to produce innovative work and research in the genera of
modern dance
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...
, Confucian dance,
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
court dance, and
Taiwanese indigenous dance.
In 1996 she staged her 109th work, ''Tsao Pi and Chen Mi,'' performed at the
National Theater to sold-out audiences.
Death
She died peacefully in May 2023 at the age of 97.
Awards and recognition
She was recognized by the
Congress on Research in Dance as an outstanding scholar of dance in 1977 and 2004.
In 1997 she was awarded one of the inaugural National Arts Awards by the Taiwanese National Culture and Arts Foundation.
See also
*
Art in Taiwan
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Feng-shueh
1925 births
2023 deaths
Taiwanese choreographers
Taiwanese women choreographers
Alumni of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance