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Atlanta Taiwanese Community Welcomed the Wang Da Chung Hand Puppet Group

July 28, 2006

The Wang Da Chung (WDC) Hand Puppet Group from New Jersey came to Atlanta to participate in the “Summer 2006 Puppet Plays & Workshops” held by the Roswell Cultural Arts Center. The visit and the performances were great successes. The group leader Chi-Kuo Wang was very appreciative for the hospitality of the Taiwanese community during their stay in Atlanta.

Located north of Atlanta, Roswell has a diverse population. For the purpose of promoting the city’s diversified cultural heritage, the Roswell Cultural Arts Center holds the puppet plays and workshops every year, for the past nine years, and invites different puppet groups to perform. Ms. Sandra Mabry, director of the center’s cultural activities, extended the invitation to the WDC Hand Puppet Group this year, in order to introduce the unique Taiwanese puppetry culture to the Roswell community.

The group performed in the mornings from July 24 to 28. Elementary and high school students and their parents came to see the famous play, “Real and Fake Sun Skywalker of the Journey to the West.” With English narration, the audiences were able to fully appreciate the story. The performance was followed by a workshop session, during which the audiences had the chance to learn how to manipulate the hand puppet under the instruction of the performers. The audiences also had the opportunity to bring hand puppets home with them when a drawing was held in the end of the program. For the entertainment of the Taiwanese Community in Atlanta, the WDC Group added one more show on July 28 at the TECO Cultural Center. Hundreds of overseas Taiwanese attended the performance.

The WDC Group is composed of around 20 people, including student performers and their parents. The costs of their trip including accommodation, local transportation, etc., were mostly sponsored by the Atlanta Taiwanese Community members. They also toured around the Atlanta area guided by a community member host.

The warm hospitality the Atlanta Taiwanese Community accorded to the WDA Group has set a standard for the overseas Taiwanese Community in promoting Taiwanese culture as well as pursuing civil diplomacy. Such activity successfully enhanced Taiwan’s visibility on the global stage, which is worth many continued efforts.

亞城僑界人士熱烈接待王大中掌中戲團到訪

新澤西州王大中掌中戲團於本月間來亞特蘭大參加羅斯威爾文化藝術中心(Roswell Cultural Arts Center)所主辦的2006夏季國際「布偶文化節（Summer 2006 Puppet Plays & workshops）」系列活動，日前已圓滿結束訪演行程，訪問團停留亞特蘭大期間受到亞城僑界人士熱烈接待，團長王志國表示萬分感謝。

亞城北邊羅斯威爾市為各族裔居民聚集地，該市文化藝術中心為推廣國際文化每年都推出「布偶文化節」系列活動，邀請各布偶表演團體演出，今年已經是第九年舉辦「布偶文化節」系列活動，內容一年比一年精彩，該中心藝文活動負責人瑪柏麗(Sandra Mabry) 盼能向該市民眾介紹代表台灣象徵的布袋戲傳統文化，乃邀請新澤西州王大中掌中戲團亦代表台灣前來演出。

王大中掌中戲團於7月24日至28日每天上午如期於羅斯威爾文化藝術中心演出，該中心安排該市各中小學學生及家長前來觀賞，戲碼是大家耳熟能詳的「西遊記之真假孫悟空」故事，該戲團以流利的英文作旁白，現場還作示範教學，並讓小觀眾實地操作布偶，台上台下互動趣味橫生，另外還將安排抽獎活動讓觀眾可以把木偶帶回家。為服務僑胞，該團特別安排於7月28日下午在亞特蘭大僑教中心加演一場，也吸引了百餘僑胞前往觀賞。

此次王大中掌中戲團整個團隊包括表演學生及家長有二十多人，要張羅全團的食宿交通大費周章，其中葉僑�U問建榮慷慨應允負擔全團停留亞特蘭大期間的旅館費用，而亞城新科陳獻士僑務委員、王德僑務委員、張信雄僑務委員及前台商會長翁金清也都很慷慨地分別在川霸王、福臨門、喜相逢及Grand China等餐廳晚宴訪問團，陳僑務顧問秋雄也在訪問團當天抵達時在他經營的網球俱樂部款宴訪問團，另外該團也享用了亞城的台灣SUNO剉冰，大呼過癮。除了各僑領慷慨招待外，僑界熱心人士如萬筱華等也都自願擔任訪問團的嚮導，大家都給了王大中訪問團賓至如歸的接待。

僑界對王大中掌中戲團的熱情接待，樹立僑界協助推廣台灣文化及國民外交的典範，讓台灣的國際能見度提高，值得日後繼續提倡及推動。

(click to enlarge)

Photo captions from left to right:

(1) 台商會長涂長雄、陳憲士僑務委員及張信雄前僑務委員設宴款待訪團
Luncheon jointly hosted by Joe Tu, C.S. Chen and Hsin-hiung Chang.

(2) 文化中心主任Mabry在歡迎酒會中致詞
Sandra Mabry of the Douglasville Cultural Arts Council spoke at the reception to honor of the performance group.

(3) Roswell市市長在歡迎酒會中致詞
Mayor Mickey Thompson spoke at the reception.

(4) 吳處長與所有團員在辦事處收藏的布袋戲木偶合影
DG Wu posed with the group amongst the TECO office’s Taiwanese puppet collection.

(5) 表演現場
A scene from the performance

(6) 表演現場觀眾把玩布袋戲木偶
Audience looks at the colorful puppets

|Updated: 1/24/08