Clouds Dance Theatre, a professional Taiwanese dance troupe, will be performing and hosting a workshop this week as part of Taiwan Culture Fest 2004.
The troupe will perform eight pieces over an hour and a half beginning at 8 p.m. in Salomon 101 on Tuesday.
At the workshop on Monday, three members of the troupe will teach the basics of Taiwanese folk dance.
Clouds Dance Theatre has traveled to Holland, Germany and Israel. It aims "to inherit and carry on the art of Taiwanese folk dance and foster professional artists within Taiwan and to offer audiences a chance to understand and appreciate Taiwanese folk dance through performances," according to the group's Web site.
Eva Wu '06, communications chair for the Brown Taiwanese Society and commissioner of special projects for the Boston Intercollegiate Taiwanese Student Association, saw Clouds Dance Theatre perform in Israel and was so moved by the performance she thought the group should perform in the United States.
"I felt like they touched an international audience," she said.
The group's program will include Taiwanese aboriginal and classical dances and mainland Chinese dances.
There has been some controversy over the group's repertoire because sometimes its dancing is considered too Chinese, Wu said.
Wu said she has worked for nearly a year to bring Clouds Dance Theatre to New England.
The group arrived in New England Wednesday and is spending 10 days at several schools, including Brandeis University, Boston University, Smith College, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Columbia University, in addition to Brown.
The Taiwanese government and the host schools are sponsoring the tour. Clouds Dance Theatre is not charging the schools for the performances and workshops, but the schools are providing rooms and food for the dancers.
Monday's workshop is free and will take place at 4 p.m. in Leung Gallery. Tuesday's show is free, and tickets are available in the post office.
