Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) founder and artistic director Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) vowed yesterday that his company would rise like a phoenix after a fire devastated the troupe's Taipei County rehearsal studio and warehouse complex in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Lin said the fire that torched the nearly 400 ping (661m2) complex was "a test from God."
In a telephone interview with the Taipei Times yesterday evening, Lin said he could guarantee that Cloud Gate would recover.
"God must think Cloud Gate is still very young at 35 and can tackle a new challenge," he said. "We are ready for it."
"The two companies together [Cloud Gate and Cloud Gate 2] have 121 performances here and overseas this year and we will deliver," Lin said. "We will do our best to follow our original schedule."
The fire broke out at the complex in Bali Township (八里), Taipei County, at around 3am yesterday.
Witnesses said the blaze swept rapidly through the warehouse-like structure minutes after firefighters pried open the metal front door. Firefighters pumped water from a nearby creek to extinguish the blaze because there was no fire hydrant nearby.
The fire was contained after an hour, but the majority of the building -- and the props, costumes, scenery and office equipment inside -- was reduced to ashes. A small dance studio was, however, spared.
Lin said it was thought that the fire began in the building's electrical wiring, but the cause of the blaze was under investigation.
The entire Cloud Gate organization was determined that its commitments would be met, Lin said.
"Many dancers rushed to the studio at 4am [after hearing about the fire] and afterwards they said `We are going to dance better than before,'" he said.
Lin spent most of yesterday in meetings with his production teams and staff working out what needed to be done, including finding temporary rehearsal space for the two companies.
The main company is scheduled to begin a seven-week overseas tour with two performances of Images from Wind Shadows at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on April 3, before heading to Madrid for the first of a series of performances in nine European cities. Cloud Gate 2 will open its season at Novel Hall on March 26.
But the Cloud Gate organization, and especially the main company, faces a huge challenge in making the performance dates. The costumes for Lin's groundbreaking collaboration with Chinese visual artist Cai Guoqiang (蔡國強) -- the work Wind Shadows -- as well as those for Lin's work Moon Water were lost in the Bali fire. All costumes will have to be made for both shows, including the massive angel wings worn by some of the male dancers in Wind Shadows. The video footage and projections used in that show will also have to be recreated.
Also lost was technical director Chang Tsan-tao's (
It will be of some help, however, that the company maintains an equipment storage facility in Europe for its shows there.
"We don't have the time to feel sad or be sentimental. We have to move ahead," Lin said.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS