Israeli has moment of introspection

Gamzou made the remark on Monday at a tea party for Nimroda Markin, a retired Israeli psychotherapist, who recently visited Taiwan out of a cultural shock she experienced two months ago after a performance by the Taipei-based troupe.

"Good cultural events are sometimes more powerful and effective than the words of a good diplomat," Gamzou said with a smile. "This is a perfect example of how Taiwan's image is improved through cultural exchanges," he added.

Two weeks ago, U-Theatre invited Markin to their rehearsals and Vipassana meditation activities held in Taipei and Taichung after the latter expressed in a deeply moving missive how its drum performance has changed her life.

"Your fantastic performance just ended, and I am still very, very moved and excited," Markin wrote.

"It is not quite the beauty, or aesthetic, or art as we know it in the West. It is more like a spiritual experience — the perfect control of the body, the amazing silent communication between the performers, the body work, the flow of energy — from the drop of the ocean, from the silent to the ecstatic, from the individual to the group, unbelievable," she added.

Markin noted how she was left "speechless and breathless" after the show and decided immediately that she had to see with her own eyes the country and people that nurtured such spiritual performances.

"I kept asking myself what is it that moves me so deeply? It is the sense of holiness of life," she went on.

"We Israelis might know how to respect the dead but we don't know how to respect life enough," she remarked.

After turning 70 in May, Markin explained that that coming to Taiwan was her birthday present to herself and that Taiwan, as well as its extremely friendly people, has owned her heart completely.

She has found the island to be not only a combination of simplicity and sophistication but also a modern place with a touch of the West, so good that even the sound of the language is pleasant.

"I feel I am being treated as a guest rather than as a tourist or foreigner," said Markin, who added that the smiles and sincerity of the Taiwanese people and the discoveries of her stay in Taiwan are the best souvenirs for her family in Israel.

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