As the artistic director and the manager of a modern dance company in Taiwan, they have been undaunted in their ambition to succeed even though the going has been quite rough sometimes. Flipping through the pages of the Taipei Dance Circle's album of memories today means coming upon a quarter of a century full of reminders best summed up in a few words: "If there is no pain, there is no glory."

Pair of dreamers

Back in 1984, these two ambitious dancers who had previously worked and performed with the original Cloud Gate Dance Theater decided to strike out and start a modern dance company of their own in Taiwan. All these dreamers had then and still have to this day has been a great passion for dance.

The road they have chosen to tread has been paved with discouraging difficulties. Survival has not been easy. Yet they have managed to plod on not discouraged by the many challenges. Finding the money to keep the struggling dance company from folding up has been hanging all along like Damocles' sword over Liou and his completely supportive wife Yang.

New dance productions, each one a labor of love, have been staged after painstaking preparations year after year. Liou at one point even gave up his teaching jobs to show his full commitment to dance creation. Choreographies have required not just the lengthy development of dance moves but also the careful search for suitable music, stage design, and costumes. Partners for enriching collaborations, including composers and musicians, have been deemed necessary. Dancers, too, have had to be recruited from time to time and trained nonstop to keep the company going.

To come up with a distinctive and perhaps signature style became Liou's obsession as artistic director of the Taipei Dance Circle. While working in a dance studio one day, the perspiring Liou slipped on the floor. Quickly noticing the beauty of his unobstructed move during the accidental fall, he later decided to apply baby oil on his body to further ease physical movement on the dance floor. Even the floor was subsequently slicked with oil to pave the way for an exciting and brilliant dance happening.

Birth of baby oil series

And so the dancers of the Taipei Dance Circle applied baby oil on their entire bodies and then took to a special stage floor likewise covered with baby oil to execute what was to shortly earn recognition as the company's unique and shining choreography. Unconventional dance moves evolved to visually excite audiences at home and abroad. "Olympics" even invited a quick comeback performance in Aachen and then went on to Berlin for a sold-out performance. The Ludwig Foundation in Germany singled out the touring production for honoring with the prestigious 1997 Performing Arts Innovation Award.

Liou's earliest works for his dancers drew inspiration from traditional Chinese themes and subjects close to home. "Farewell, My Concubine" and "The Hermits in the Bamboo Forest" could be cited as examples.

A remarkable sensitivity to events and the times gave birth to unforgettable choreographies. "The Hermits in the Bamboo Forest" proved a dance statement about the headline-grabbing protest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The dancers in this piece ended up wrapped in costumes painted with blood-red characters. "Faults" in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake on September 21, 1999, saw the dancers performing like they were reliving helplessly the frightening impact of the earth opening up and shaking dangerously.

Breathing is key

Liou began focusing on Chinese "qigong," an exercise based largely on breathing, at one point. He trained dancers to do breathing exercises. The concept of "breath, body and heart" was behind "Olympics," "Oil Painting," "Ode to a Paramecium," "Black Tide," "Faults," "Flow," "Body Water" and "Pilgrims’ Dream."

In 2001, Liou explored the natural emission of sounds while listening to body rhythms and engaging in physical moves. The time came for him to throw out the use of taped music. His "Sight and Sound" exercises tapped the raw energy in the body.

Liou, who was born in Chutung, Hsinchu County, made special efforts to show pride in his Hakka ancestral roots by seeking dance inspiration in Hakka culture over the years. "Pingban or Moderato," "Meandering Over the Mountain," and "Hakka Yodeling and Dancing" were heavy in Hakka cultural content. He made sure that the Hakka communities around Taiwan were able to view his modern dance interpretations of Hakka culture.

The Taipei Dance Circle led by Liou has given more than 400 performances in all kinds of venues and under various weather conditions, sometimes in freezing cold in the open air, in the last 25 years. The company has enthralled critics from The Village Voice in New York, Aachener Nachrichten in Germany, and the Singapore Straits Times, among others.

Liou tried to share his love for dance at 261 workshops and lectures over the years. He has just finished another dance workshop at Weiwuying in southern Taiwan. He has constantly seen the need to develop and sustain a dance audience through such activities. Meanwhile he has also happily interacted with professionals from other art fields not just in Taiwan but also abroad. His open dialogues with the viewing public right after performances have served to bring about a better and deeper appreciation of the Taipei Dance Circle.

Staying alive

After enduring 25 years of hardships, the 60-year-old Liou has made up his mind that the show must still go on. He feels a compulsion to keep dancing to stay alive. This is despite the physical toll of the years on him. A thyroid condition did not banish him to the sideline. And most recently, he was seen rehearsing "Silent Dance" without a grimace (quite a formidable feat) despite the painful gout attack on his dancing foot.

"Silent Dance" had a premiere performance at the National Theater's Experimental Theater on October 1. More performances at the Taipei venue followed until October 4.

The production then moved to the Hsinchu Cultural Affairs Bureau's Hall for Performing Arts on October 9 and to the Tainan County Cultural Center's Concert Hall on October 15. There is still a chance to catch "Silent Dance" at the Chiayi County Performing Arts Center on November 28.

"Silent Dance" has been described as choreography about dancers doing simple moves and reaching out to the realm of perfection. Taichi and qigong all come into play.

When the live music composed by Lee Tzy-sheng and performed by a cellist, a pianist and an electronic music provider starts playing, Liou once more lives his "no pain, no glory" experience. Dance enthusiasts, however, are there to cheer him and his dancers on, making success taste mighty sweet each time.