Viva Tonal--The Dance Age

"Viva Tonal--The Dance Age" goes beyond the dichotomy of colonizer and colonized. Opening with a popular Taiwanese-language song, it revisits the sites of history with Grandma Ai-ai, former mega pop star. In early twentieth-century Taiwan, under Japanese colonial rule, young men and women moved to the rhythms of Western and Japanese music, dancing the waltz and foxtrot as they yearned for a fresh new world and free love. Against a soundtrack featuring rare original recordings from this era, the documentary film "Viva Tonal--The Dance Age" recaptures the era's atmosphere of innovation and dreams.