After a smashing success at the Sydney Olympics, the Cloud Gate Dance Theater (雲門舞集) is bringing its highly praised Moon Water show back to Taiwan for local audiences. And a recent visit to the troupe's base in Kuantu, Taipei County, proves that the dancers have been hard at work on the highly anticipated performances that will begin in Taipei today.
Inside the warehouse-like building where the dancers practice, the music of Bach's Suites for Solo Cello play in the background. Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), the founder of Cloud Gate and key figure in Taiwan's modern dance movement, directed his dancers through the slow movements that resemble those of taichi boxing.
"No one is a born dancer," Lin said. "It takes a tremendous amount of hard work and persistence to be able to move like a premier dancer." The dancers are aware, from hard experience, of Lin's high standards.
One of the dancers, Sheu Fang-yi (許芳宜), was a principle dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company before joining Cloud Gate, and she, along with others in the company, are among the elite of Taiwan's dancers.
Speaking of Moon Water, Sheu thought it very different from pieces she has performed in New York. "You have to slow down, step by step, and be very calm ... it's like meditation. It's quite different from attitudes in fast-paced New York."
Moon Water is a poetic piece that Lin choreographed based on taichi movements developed by the troupe's taichi instructor Hsiung Wei (熊衛).
The dancers all wear the same costumes of flowing white silk slacks. The music is taken from Bach's Suites for Solo Cello. There are no extravagant props but the use of a mirror above and water on the stage creates dazzling effects. Such innovative stage techniques have contributed the piece's enormous success since it premiered in 1989.
The name Moon Water is drawn from a common literary expression: "like flowers in the mirror or the moon on the water," which is a metaphor for the transience and emptiness of life.
Moon Water will be followed on Nov. 30 by a very different piece from the group's repertoire -- the politically and historically laden Portrait of Families, a work very close to Lin's heart. "If there is one piece I hope that will last forever, then it must be Portrait of the Families," said Lin.
Portrait, which premiered in 1997, is an elegy to the people who died or were killed in the course of Taiwan's tumultuous and often violent history. It recalls the cultural oppression of the Japanese colonial period and the early years of KMT rule, and the long struggle of Taiwanese to preserve their cultural identity. More than 1,000 old photos are projected on stage as backdrop to the dance piece. A taped voice tells the stories behind the pictures.
Lin insists, however, that this piece is about more than just Taiwan's own experience. "I want to speak of the landscape of the human heart," Lin says.
Then, on Dec. 13, Cloud Gate moves to Taichung to perfrom one of its best-known works, Nine Songs, which is based on ancient folk rituals. The rituals deal with life, love, nature and death, universal themes that have proven popular with international audiences. Lin draws on legends from the Nine Songs, an ancient set of Chinese poems, with music taken from Taiwan's own musical tradition, as well as that of other Asian cultures.
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