Village of Westmont
Date Issued: July 13, 2015
On Monday, July 20, a Taiwanese Folk Sports Troupe will visit Westmont and have two free presentations for the general public at the Westmont Park District Community Center, 75 E. Richmond Street. The first presentation will be at 10 a.m. and the athletes will directly interact with the participants to demonstrate how they accomplish some of their sporting feats. Then at 1:30 p.m., the sports troupe will give a 90-minute performance.
“Our relationship with the Taipai Economic and Cultural Organization (TECO) continues to grow and this is another joint effort in which we are collaborating to bring unique cultural presentations to our community,” says Larry McIntyre, Village of Westmont Communications Director. “The entire community is invited to attend this upcoming performance.”
The folks sports troupe performance will consist of athletic displays of coordination and balance that are unique to Taiwan. These ancient sports, including shuttlecock kicking, diabolo spinning, rope skipping, kite flying, dragon and lion dances, and top spinning, have long been practiced from generation to generation through-out Ching. Today in Taiwan, these folk sports are extremely popular among students. They can be regarded as gymnastic and recreational activities or held as performances and competitions.
Since 1988, talented primary and junior high school students have been selected to form Youth Folk Sports Troupes to visit different places around the world including Asia, America, Europe, Australia and Africa, entertaining overseas Chinese and foreign friends and gaining excellent ratings in international athletic meetings, academic conferences or folk festivals. They have successfully played their roles as ambassadors of culture and friendship. In addition, through them, these traditional folk sports are introduced to countries all over the world and are gradually becoming popular with the international community.
This year, 26 students from Hsi-Yuan Elementary School, Xin-Yi Junior High School and Hong-Dao Junior High School in Taipei have been selected to form the Troupe to visit the United States. These children, aged 12-14, through extracurricular and summer vacation training, present to you their agile performances in diabolo spinning, shuttlecock kicking, and rope skipping. Carefully intertwined in their program is a combination of folk music, folk dance, and pop music and dance, as well as children’s games played in the country. We sincerely hope you can gain a better understanding of Chinese and Taiwan aboriginal culture through our performances. We invite you to relax and enjoy the program.
For more information regarding the performance on July 20, contact the Village at info@westmont.il.gov or call 630-417-0280.
###
Contact: Larry McIntyre
Village of Westmont Communications Director
630-981-6245, lmcintyre@westmont.il.gov
