'Drumming in a peaceful state of one’s own.' The “U” of U-Theatre is a phonetic transcription of a Chinese character meaning “excellence”. In ancient China, this word also referred to “professional performers”.
Asia’s premier and internationally renowned performing arts group, U-Theatre, conveys a “power from the land” that carries the deep cultural essence of ancient Eastern traditions. While Integrating elements of martial arts, drumming, meditation, Tai Chi guiding, and sacred dance, U-Theatre extensively works with music, drama, literature, dance, and rituals. Through this refinement of eastern and western cultures, they aim to transcend the boundaries of ancient and modern times, crafting a distinctive performance style known as the 'U-Theatre Aesthetics'."
Founded by Ms. Liu Ruo-Yu, in 1988, who deeply influenced and inspired by Jerzy Grotowski’s aesthetic perspective and training method, dedicated herself to the goal of exploration of the body and mind. In 1993, Mr. Huang Chih-Chun, a professional traditional percussionist joined to teach U-Theatre members drumming. Huang’s deeply held conviction that “to play the drum, one must first learn meditation” inspired the adoption of meditation, into the core of the U-Theatre training curriculum.
U-Theatre's creations and performances are founded upon a profound sense of musicality, intimately intertwined with bodily awareness and the practice methods of "Dao." Its uniqueness has also sparked discussions within the international performing arts community.
Currently the company is working at its Laoquan Mountain Theatre. The goal is to promote the vision of combining Dào and Arts through cultural exchange as well as the practice of Zen drumming and meditation.U-Theatre continues to adhere to the core principle of “drumming in a peaceful state of one's own,” engaging with the world through grounded and reassuring strength. By conveying this tranquility to the audience through drumming, U-Theatre fosters a collective cohesion of “living in the moment,” contributing to culture and environmental sustainability.
