Five Minutes with Joyce Y. Chiou

AAPPAC recently welcomed two new members into our Executive Council (EXCO) following the conclusion of our 2021 By-election. We caught up with one of our newest EXCO members, Joyce Y. Chiou, CEO of National Taichung Theater, to get to know her a little better!

Find out more about the latest EXCO appointments here.

Tell us a bit more about yourself and how you decided to dedicate your career to the arts.

Joyce: Honestly, I had stage fright when I was about to become a professional pianist in my early twenties. However, I loved the performing arts so much that I couldn’t live without it. I was tremendously good at math and communications, so then I thought – why not look for the possibilities behind-the-scenes? I worked as an assistant to an opera stage director and later stage manager before studying in the United States. It was logical that I took classes in arts management, opera directing, and financial management for non-profit organisation when I pursued my Masters degree in the States. When I returned to Taiwan, I started my career as programme coordinator in the classical music, opera and children theatre at the National Theater and Concert Hall (a.k.a. NTCH) in Taipei. I not only did concerts and theatre programmes, but also worked on outdoor productions, simultaneous broadcasting, and major events such as the Presidential Inauguration Gala. Those were the days when “arts management” or “event organiser” were not well-known professions. In the 90’s, I was one of the very few “pioneers” who earned an overseas arts management degree. I’m glad to see many young people nowadays devoting their careers in the performing arts administration. I’m even happier to see after 35 years of founding the NTCH, the performing arts circle in Taiwan is finally flourishing. 

The pandemic has certainly disrupted the plans and goals of many performing arts centres around the world. What is your biggest takeaway so far from the experience of leading your centre through this global crisis? 

Joyce: The biggest takeaway is that rather to be forced to change by the pandemic, we, the National Taichung Theater (NTT), becomes the force of change to the performing arts industry in Taiwan. In the past year, the NTT has transformed and rejuvenated itself under the dual slogan of “savour the arts, relish our lives,” generating many ways of participation and presentation to connect the arts with many facets of life.  

To present performing arts in the digital age, we supported our Artist-in-Residence Lien-Cheng Wang, a new media artist, in adapting his site-specific, interactive and installation work The Scenery of Little Light for live streaming, engaging professional videographers and an online broadcast and production team to capture the work’s magic as a virtual, immersive experience. Another exhibition, HORSE’s FreeSteps AR Yours, utilised augmented reality to explore multiple dimensions of solo dance based on the refined physicality and artistic journey of six acclaimed Taiwanese dancers. This project combined state of-the-art technology with artistic creation, expanding our perspectives in viewing contemporary dance while adhering to social distancing restrictions. 

Also, we setup a platform NTT Online, supplementing audio-visual materials, e-reading resources, a virtual 360-degree theatre back-stage tour and more. These programmes connected with the public and created an immersive “media platform for self-learning,” elevated our own resources into an around-the-clock performing arts appreciation and information centre, and expanded our venue into a veritable “NTT Everywhere” that appeals to everyone regardless of age. 

From 2020 till today, we had learned to be flexible and creative in terms of making performance happen, so despite pandemic restrictions, we staked our place with the public every day, making any visit to the NTT, whether on-site or online, a shared and pleasurable experience for all. With the pandemic now escalating in Taiwan, we are making “Stay Home, Stay Art” the new normal for artists and audience, and I believe what we are doing by expanding and exploring the possibility of a theatre is leading a change to the industry.

What is the current role of a network like AAPPAC to your centre and how do you foresee this role changing/growing over time? 

Joyce: As an international platform for the performing arts exchange and collaboration, AAPPAC has built up a significant network for its member organisations and international companies providing practical and updated information. Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem to generate adequate dynamism amongst member organisations through the annual conference meet up in different member cities each year. With the impact and influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, international travel and physical meetings have become more challenging, it is thus crucial for the AAPPAC to reconsider how to keep its vitality through: 

• more frequent online meetings.  

• more opportunities to promote Asian artists.  

• regular projects for artist-in-residence and staff placement.  

• discussing the possibility to present digital theatre/festivals.  

• diverse membership scheme to expand the member organisations from other continents to create distinct cooperation projects.

We are thrilled to have you both onboard our EXCO! What do you look forward to the most in being a part of the AAPPAC EXCO?

Joyce: NTT is a “5-year-new” performing arts venue located in a city that has no long history of the performing arts. Built with the architectural concept that “breathes together with the city,” the NTT’s location amidst residential buildings in municipal Taichung makes it a veritable “theatre of Art and Life.” We endeavour to integrate art and theatre with everyday lives, ensuring that the NTT and its offerings are both easily approachable and utterly indispensable. To ceaselessly bring the NTT’s mission to reality, I am looking forward to explore the ideas of how to weave the performing arts into lives with the AAPPAC community, hoping to expand the possibility of a theatre. I believe in such a rapidly changing digital era, our collective endeavour is to come up with the blueprint of what “future theatre” should be like. As part of the AAPPAC EXCO, I am hoping to spark imagination and creativity by providing a platform where all the visions, ideas and experiences can be shared and exchanged. 

Tell us about your favourite pastime/hobby! 

Joyce: Sports were never in my favourite list before, maybe golfing, but that was a very long time ago. However, weight training came to me 3 years ago and has now become my weekly routine. It’s too late for me to get a perfect figure, but never be too late to keep fit. Of course, reading, cooking, and planting are still on my list.       

We are all itching to travel freely again once the pandemic is behind us! What is the first country you would fly to once the borders reopen and why?

Joyce: Greece. I’ve been travelling for business/ concert tours/ conferences for the past 15 years and rarely travel for pure pleasure. I want to give myself a 2-week holiday break to see the cities where theatres were institutionalised, and to enjoy the beauty of the ancient culture.     

Sunrise or Sunset? (tell us why!)

Joyce: Sunset! You can’t gaze at the sun when it rises, but you can enjoy the full show of sunset. Especially, when the night falls, there comes a dark sight with dimmed lights that is full of imagination, just like theatre.