Lin's willingness to search, to question, to dance in the dark has the force of inspiration, especially with those whom he works closest.
"He's very tough to work with because his standards are so high," says Lo Man-sei, artistic director of the newly formed Cloud Gate Two, established to take a scaled-down version of the company's repertoire to Taiwanese grassroots audiences. "But the effect of his teaching lingers in you for the rest of your life. You develop as a person, you stretch your boundaries.
"It's not just about the dance, he exposes you to the process of growth and development. He makes you see who you are, as a Taiwanese person."
But the person now sitting in the Cloud Gate studio, basking in a glow of completion, makes no great claims.
"I just enjoy working with my dancers. It's very important to me to make people happy -- in the sense that during the performance they forget about their problems and get inspired. I want to bring peacefulness, because I think we need it."
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