TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Flying Fish (小飛魚文化展演隊), an indigenous Tao children's group from Lanyu’s Yayu Elementary School (椰油國小), is in Poland for the 27th Festival of the Children of Mountains, the Liberty Times reports.

The group is scheduled to perform a Tao folk dance on Thursday (July 25), but gave a brief cameo during the opening ceremony on Sunday (July 21). The traditional Tao fishing attire of a plain loincloth was noted by the audience, as were the powerful rituals during which Tao men toss a boat in the air and the Tao women flip their hair for good luck during fishing.

Traditional Tao men's ritual before sailing (Source: The Flying Fish Facebook)

Traditional Tao women's dance ritual (Source: The Flying Fish Facebook)

Principal of Yayu Elementary School, Chen Shu-wen (陳淑雯), said the children were enjoying the culture exchanges with Polish and other groups. She also said she was grateful to the public for contributing to the trip’s fund-raising program.

The 27th Festival of the Children of Mountains began Monday (July 21) and will run through Wednesday (July 28). Six Polish children’s ensembles are paired with six foreign groups every day for cultural exchanges.

The Flying Fish was established in 2006 to promote the Tao tribe's dance and music traditions. It has received multiple awards domestically and seen its story adapted into a movie, "Long Time no Sea” (只有大海知道), which empowers its young members to be proud of their heritage.

The Tao people, formerly known as the "Yami" during Taiwan's Japan’s colonial period (1895-1945), are an ethnically Austronesian group that lives on Orchid Island, known as "Lanyu" (蘭嶼) in Mandarin. The island lies approximately 90 kilometers off the southeastern coast of Taiwan.