Taiwanese dancers shine in Irish Dance competition

London, March 12 (CNA)
Dancers with an Irish dance troupe from Taipei performed remarkably at the City of Dublin Irish Dance Championships over the weekend, winning 15 gold, nine silver and eight bronze medals.

The dancers from the Taipei Irish Dance Academy (TIDA) were cheered on by Harry Tseng, Taiwan's representative to Ireland, and Taiwanese expatriates over the two-day competition.

Tseng said that the troupe's performances proved that the power of dance and culture extends beyond ethnic and national boundaries and that the representative office would push for more cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Ireland.

Hsiao Yi-han, co-founder and instructor of the troupe, said the TIDA is seeking the opportunity to host an Irish dance championships in Asia in the near future and looked forward to competing against its Asian counterparts.

Hsiao was born in Taiwan and learned to dance at the age of five. She joined the Lan Yang Dance Troupe in Taiwan before moving to Hungary to advance her skills.

In 2000, she joined the Ronan Morgan School of Irish Dancing, founded by the former member of the show Lord of the Dance.

Hsiao, a former Gaelforce Dance dancer and the only Taiwanese in the Feet of Flames in 2008 and 2009, founded TIDA with Morgan in 2006. The troupe has participated in competitions throughout Europe and taken home some 85 gold medals and trophies.

TIDA's children dancers won 10 gold, seven silver and five bronze medals at the under-18 section of the same competition on Jan. 29.

(By Jennifer Huang and Jamie Wang)
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