2023
About the Program
Sometimes when life gets intense and overwhelming, I find my mind wandering while I try to accomplish the mundane, everyday tasks…
Luna is a dance about, for, and with my matcha green Tatung Rice Cooker – a piece of traditional Taiwanese kitchenware. It is one of the first things we received from a distant relative after arriving in Canada over ten years ago. Tatung Rice Cooker sits in every Taiwanese household. It is a very practical and important helper in the kitchen, and a symbol of home, familiarity and comforting warm dishes.
Special thank you from Juolin Lee:
Thank you to TAIWANfest for this beautiful opportunity.
I want to acknowledge Luna’s journey over the past year and all the support from friends and mentors who helped Luna shape shift and evolve. Thank you to Allie Shiff, Kate Franklin, Samantha Krystal, Jarin Schexnider, and Anne Cheng for supporting me in dreaming of the initial version of Luna in WhatLab in October of 2022.
Thank you to Dumb Instrument Dance, Ahmm (Asian Heritage Month at Morrow) for supporting and presenting Luna in May 2023. Luna found a new life through this recreation. And thank you to Ziyian Kwan, Lee Su-Feh, and Allie Shiff for supporting me through that process.
Juolin Lee is a Taiwanese-Canadian emerging dance artist who is fascinated by the transformative power of dance. She feels fortunate to live, learn and create on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
Juolin completed her training in Modus Operandi Contemporary Dance program in June 2021. She has a deep love and respect for the dance community she’s immersed in. She has the pleasure to work with Natalie TY Gan, Ziyian Kwan, Sammy Chien, Arash Khakpour, Emmalena Fredriksson and Zahra Shahab.
Dance to Juolin is a portal to indescribable emotions and complex, swerving stories. Through openness and curiosity she wishes to continuously unpack her idea of self and her relationship with the world.
From the Curating Team
Curating community performances at TAIWANfest is like painting a self-portrait, constantly questioning Taiwanese culture's role in a Canadian festival. With these community performances, we aim to foster cross-cultural dialogue and break down ethnic barriers, highlighting Canada’s diverse society.
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TAIWANfest Vancouver is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered here, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples of this land while we engage in meaningful conversations of culture and reconciliation.