'Junior' Cloud Gate shines with new pieces

Cloud Gate 2 (雲門舞集2) was founded in 1999 by Taiwan's "Mr Dance," Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), as an incubator for young dancers and choreographers and as a touring group that would travel to schools and communities nationwide. Under the leadership of Cloud Gate Dance Theater (雲門舞集) alumnus and choreographer Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲), a longtime Lin collaborator, the 13-member junior troupe is growing up fast.

Cloud Gate 2's annual spring tour has taken it to Yilan, Chiayi and Kaohsiung this year, wrapping up this weekend at Taipei's Novel Hall. The highlight so far of the tour has been the inclusion of a guest artist, Taiwan-born Martha Graham Dance Company principal Sheu Fang-yi (許芳宜), who has also danced with the Cloud Gate Dance Theater.

"I invited her to dance with Cloud Gate 2 because Taiwan and dancers here should see such a star," Lo said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

After graduating with a bachelors in fine arts from National Taipei University of the Arts (NTUA) in 1994, Sheu went to New York on a full scholarship from the National Endowment for Culture and Arts of Taiwan and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. She joined the Martha Graham troupe a year later and became a soloist in 1997. Two years later she was promoted to principal dancer.

"Sheu is just gorgeous," Lo said. "It's such a pleasure; just watching her is very, very rewarding."

"I was Fang-yi's teacher at NTUA. I've known her for 15 years. I'm just so proud of her," she said. "I knew she would become a wonderful dancer in any international, big-name company."

"But I was surprised that she became a star with Martha Graham. In modern dance, you don't usually have stars. It's not like ballet -- usually the choreography is the star, not the dancers. That I didn't expect," she said. "People go [to see the Martha Graham company] because they want to see Fang-yi."

Lo said that Sheu's success has been the result of hard work and a lot of sacrifices.

"She wanted it herself. Her whole life is dance," Lo said. "She has had to struggle with injuries, emotional difficulties -- her family is here, her life is in New York."

But Lo said it's important for Cloud Gate 2's members, who range in age from 18 to 25, as well as other dancers in this country to be able to see professionals from international companies and to work with them.

"I remember when I was a dancer with Cloud Gate [Dance Theater], we had a dancer, Tina ... from Alvin Ailey [dance group]. I learned so much from her, how to use my body, how to move," she said.

The company may be young and small, but their leader isn't afraid to set challenges for them. On the program this weekend are two very different works, All About Love, by Lo and Foreseen, by Paiwan Aborigine, Bulareyaung Pagarlava (Bulang, 布拉瑞陽), who became the company's resident choreographer last July.

Asked how she chose pieces for the company, Lo said that as the artistic director, she has to think about the logistics of a traveling troupe, not just the choreography, and the fact that its audiences may not be that familiar with dance.

The company's "home" is Taipei's Novel Hall, a mid-sized stage, but its other venues vary in size dramatically.

"Can a piece be transported, to a smaller theater, to any kind of theater?" Lo said.

For example, "Bulang's set is quite big. It was designed for the Novel Hall, but our last performances in Kaohsiung and Chiayi, the stages were bigger so we had to adapt the lighting," she said.