Taipei, May 7 (CNA) The Lotos Mongolian song and dance group, which comes from the Republic of Kalmykia, will embark on a performance tour to provide Taiwanese audiences with a rare glimpse of this European nation, organizers said Monday.
The Kalmyk group will stage six free-of-charge performances of its "White Lotus in the Steppe" tour in Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hualien from May 9 - 13, main organizer Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission said.
Kalmykia, a country with a population of 300,000, is situated on the northwestern shores of the Caspian Sea. Its cultural has been strongly influenced by Mongolia and Russia, being a constituent of the Russian Federation but populated by decedents of nomadic Mongol herdsmen.
"The shoulder-shivering, horse-riding and eagle-flying gestures in the dance are very Mongolian, while the footwork is obviously from Kazakhstan, " said organizer Peter Yu, who has extensively researched Mongolian history.
"The throaty aria and traditional dombra, used to accompany dances, are also from Mongolia, " Yu added.
Kalmykia is the only Buddhist nation in Europe and reveres the Dalai Lama. As Tibetan Buddhism is its dominant religion, the country is unique in the Russian Federation, most of which is Orthodox Christian.