The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) yesterday stunned the nation by announcing that the Cloud Gate Foundation board of directors had approved founder Lin Hwai-min’s (林懷民) decision to retire at the end of 2019.
The company said in a statement that the board had approved Lin’s recommendation to appoint Cloud Gate 2 (雲門2) artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍) to succeed him, starting in 2020.
Lin would officially announce his retirement this afternoon at the National Theater at the press rehearsal for his newest work, Formosa (關於島嶼), which will have its world premiere tomorrow night, the company said, adding that he would continue to serve on the foundation’s board after his retirement.
Photo: Sean Chao, Taipei Times
Lin told the Taipei Times yesterday that he believed the earlier he decided to retire, the better it would be for the company, because it would provide for a longer transition period.
The 70-year-old Lin founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in 1973, the nation’s first professional dance company, which in the decades since has become one of the leading modern dance companies in the world and the nation’s premier cultural export.
He has also been a major influence on Taiwan’s arts world as a writer, choreographer, teacher, founder of the dance department at the National Institute of the Arts — which was renamed Taipei National University of the Arts in 2001 — and mentor to dancers, choreographers and many other young artists under the Wanderer program he initiated in 2004, which provides subsidies for budding or experienced artists to travel abroad or to take time off to gain some artistic inspiration.
Lin cofounded Cloud Gate 2 in 1989 with Cloud Gate dancer-turned-colleague Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲) to provide a platform for young Taiwanese choreographers’ works.
Lo served as the troupe’s artistic director until her death in early 2006, at which point Lin took over running that company as well as the main company.
Cheng, a former Cloud Gate Dance Theatre member, is one of the younger generation of choreographers that Lin has mentored and nurtured. He began choreographing for Cloud Gate 2 after leaving the main troupe and was named resident choreographer in 2006 before becoming artistic director in 2014.
While Lin has frequently spoken of feeling his age and wanting to retire over the years, he admitted he was hampered by the lack of a clear choice to succeed him.
Speculation about a possible retirement grew after one of his knees was badly damaged in an automobile accident in December last year, requiring him to undergo months of recuperation and physical therapy.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS