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.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique