Taipei Air Station alumni Mark Phipps, assigned to the 2165th Communications Squadron, sent over some beautiful color photographs of the Sino-American Dragon Dance Team's visit to Taipei Air Station in October 1968.
Making their way onto the performance area.
The streets have been cleared of vehicles as the unit arrives to begin their performance.
The camera is located just outside the Post Office building, looking south toward Club 13, the NCO Open Mess (green building at the far end of this photo)
The team of performers is about ready to begin.
You can see the Taiwan and US flags displayed on the banner above.
Lots of folks turned-out of their offices to see the show.
Standing for photographs from the crowd.
The Dragon Dance underway.
Fierce looking Dragon.
The crew performing the dragon dance must be strong and agile, it is demanding on the body.
Here, you can see some of the US Military folks in the team.
The Dragon needs lots of room, moving in wide circles and waves back and forth.
Someone filming the show (yellow shirt)
Firecrackers are always necessary when the Dragon dances.
The firecracker crew are standing on the roof of the Post Office, the string is lit and ....
Lots of spectators down in this area, are you in one of these photos?
Firecracker debris everywhere.
A great ending to a beautiful show.
I found an article in the Taiwan Review, which talks about this dance team.
You can read it HERE.
Many thanks to Mark Phipps for sharing his beautiful photos.
Were you one of the spectators at this performance?
Leave you thoughts in the Comments, below.
Tsi Gen my friends...
3 comments:
I'm sure that my wife, son, and I were there at the Air Station that same day. I have some slides that look almost identical to these. I'll try to find them and see. We were there August 1968 to August 1971. Worked at OL-A, a radar site that moved from Shihmen Beach to Sung Shan Mountain.
Those dragons are huge compared to what we have now! And they definitely look majestic!!
Thanks for the photos. That is me on the tail of the dragon. I was 2nd Class Navy stationed at the Navy Hospital from July 1968 to August 1970. We spent about a month or more training and performing all over Taipei. We met lots of government officials including Madam Chiang Kai-shek. During the performance, firecrackers were thrown at our feet and afterward we’d be served great authentic Chinese food and given small amounts of currency in a red envelope.
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