A colorful extravaganza of Chinese dramatic arts exploded last night when 18 performers from the Youth Goodwill Mission in Taipei brought their 1992 tour to the Maine Center for the Arts.

Made up of amateurs from Taiwan’s colleges and universities, this troupe is one of three China has dispatched this year to promote international friendship and cultural exchange. Although many of the performers were students of martial arts, dance, drama, and physical education, several were students in unrelated fields such as physics, languages, and engineering.

The two-hour show consisted of traditional and contemporary selections of dance, drama, music, and martial arts. Some pieces had a vague literary references, such as the overture which introduced the beloved Monkey King, an ancient character from Chinese fiction, and “The Beauty of Chinese Opera,” about a brother who comes back from the dead to facilitate his sister’s marriage.

But most of the pieces were pure pageantry and ritual, and used rapidly whirling as well as arduously careful moves such as in the delicate “The Beauty of Palace,” a mosaic of traditional dances inspired by mural paintings found at an art mecca. Lined up one after the other, several women brought to life a graceful many-armed, many-handed buddha, said to personify the female. In the foreground, foot-stomping men displayed the strength and pride of their sex. A scarf dance, performed to upbeat synthesized music that sounded like an adventure movie soundtrack, made the stage ripple in eye-catching colors and undulating rhythms.

The energy stayed high throughout the demanding athletic duties of these smiling young people. In a section devoted to kung fu, the moves were particularly sharp. Unfortunately, most of the “fighting” was so restrained from its intended power that the fluid movements seemed more like a parody than an exhibition of martial arts.

Parody was certainly one of the underlying themes of the show, but most of the humor had a rather hokey style. Between numbers, the piped-in voice of an emcee explained traditions and introduced acts. He tried to keep the mood light by calling performers “these guys” and telling the audience to “check this out.” Perfectly harmless, but hokey.

With broad smiles, performers often encouraged the audience to applaud physical feats, some of which were truly amazing, others of which were merely happily executed. In fact, the expertise with which each piece was put together was a shining strength of the show.

The final pieces were the most popular of the evening. One, on holiday celebrations, was wildly exciting with screams, gyrations, confetti, and raucous drum beats. Although the men showed skillful leaps, turns, flips, and tumbles, the women excelled in every area of movement by combining grace, strength, and beauty. Their ensemble work was also better coordinated than that of their male counterparts, and quite lovely throughout the evening.

With the vitality and attack of a professional group, these performers gave a high-spirited sampling of their country’s performance arts.